Glenville does just enough to defeat Upper Arlington to begin the 2024 Ohio high school football season

Two-time defending Division IV state champion Glenville went on the road and defeated Upper Arlington to kick off the 2024 football season

Glenville head coach Ted Ginn, Sr. looks on as the Tarblooders face Archbishop Alter in the 2023 OHSAA Division IV state championship game. / Jeff harwell, SBLive Sports

UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio – Jaylen Edwards readily admits that he was riddled with nerves just moments before playing his first game for defending Division IV state champion Glenville on Friday at Upper Arlington to kick off the high school football season in Ohio.

“I was very nervous because I had never seen this many fans watching one of my games before, and they were really loud,” said Edwards, a freshman punt returner who also serves as a backup defensive back. 

However, the 5-foot-6, 140-pound speedster quickly shook off his anxiety and rose to the challenge by returning a punt 37 yards for a touchdown to spark the Tarblooders to a 6-0 victory over the Golden Bears in both squads’ season opener.

On that punt return, Edwards caught the ball and immediately raced past several Upper Arlington players to the right sideline where he had an open lane to the end zone with 11:31 remaining in the contest.

The Tarblooders missed the ensuing extra-point attempt but it didn’t matter, as Edwards’ touchdown held up as the only score of the game.

“My coaches kept telling me I was going to make an impact on special teams, and that gave me confidence, and I kept thinking about it the whole game,” Edwards said. “They kept kicking it short so I had to make a fair catch, and when I finally caught one that I could return, I had had a little space and saw a lot of green ahead of me, so I just ran that way and no one touched me.”

Glenville coach Ted Ginn Sr., who has guided the Tarblooders to two consecutive Division IV state titles, said he didn’t hesitate to insert two freshmen (Edwards and Garry Pritchett) as his punt returners.

Both players have blazing speed, and Edwards won middle school state track and field titles in both the 200- and 400-meter run.

“I have full confidence in both of them, because they both run track and they were two of the best in the country as eighth graders,” said Ginn Sr., who also has guided Glenville’s boys track team to six Division I state titles, in 2003, 04, 05, 06, 07 and 14. “We needed a spark, because Upper Arlington plays great defense, and I knew if we could return one of those punts with a little bit of space, that one of our freshmen could break a big play, and Jaylen got the opportunity and made it happen.”

The Tarblooders turned in a masterful defensive effort, limiting Upper Arlington to just 106 yards of total offense and six first downs, and forcing the Golden Bears to punt 10 times on 13 possessions. 

Upper Arlington also turned the ball over with an interception and turned the ball over on downs on their other two possessions.

“Glenville has tremendous size, athleticism and speed and we really didn’t see many holes in their defense,” said Upper Arlington coach Justin Buttermore, who led the Golden Bears to a 37-13 record in his first five seasons, including a Division I Region 3 title in 2021 and a Region 3 runner-up finish last fall. “Their linebackers, (Cincere Johnson and Di’Marion Gill) really stood out for them, especially (Johnson). 

“Their defense played great, but we need to execute better. We aren’t going to win any games scoring zero points.”

Johnson was a one-man wrecking crew, using his size, speed and superior instincts to harass Upper Arlington quarterback Kyle Cox in the backfield several times, while also making crushing tackles both in the interior and on the perimeter throughout the game.

The 6-foot-3, 240-pound middle linebacker, who already has received scholarship offers from 19 different Division I college football coaches as a junior, finished with 14 tackles and two tackles for a loss.

“I’m proud of Cincere because he’s one of the top linebackers in the country, and he showed how he can play, by chasing people down all over the field tonight,” Ginn Sr. said. “That’s a lot of man right there.”

Johnson said he worked even harder this past offseason, including training with his older brother, Fred Johnson, who is currently an offensive lineman at the University of Louisville.

“I’ve been blessed with size and speed, but I stay humble and work as hard as I can to do my best, not just for myself, but also my family and my team,” Johnson said. “My brother and I played on the same team here the last two years, and we went at each other and helped each other get better, by improving each other’s techniques.

“I just want to give all of the kudos to our coaching staff for tonight’s performance, because our defensive coordinator, James Gordon, had us ready for everything.”

Glenville’s defensive front seven, also led by linemen Kaylon Bailey, Johnell George and Andre Carlton, held Upper Arlington to just 48 rushing yards on 17 carries.

Defensive backs Jordin Johnson, Christian McAlpine, Pauly Sadler and Isaiah McCullum also helped limit Cox to just 58 yards on 13-for-30 passing, as McCullum intercepted one of his passes at Glenville’s 24-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

“We all played our roles well and our defense was great,” Edwards said. “(Johnson) is like the quarterback of our defense, leading us and making a lot of tackles.”

Cox displayed his veteran leadership on Upper Arlington’s final drive, quickly moving the Golden Bears to Glenville’s 31-yard line, after his squad started at their own 29 with only 56 seconds and no timeouts remaining.

But after Cox completed three consecutive passes to rapidly move the ball down the field, Glenville defenders swatted away his Hail Mary attempt in the end zone as time expired.

“Upper Arlington’s well-coached and they are a fundamentally-sound team, and they fought hard,” Ginn Sr. said. “We wanted them to pass so we shut down their running game first.”

Upper Arlington’s defense, led by senior lineman and Michigan State recruit Cal Thrush, limited Glenville to just 170 total yards.

Quarterback Arvell Nelson was 4-for-14 passing for 38 yards and rushed for 15 yards on eight carries.

Jamal Goodson also rushed for 40 yards and Chris Newell ran for 39 yards on 12 carries each.

“Upper Arlington’s defense, especially (Thrush), is tough, and they didn’t let us run the rock,” Ginn Sr. said. “We kept pounding until we finally broke through and ran the ball better in the second half, but we made too many mistakes and had too many penalties (16 for 120 yards) tonight, so we’ve got to keep working hard to improve in everything we do.”

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