ASHLAND – Through the bulk of the first 11 games of the season, Eastwood’s speed was basically unmatched
by its opponents.
Saturday the Eagles ran into a team which could match them stride for stride and might have even been a
little bit faster.
And while Eastwood battled until the end, Columbus Bishop Hartley, the defending Division IV state
champions, won the speed battle and ultimately the game, 21-7. The Region 14 semifinal was played at
Ashland High School. PHOTO
GALLERY
“It
was a great matchup. When you have two of the top teams in the state this is probably what it should
look like,” Hartley head coach Bob Burchfield said.
Eastwood finishes 11-1 and Hartley, 11-0, advances to face Kenton, 12-0, a 32-22 winner over Genoa.
“It’s tough to lose when you have such a good group of kids,” said Eastwood head coach Jerry Rutherford.
“But I think we did a lot of good things.
“Hopefully we can take out some good memories of a great season,” he continued. “We’re proud of what
we’ve done and what we accomplished and how hard we played.”
The game was decided on the ground.
Led by linebackers Jarrod Zany and Ja’Waun Woodley in its stack defense, Hartley was able to limit
Eastwood to 130 yards on the ground and 207 total yards.
“The two linebackers who played on the outside played really well,” Rutherford said. “We talked about
staying on our blocks a little longer. They came off the blocks and they got to the football. No one has
done that to us all year.”
The Eagles ran the ball 38 times and their longest gain was 17 yards. A total of 28 of the running plays
went for four yards or less.
“That team was very explosive. We said if we could keep them from explosive runs that we would have a
chance and we did that,” Burchfield said about his defense.
Meanwhile the Hawks’ were able to move the ball on the ground, picking up 290 yards on 58 rushing plays.

“They have good athletes and they have good speed,” Rutherford said.
Woodley and Zang were also keys in Hartley’s ground attack. Woodley finished with 130 yards and a
touchdown on 24 carries and Zang had 78 yards on 13 carries. Marcellus Calhoun had 93 yards and a score
on 17 carries.
“Our offensive line and our running backs did a terrific job,” Burchfield said. “They were able to
control the ball quite a bit.”
Hartley established its game plan from the start.
The Hawks took the opening kickoff and moved 80 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown. Calhoun scored on a
2-run run and Brent Wahle kicked the PAT just 4:13 into the game.
“They had a couple of big plays in that first drive,” Rutherford said.
The Eagles missed a 37-yard field goal on their first possession.
Hartley kicked a 29-yard field goal for 10-0 lead just four seconds into the second quarter.
The Eagles put together a big drive, going 80 yards in 17 plays for what would be their only TD in the
game. Zach Conkle scored on a 2-yard run. Derek Snowden kicked the PAT with 5:03 left in the first half.

Eastwood’s Jake Schmeltz was 3-of-3 passing for 34 yards on the scoring drive and the Eagles got two
first downs as a result of Hartley penalties.
Hartley increased its lead to 13-7 on Wahle’s 22-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. The
score came after the Hawks had recovered an Eastwood fumbled punt at the 18-yard line.
“It was 13-7 at the half and we had the ball coming out,” Rutherford said.
However, Hartley stopped Eastwood on a fourth-down play on the first possession of the second half.
The Hawks then drove 71 yards with Woodley scoring on a 4-yard run with 3:13 left in the third quarter.
With the 2-point conversion pass, Hartley was up 21-7.
Eastwood then took 7:46 off the clock running 17 plays, but the Eagles were stopped just short of a first
down inside the 1-yard line on a fourth-down play.
After the fourth-down stop, Hartley took the final 7:27 off the clock to end Eastwood’s season. The key
play on the final drive came on a fourth-and-short from the Hawks’ 12-yard line when Woodley picked up
two yards.
“You’re up two scores; there are a lot of factors that go into it right there. If it’s one score, I don’t
think we do it,” Burchfield said about the fourth-down gamble. “That was a backbreaker and that was the
play of the football game.”
With the fumbled punt, the Eagles had five possessions in the game, but only four real scoring chances,
converting on one. Hartley had six possessions, scoring four times.
“We knew every possession would be critical. We just didn’t finish. We had chances,” Rutherford said.
COLUMBUS BISHOP HARTLEY
7 6 8 0 —21
EASTWOOD 0 7 0 0 —7
H — Calhoun, 2 run (Wahle kick)
H — Wahle, 29 field goal
E — Z. Conkle, 8 run (Snowden kick)
H — Wahle, 22 field goal
H — Woodley, 4 run (Matuska pass from Brandewie)
TEAM STATISTICS
Category BH EA
First downs 16 11
By rushing 16 5
By passing 0 5
By penalty 0 2
Total net yards 290 207
Rushing 290 130
Passing 0 77
Attempts 0 8
Completions 0 6
Interceptions 0 0
Punts/average 142.0 0/0.0
Penalties/yards 3/25 3/20
Fumbles/lost 0/0 2/1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: (BH) Zang, 13-78; Woodley, 24-130; Calhoun, 17-93; Brandewie, 4-(minus-11); (E) Z. Conkle,
17-57; I. Conkle, 11-43; Keyes, 7-17;S. Dierker, 3-13.
PASSING: (BH) no attempts; (E) Schmeltz 6-8-0—77.
RECEIVING: (E) Keyes, 3-57; Z. Conkle, 1-10; K. Dierker, 1-5; S. Dierker, 1-5.