CANTON — He posed for photos with his teammates near midfield, jumped into the stands to visit with family and friends, then made his way to the post=game press conference deep in the bowels of Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
Just like during the game, Kenston’s Bransen Stanley was everywhere afterward.
Stanley caught a pair of touchdown passes and had an interception as Kenston (14-1) won its first ever title with a resounding 42-6 win over Kettering Alter in the Division III state championship game.
“This is what I dreamt of,” Stanley said. “This is what we all dreamt of since we were little kids.”
Alter (13-2) got on the board first when Derek Willits made an acrobatic 19-yard touchdown grab with 6:36 remaining in the opening quarter, capping a five-play, 52-yard drive.
Kenston responded on its ensuing possession, marching 75 yards on 11 plays. Stanley capped it when he made a nifty grab of a Jon Tomcufcik pass for a 13 yard touchdown with 1:55 to go in the first.
“I have the best receivers in the state of Ohio,” Tomcufcik said. “They are awesome. They catching anything.”
Alter went three-and-out on its next possession and Kenston struck again on the first play of the second quarter. Running back Jack Porter blew through the heart of the Alter defense and raced untouched for a 58-yard score.
“We knew we had to be more physical than them,” Porter said. “The offensive line did a fantastic job.”
The teams traded punts before Stanley made a pair of game-changing plays midway through the second quarter. He intercepted an Alter pass and, on Kenston’s very next offensive play, got behind the Kettering secondary for a 40 yard touchdown pass and a 21-6 Kenston lead.
Tomcufcik hooked up with Tyler Mintz on a 16 yard scoring strike in the third before Porter capped with a pair of 11 yard TD runs.
“I can’t even describe this,” Kenston coach Jeff Grubich said. “I’m just humbled. I know how hard it is to get here and I know how hard it is to finish.”
Porter rushed for 116 yards and three TDs on 20 carries. Tomcufcik completed 16 of 23 passes for 285 yards and three scores. Jay Middleton had a team-high six catches for 123 yards, while Stanley and Mintz each had four grabs.
Alter’s Branden McDonald, a rugged 6-foot-1, 224-pound sophomore running back, rumbled for 101 yards on 14 carries. Quarterback Connor Bazelak completed 14 of 31 passes for 162 yards.
“Their offensive and defensive lines were very good, probably the best we’ve seen all year,” veteran Alter coach Ed Domsitz said. “They controlled both sides of the ball. We understand that when we get beat 42-6 there is no moral victory to be found. We were soundly beaten by a good football team.”
Kenston was state runner-up in 1986 and 1995.
“Our coaches talked to us all week about finishing,” Tomcufcik said. “Our coaches did a great job of making a game plan and getting us prepared. It was awesome.”
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