The Ohio Crush are headed to the Ohio Football League championship after defeating the Jackson County Patriots 28-13 Saturday afternoon.

With this win, the Crush won OFL South Conference Championship.

Crush head coach Tony Martin speaks on his team’s win.

“It was a step forward. We always talk to these guys about getting better every week and after last week’s performance we really felt like we need to step up this week and show where were at”, said Martin. He added, “I felt like the game was always in control and we wanted to impose our will down the stretch.”

In the first quarter, the Crush could not move the ball early in the quarter, but it wasn’t until the Patriots scored nine minutes into the quarter that the Crush realized they had to step up.

The Patriots scored off a leaky Crush secondary that led to a 70-yard touchdown reception, making the score 7-0.

On the Crush ensuing possession, the Crush moved the ball up field led by running back Dereke Ascota and quarterback Jon Mason.

The Crush get ball inside the five yard line and on fourth and goal where Mason and receiver Lamar Taborn connect to tie up the game 7-7 with 4:03 in the first quarter.

On the kickoff, the Crush recover a fumble at the Patriots 30 yard line and the offense comes back on the field only for Mason to keep the ball for a quarterback sneak into the end zone.

The Crush takes a 14-7 lead going into the second quarter.

Heading into the second quarter, the Crush defense held up which allowed Ascota to run for a 25-yard touchdown.

The Crush lead grew 21-7.

The Crush defense pressured the Patriots quarterback all day and eventually led to a tipped interception by defensive lineman Lester and he returned it 20-yards down in the Patriots territory at the 15 yard line.

Later, Mason gets intercepted in the end zone and the Patriots get it right back.

On the Patriots offensive drive, Crush defensive back Jon Woods intercepts the ball off the receiver and runs it back for a touchdown but the touchdown gets nullified due to a roughing the passer penalty.

On the next play, the Patriots score again and that makes the score 21-13 after a block extra point.

With less than 2 minutes in the half, the tandem of Mason and Taborn connects for the second time and the Crush go up 28-13 going into halftime.

Going into the third quarter, both teams were able to hold each other off from scoring in an extremely physical quarter.

The Crush had many opportunities to convert on short yardage downs but failed on fourth down, giving the Patriots the opportunity to get back into the game.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Crush was able to get some solid rushing from the running back committee of Dereke Ascota, Tramell Hayes and Justin Huff.

With their solid running, they were able to keep the possessions away from the Patriots and let the clock tick down.

While neither teams scored in the second half, the Crush go on to win as they advance to the championship by a final score of 28-13.

The Crush enters the OFL Championship game with an undefeated record of 13-0 and will they face the Strabane Spartans (out of Pennsylvania) on Saturday August 20th.

This game will be played at Centerville High School, located on 500 East Franklin Street.

Kickoff is set for 6:45pm.