Canal Winchester defense led by Braylon Beckwith was the difference in a win over Westerville North
WESTERVILLE, Ohio - Even though Braylon Beckwith wasn’t called upon to make big plays at wide receiver in Friday’s game at Westerville North, the Canal Winchester senior free safety didn’t let that stop him from having a big impact on the scoreboard.
Not only did Beckwith deliver several bone-jarring tackles and provide lockdown coverage in the secondary to shut down the Warriors’ typically-potent offense, he also sparked the Indians’ offense by intercepting two passes and returning the ball deep into the Warriors’ territory, setting up touchdowns each time, to help lead Canal Winchester to a 24-7 victory.
With the win, the Indians improved to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Ohio Capital Conference-Capital Division.
“Braylon’s the epitome of a leader and that’s why we have him back there playing free safety, because he’s a go-getter who keeps our defense together and is always making big plays,” said Canal Winchester coach Jake Kuhner, whose squad is ranked eighth in the Division II state poll. “There’s a reason that he was the (OCC-Capital and Division II Central District) Defensive Player of the Year and first-team all-state last year.
“Our offense was having trouble sustaining long drives with our leading running back, Corey Howard, out injured tonight, but our defensive coordinator, Corey Coe, and his staff did a heck of a job getting our entire defense ready. And Braylon and our defense made some great plays to set us up, offensively.”
With Beckwith leading the way, the Indians’ defense forced five turnovers and limited North’s spread offense to just 148 total yards and all three of Canal Winchester’s touchdowns were set up by turnovers by the Warriors deep in their own territory.
“When we don’t make a lot of mistakes, we’re a tough team to beat,” said North coach Stanley Jackson, whose squad dropped to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the OCC-Capital. “But we had a lot of turnovers and penalties (eight for 61 yards) tonight, and that’s a recipe for disaster.
“Canal Winchester played well up front and dominated us in the trenches, making it tough to run the ball or protect our quarterback. Our quarterback (Stanley’s son Ronald Jackson) made some plays for us, but we’ve got to do a better job of protecting the ball. Sometimes it’s better to throw the ball away or take a sack than to throw it (into tight coverage).”
The Indians did produce one long drive, marching 75 yards on 16 plays, all the way to the Indians’ 1-yard line before ultimately having to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Evan Schrader for a 3-0 lead with 8:26 remaining in the second quarter.
But on North’s following possession, defensive end JayJay Jones stripped the ball loose from a Warrior ballcarrier and linebacker Harlee Hanna pounced on it at the Warriors’ 20.
Three plays later, Kaseem Wade raced 11 yards, barely touched, up the middle of the field for a touchdown to put Canal Winchester ahead 10-0.
“We knew we had to stop their run inside, and Harlee and JayJay did a great job for us up front,” Kuhner said. “Jackson’s very shifty and he made some good plays for them. This was the first spread team that’s really tested our defensive backs, and our guys made some big plays, including our (four) interceptions.”
On North’s next possession, Beckwith made a leaping interception at the Warriors’ 40 and returned the ball all the way to their 10, setting up a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Maxton Brunner just three plays later.
Cornerback Iverson Klusmann also intercepted a pass at the Indians’ 10 in the waning seconds of the second quarter to help Canal Winchester stay ahead 17-0 going into halftime.
“I love it when the score is tight, because I play more relaxed in those situations, because I know that we’re going to stay focused and do our best to stop the other team,” said Beckwith, who has five interceptions this season. “I always trust in our offense, because they never let us down. Our offense had just scored 35 or more points four weeks in a row, so we knew they were going to get rolling. They just needed a good opportunity to score, and they came through for us.”
Photo of Braylon Beckwith by Aaron Blankenship
North finally got on the scoreboard with 3:45 remaining in the third quarter, when Jackson feathered the ball into the hands of Jonathan Stevens, who never broke stride while streaking down the center of the field for a 70-yard touchdown.
However, on North’s next possession, Beckwith intercepted the ball at the Warriors’ 45 and returned it all the way to their 26.
“I saw their quarterback rolling out, and their wing leaked out, and he tried to force it to him,” Beckwith said. “I got great blocks from my teammates on both returns, and that’s all our offense needed. I knew they were going to score after (my interceptions).”
Indeed, just three plays later, Brunner faked a handoff and then raced 14 yards up the middle for his second touchdown to make it 24-7 with 6:46 remaining in the game.
“I read their outside linebacker and when he came downhill, I went around him,” Brunner said. “Our line did a great job blocking for me, and I was pretty much untouched on both of my touchdowns. It’s all about the big guys up front, we couldn’t do any of this without them.”
North turned the ball over on downs with 4:11 left in the game after defensive end Chris Jones made an open-field tackle on Jackson, six yards short of the first-down marker.
Cornerback Eliyah Mason also intercepted a pass at North’s 48 to end the Warriors’ first drive of the game.
“Our defensive line and linebackers played real good, and our defensive backs played damn well, too,” Beckwith said. “We have a great defensive coordinator and we played well as a team.”
Brunner rushed for 44 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries and was 2-for-5 passing for 19 yards.
Wade rushed for a team-high 58 yards and one score on 19 carries and David Adams ran for 43 yards on 13 carries to pace the Indians’ offense, which racked up only 164 total yards.
Jackson rushed for 58 yards on 13 carries, and was 7-for-22 passing for 104 yards, with one touchdown and four interceptions.
“Westerville North did a great job of containing our backs, but (Adams and Wade) both had some good runs,” Kuhner said. “Our quarterback made some great reads and ran the ball well, too. And our defense did a great job of setting us up, offensively.
“This is a big win for our team for the playoffs and our league.”
