CANTON, Ohio — The Kirtland Hornets fell to the Marion Local Flyers 14-6 in the OHSAA Division VI state football championship game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton Saturday afternoon.
After a scoreless first quarter, Marion was first to hit the end zone with less than three minutes before halftime thanks to a 2-yard touchdown run by Darren Meier. The big blow came in the third quarter, when Nathan Buscher intercepted Jake LaVerde and took the ball back 57 yards to give the Flyers a 14-0 lead.
Kirtland landed on the scoreboard with a 10-yard touchdown pass from LaVerde to Will Sayle just three minutes later, but Nick Barisic's extra point attempt was blocked. Marion ultimately took the win with no points from either team in the fourth quarter. The Hornets managed to get into Flyer territory one more time, but LaVerde's deep fourth-down pass intended for Gino Blasini was broken up with 2:43 to play.
Both defenses ruled the day, with Kirtland actually out-gaining Marion 161-142. However, the interception return was the ultimate difference, and LaVerde completed just 5-of-18 passes. Meier also had a game-high 12 tackles and combined with Landon Arling for a sack.
Both teams had entered the championship battle with a 15-0 record, Kirtland doing so with six shutouts. This battle came as the Hornets were looking to forget the memory of last year's D-V championship game in which a 20-16 loss to Versailles ended what was then the nation's longest winning streak at 55.
The Flyers claimed their 13th state title and are now 2-2 all-time against the Hornets in championship games.
Editor's note: Video in the player above was originally published in an unrelated story on Nov. 29, 2022.
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