Kirtland defeats Versailles, captures OHSAA Division VI football state title: Ohio high school football 2023 rewind

Kirtland won its seventh state title in program history with a win over Versailles in the 2023 OHSAA Division VI football state championship game

A Kirtland fan holds a sign up during the 2022 OHSAA Division VI state championship game. / Jeff Harwell, SBLive Sports

As we get ready for the beginning of the 2024 Ohio high school football season, we wanted to take a look back at 2023 to see how the season ended in each of the state’s seven divisions with a rewind recap of the state championship game.

In this edition, we will take a look at the 2023 OHSAA Division VI state championship game, which saw Kirtland win the state title with a 32-15 win over Versailles.

Kirtland 32, Versailles 15

The ball bounced the way of Kirtland from the start as the Hornets took home their seventh state title in program history with a 32-15 win over Versailles in the 2023 OHSAA Division VI state championship game.

On the opening possession of the game for the Hornets, sophomore quarterback Jake LaVerde tried to run to the left side from inside the Versailels 10-yard-line and fumbled, but the ball found its way into the arms of Gino Blasini in the end zone for a touchdown.

"It definitely boosted our energy," Blasini said. "Falling on the ball felt great. We knew that the weather was gonna play a big factor and we had to hold on to the ball but I was keeping my eyes and I ended up falling on the ball for a touchdown." 

Kirtland led from that point on and made it 13-0 on a Will Beers touchdown run from six yards out on the next possession.

Versailles scored on its next possession to cut the lead to 13-7 with 10:55 left in the second, but Beers answered by returning the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to give Kirtland a 19-7 lead that the Hornets would take into the half.

Rocco Alfieri added a touchdown run in the third for the Hornets and Will Sayle iced the game with a touchdown run with 3:07 remaining in the game to make it 32-7.

Versailles scored a late touchdown with less than a minute remaining for the final margin.

LaVerde finished with 124 yards rushing on eight attempts for Kirtland, while Alfieri added 94 yards and a score on 23 carries and Beers had 85 yards rushing and a touchdown to go along with a catch for 13 yards and the kickoff return for a touchdown.

2023 OHSAA Division VI state semifinal results

Kirtland 17, Garaway 0
Versailles 30, Columbus Grove 13

-- Ryan Isley | ryan@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveoh