SHELBY — Ontario ripped off three consecutive touchdowns in the last 16 minutes, the final one with just 29 seconds left in Friday night’s game at Shelby to overcome a two-score deficit and beat the Whippets 42-35.
Shelby began the contest with a couple of early scores to open a 13-0 advantage. Freshman quarterback Brayden DeVito scored on a 1-yard plunge and Issaiah Ramsey returned a punt for 88 yards and another touchdown.
Ontario (6-4 overall, 3-4 in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference) sliced the gap to 13-7 when Drew Yetter burst free for a 13-yard TD dash. Then junior Chase Studer added a 1-yard scoring run for a 14-13 lead with 6:36 remaining in the half.
The Whippets (5-5, 3-4) moved back on top when DeVito hit Grayson Heydinger for a 12-yard touchdown to make it 21-14 at intermission.
In the third period, DeVito tossed a 2-yard TD pass for a 28-14 margin with 8:23 showing in the third period. From that point on it was all Ontario.
Quarterback Bodpegn Miller hurled a 20-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Floyd to pull the Warriors within 28-21 with 4:09 showing in the third period. Then, with just 4:40 remaining in the game, senior Drew Yetter’s 4-yard scoring blast and Trey Booker’s ensuing PAT tied the game at 28-28.
That set the stage for the dramatic finish, and Miller took full advantage of the situation.
The Ontario standout tossed a 32-yard aerial to Floyd again, this time from 32 yards for the winning score with just 29 seconds remaining in the game.
The Warriors dominated the line of scrimmage as their bruising ground game rolled up 333 yards and nearly 6 yards per carry.
Studer ran for 131 yards on 27 carries, while Miller added 120 yards on 12 attempts. Miller also completed 9-of-17 passes for 109 yards and a couple of scores.
For Shelby, DeVito hit 10-of-19 passes for 116 yards and two touchdowns.
Ontario enjoyed a significant statistical advantage, particularly in first downs (27-14), time of possession (32:37 to 14:56), rushing yards (333-119) and total yards (442-235).
Both squads were postseason bubble teams coming into the weekend, and will learn their fate when the OHSAA releases the playoff pairings on Sunday.
