Evan Andrews seizes moment, leads Westerville South to win over Westerville Central

Evan Andrews threw for 160 yards and two touchdowns to help lead Westerville South to a win over Westerville Central

Evan Andrews of Westerville South drops back to throw a pass against Westerville Central on August 30, 2024. / Aaron Blankenship, SBLive Sports

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Many spectators were disappointed when they found out that Westerville Central quarterback Jaystin Gwinn wasn’t healthy enough to play in Friday’s rivalry game at Westerville South.

Gwinn – one of the top dual threat quarterbacks in the state, who has received several Division I college football scholarship offers – was still recovering from a hamstring injury that he suffered in Central’s previous game.

Yet, while Gwinn was sidelined, South quarterback Evan Andrews seized the spotlight in Wildcat Stadium, throwing for a career-high 160 yards and two touchdowns and scrambling for 25 yards on seven carries to spark the Wildcats to an 41-11 victory.

With the win, South improved to 2-0 overall, while Central dropped to 0-2.

“I thought this game was an opportunity to make a name for myself,” said Andrews, who served as South’s backup varsity quarterback last season. “This was my second start, and the game seemed to slow down a lot for me, compared to last Friday (a 14-7 victory over Dublin Jerome).”

South coach Eric Calland raved about the progress Andrews made in his second varsity start, during which the junior completed nine of 18 passes with no turnovers.

That progress was even more impressive, considering that senior tight end Tyler Kielmeyer - a Northwestern University recruit - sprained his right ankle late in the second quarter and didn’t return.

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“Evan made his first true start last week with a whole new offense with different blocking concepts under a new offensive staff, and we started slow in that game,” said Calland, who is a first-year head coach after serving as an assistant at South since 2015. “But Evan’s growing and he made a huge jump from week one to week two. He’s playing with more confidence and with better decision-making.

“He’s very mobile, and he’s a huge weapon with both his arm and his feet when he rolls out. He threw a couple into the dirt when nobody was open, instead of trying to force the ball, and that’s a sign of progress as well.”

Andrews was 9-for-17 passing for 160 yards and two scores in the first half alone, while helping the Wildcats jump out to a 24-3 halftime advantage.

With 7:11 remaining in the second quarter, Andrews zipped a pass to wide receiver Isaac Patterson, who raced between two defenders and then powered his way through the arms of another at the goal line. Sophomore kicker Ethan Rozen’s extra point extended South’s lead to 17-3.

“We knew their linebackers were coming down, so we were waiting for that and then ran a slant over top, and Isaac made a great play,” Andrews said.

Andrews also connected with running back Preston Kawa on a nine-yard scoring pass into the near-right corner of the end zone to extend South’s lead to 24-3 with just 54 seconds remaining before halftime.

“Mobile quarterbacks can kill you, and (Andrews) played well tonight,” said first-year Central coach Josh Franke. “Give Westerville South credit because they executed really well in third-and-long situations.”

Sophomore running back Ian Gordon also was a force for South’s offense, as he rumbled for 120 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.

The Wildcats opened the game with an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, which was capped by a 12-yard burst down the right sideline by Gordon, who said he was barely touched.

Gordon credited South’s offensive line, led by center Xavier Flemister, right tackle Zach Moose, right guard RJ Diersing, left tackle Cam Patterson and left guard Frank Budu, for much of his success.

“Our line did an amazing job, and I couldn’t have asked for more from them,” Gordon said.

On the second play of South’s first possession of the third quarter, Gordon stiff-armed his way past a defender at the line of scrimmage and then sprinted down the left sideline for a 55-yard scoring run to make it 31-3.

“I saw one guy in front of me and I stiff-armed him,” Gordon said. “Their safeties hesitated too long, and once I saw all that green ahead of me, I made my move.

“(Wide receiver) Amari Hodges really impressed me by throwing a huge block on the outside to open up that touchdown run for me.”

Senior linebacker/running back Neyo Thomas also had a productive day on both sides of the ball for South.

Thomas intercepted a pass at South’s 36-yard line and returned the ball to Central’s 26 with 7:18 remaining in the second quarter, setting up Andrews’ first touchdown pass on the very next play.

The 5-foot-9, 195-pound running back also plowed his way up the middle for a 2-yard touchdown run to extend South’s lead to 38-3 with 2:09 left in the third quarter.

“Neyo’s pick changed the tone of the game,” South senior outside linebacker Ian Smith said. “The game was close at that point and they were starting to move the ball, before that play changed everything.”

South played well on special teams with Rozen making all five of his extra-point attempts and converting on field goal attempts of 30 yards in the first quarter and of 35 yards in the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats were even better on defense, limiting Central to just 35 rushing yards on 19 carries.

“Westerville South’s linebacker-play is some of the best I’ve seen in high school football,” Franke said. “Their linebackers are really good at making reads. They keyed on our guards and made it difficult to run the ball.”

Making his first varsity start at quarterback, Central junior Wyatt Mauger was 12-for-21 passing for 147 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Steele on a screen route with 8:57 remaining.

Ritt Burky led Central’s rushing attack with 41 yards on 11 carries.

“The key for us is we read the way they were pulling their guards, and (outside linebacker Devin Eby and I) have great speed on the edge and we were able to get to the ball fast,” Smith said. “(Inside linebacker) Preston Kawa played with a lot of heart and had a couple of quarterback hurries and a sack, and Neyo played great (at inside linebacker), too.”

Franke acknowledged that his team sorely missed the services of Gwinn, who is a fourth-year starter and three-star college football recruit.

As a junior, Gwinn threw for 1,869 yards and 17 touchdowns and ran for 1,287 yards and 13 scores.

“It was a game-time decision not to play him,” Franke said. “He’s close to being back, but he’s too big of an asset to risk bringing him back before he’s fully ready.

“We didn’t want to jeopardize his future just to have him play this one game. I’m proud of our guys because they fought hard until the end.”

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