Westerville South throttles T-Bolts

By RON NUNNARI

Independent Editor

Rnunnari@tcnewsnet.com

WESTERVILLE — Northmont played Westerville South tough for three quarters Friday night before the Wildcats pulled away to post a 48-21 victory.

With the win the Wildcats improved to 2-0 while Northmont dropped to 1-1.

The Thunderbolts took an early 7-0 lead on their first play from scrimmage when Cameron Belton completed a 50 yard touchdown pass to speedy Keegan Rottgen. Cody Rice tacked on the extra point to give Northmont the early advantage.

Wildcats senior quarterback Nick Renzetti proved to be the deal breaker. He completed 26 of 38 pass attempts for 347 yards with four touchdowns and only one interception. Northmont senior quarterback Cameron Belton had a tough night. The Wildcats harassed him most of the night with a strong pass rush limiting him to just 10 completions on 22 attempts for 140 yards, one touchdown and intercepted three of his passes.

“They're a great team with strong athletes. We went toe to toe with them for three quarters,” said Northmont coach Lance Schneider. “The difference is we made mistakes and they took advantage of them, and when they made mistakes we didn't take advantage of them. We had plenty of opportunities to win the game. Our kids played hard and played well. It came down to a disappointing fourth quarter on the road.”

Trailing 28-21 entering the fourth quarter, things quickly took a turn or the worse. Westerville 6-foot, 5-inch defensive end Tra Jones intercepted a Belton pass at the line of scrimmage and five plays later running back Darien Miller scored on a nine yard run right up the middle. Alex Linzell tacked on the point after to put the Wildcats up 35-21.

On Northmont's next possession defensive back Marcus Bell intercepted a Belton pass and returned it 40 yards for another touchdown. Just like that the Thunderbolts found themselves down 41-21.

Westerville capped the win when Darien Miller scampered 70 yards for the final touchdown of the game with 4:31 remaining.


The first half was a different story. After Northmont took a quick 7-0 lead, Westerville answered with an eight play, 80 yard drive capped by a 32 yard touchdown pass from Renzetti to Jalen Bell. Linzell's extra-point knotted the score 7-7.

Northmont recovered a bad snap by Westerville on a pass play at the Wildcats' 30 yard line. Belton completed a 12 yard pass to Isaiah Williams on the final play of the first quarter.   On the first play of the second quarter Keegan Rottgen scored on an end around from 18 yards out to put Northmont back on top 13-7.

Westerville South answered with a nine play, 80 yard drive with Renzetti tossing a nine yard touchdown pass to Torrodd Carter. Linzell's kick was good and the Wildcats took a 14-13 lead at halftime.

The Wildcats engineered an 11 play, 73 yard drive with Renzetti hitting Jalen Bell with a 34 yard pass for a touchdown to increase their lead to 21-13.

Northmont battled back with determination with a seven play, 65 yard drive with Josh Long scoring on a six yard run. Belton completed a pass to Troy Mangen for a two point conversion to tie the game 21-21.

The Wildcats struck again to take a 28-21 lead with 1:19 left in third quarter with Renzetti hitting Bell with a 9 yard touchdown pass.

From there things went south for Northmont as the Thunderbolts were sent packing with their first loss of the season.

Northmont will host Lakota East this Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The new stadium scoreboard will be officially unveiled at the game.

Northmont         07 06 08 00 – 21

Westerville S.    07 07 14 20 – 48

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter

Northmont – Cameron Belton passes to Keegan Rottgen, 50 yards. Cody Rice kick. 7-0

Westerville South – Nick Renzetti passes to Jalen Bell, 32 yards. Alex Linzell kick. 7-7

2nd Quarter

Northmont – Keegan Rottgen 18 yard run. Kick failed. 13-7

Westerville South – Renzetti passes to Torrodd Carter, 9 yards. Linzell kick. 13-14.

3rd Quarter

Westerville South – Renzetti passes to Bell, 34 yards. Linzell kick. 13-21

Northmont – Josh Long 6 yard run. Belton pass to Troy Mangen for 2-point conversion. 21-21

Westerville South – Renzetti passes 9 yards to Bell. Linzell kick. 21-28

4th Quarter

Westerville South – Darien Miller 9 yard run. Linzell kick. 21-35

Westerville South – Marcus Ball 40 yard interception return. Kick fails. 21-41

Westerville South – Miller 70 yard run. Linzell kick. 21-48