Marion Local finishes perfect season with Division VII football state title: Ohio high school football 2023 rewind

Marion Local defeated Dalton in the 2023 OHSAA Division VII football state championship game to win its 14th title

Marion Local players pour water over head. coach Tim Goodwin after winning the 2023 OHSAA Division VII 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 VII state championship game, which saw Marion Local win its 14th state title with a 38-0 win over Dalton to take homes its 14th state title, extending the Flyers' state record.

Marion Local 38, Dalton 0

Marion Local was looking to finish off its third straight perfect season in the 2023 OHSAA Division VII state championship game and did just that, scoring 31 points in the first half en route to a 38-0 win over Dalton.

After a defensive stop on fourth down ended the first possession of the game for Dalton, Marion Local's offense went to work and capped off an eight-play, 63-yard drive with a touchdown run by Kyle Otte that covered eight yards.

Then Ethan Heitkamp finished off the second drive for the Flyer offense by scoring from one yard out with just under a minuite left in the first quarter.

Defense and special teams took care of the scoring for Marion Local in the second quarter.

Flyers defensive back Griffin Burns stepped in front of a pass by Dalton quarterback Colin Pearson, intercepted it and took it 80 yards for a touchdown. Then on the ensuing Dalton possession, the Marion Local defense forced a punt that was fielded by Victor Hoelscher, who went 64 yards for a touchdown, the longest punt return touchdown in Division VII state championship game history.

"The pick-six obviously was a backbreaker when they had that nice drive, Griff made a great read on that," Marion Local head coach Tim Goodwin said. "Then we came back with that punt return, so those two just overshadowed I think the rest of the game and and really gave us a big advantage."

A Carson Bills 19-yard field goal with 55 seconds left in the second quarter gave Marion Local a 31-0 lead at the half, initiating the running clock for the beginning of the second half.

The only score of the second half came on an eight-yard touchdonw pass from Justin Knouff to Otte on the first possession of the half for the Flyers.

Otte finished the game with a team-high 66 yards rushing and 32 yards receiving, while Knouff threw for 119 yards and ran for 64.

2023 OHSAA Division VII state semifinal results

Marion Local 42, Patrick Henry 0
Dalton 55, Caldwell 7

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