‘We’re finally going to Canton’ -- Springfield reaches state title game after two straight semifinal losses

Trailing by five points late in the fourth quarter, junior Anthony Brown scored on a 7-yard run to lift Springfield to a 22-21 victory over Cincinnati Moeller in a Division I state semifinal game on Friday at Sidney Memorial Stadium.

“We’re finally going to Canton,” said Springfield coach Maurice Douglass. “I’m so happy for our team and the city of Springfield, our coaching staff and all of our past players, the people who helped build this thing.”

The Wildcats (13-1) will face Lakewood St. Edward in the D-I state championship game at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3, at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. The Eagles (14-1) beat Upper Arlington 16-10 in the other state semifinal.

Springfield is seeking to become the first Clark County team to win a state football championship since the playoff era began in 1972. Only two other teams in Clark County history have advanced to the state championship game — Catholic Central in 1991 and Shawnee in 2011.

“It’s surreal,” Brown said. “Putting in all that work in the offseason, talking about it and manifesting it and it finally becoming true, it’s crazy.”

The Wildcats finally broke through this season after state semifinal losses to Cincinnati Elder 31-24 in 2019 and Cincinnati St. Xavier 12-10 a year ago.

“We were trying to kick the door down,”said Wildcats senior quarterback Te’Sean Smoot said. “That’s what we keep saying. To be able to get over this hump after taking Ls the past two years, it feels amazing.”

Smoot, the Southwest District D-I Offensive Player of the Year, went 19-for-24 for 285 yards and a TD and rushed 25 times for 114 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.

“We preached ‘Let’s execute’,” Smoot said. “We knew it was going to be a hard-fought game. It’s the final four. We put it together. We won by one point and that’s all we needed. One point to go to Canton. That’s all we needed.”

Springfield took an early 7-0 lead on a 29-yard TD pass from Smoot to junior Daylen Bradley with 3:16 remaining in the first quarter.

The Crusaders, who finished their season 11-4, tied the score on a 1-yard by Jordan Marshall early in the second quarter. Springfield kicker Cole Yost hit a 22-yard field goal with 13 seconds remaining in the first half to give the Wildcats a 10-7 halftime lead.

Moeller took a 14-10 lead early in the third quarter on a 2-yard run by Marshall.

Springfield responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in a 3-yard TD run by Smoot, giving the Wildcats a 16-14 lead with 8:02 remaining.

Two plays later, Marshall broke free for a 63-yard TD run to put the Crusaders back in front (21-16) with 7:14 to play.

Smoot then orchestrated another long drive for the Wildcats, hitting Shawn Thigpen on a 35-yard pass and Delian Bradley on a 13-yard pass to give move to Moeller’s 18-yard line. Four plays later, Brown scored on the 7-yard run — his only carry of the game — to give the Wildcats the lead.

Moeller quarterback Noah Geselbracht was sacked by Jaivian Norman and Jokell Brown on back-to-back plays on the ensuing possession, making it third-and-29 from the Crusaders’ 12. On fourth down, Norman blocked Kurt Thompson’s punt, giving Springfield the ball on Moeller’s 19.

“We always preach that adversity is going to come, we’ve just got to stick together, have that brotherhood and keep fighting to the end,” Delian Bradley said.

On its final possession, Springfield needed a first down to seal the victory, but Moeller had all three of its timeouts. The Wildcats faced fourth-and-4 from Moeller’s 14 with 1:14 remaining when Smoot checked from a QB run into a toss sweep for Delian Bradley, who gained six yards to seal the victory — and the program’s first-ever trip to the state championship game.

“Today we kicked the door in,” Brown said. “It’s a blessing. I’ve never been to Canton. It’s going to be fun.”