Calvin Dawson disputed only half of the 5-foot-6, 145-pound listing next to his name in the program for the Central District All-Star football game on June 16 at Fortress Obetz.
“I think I weigh a little closer to 150-ish now,” said Dawson, a wide receiver from Walnut Ridge High School.
Either way, no defensive back could catch him on what turned out to be the biggest play of the game, one that wasn’t even originally meant for him.
Dawson caught a pass from Teays Valley quarterback Brandon Coleman and bolted 49 yards down the sideline on the fourth play of the second quarter for what turned out to be an insurance touchdown as the Red all-star team shut out the White all-stars 10-0.
“I wasn’t even supposed to be the guy who got the ball that play,” Dawson said, adding that Pickerington North’s Ty Wiley was the intended receiver. “(The play) broke down and I ran a corner route. I saw the ball in the area and went up to get it and ran as hard as I could. I saw a safety closing in on me (near the goal line), so I just dove to get in and got the touchdown.”
Independence’s DeMontae Taylor led the Red team’s offense with 145 yards rushing on 14 carries, while Groveport’s Izayah Aekins and Ricco Collins-Hayes each had an interception and Hartley’s Alexander Blackmon recovered a fumble to pace the defense, which also thwarted two lengthy drives by the White team inside the red zone.
The White all-stars drove to the Red team’s 2- and 8-yard lines in the second half but came up empty.
“I was glad we got a little bit of a lead,” said Red coach Brad Burchfield, from Hartley. “Calvin made a huge play and Ty Wiley had a ridiculous catch (28 yards) early. I’m not used to seeing those balls thrown up like that.”
The Red all-stars committed two turnovers and the White team committed one in a first quarter that featured a 37-minute lightning delay. Storms passed to the east of Fortress Obetz, but rain never fell at the stadium, which was playing host to the game for the first time.
Canal Winchester’s Trevor Thompson opened the scoring with a 28-yard field goal shortly before the delay.
“This was fun to coach because these are kids who want to be there,” said White coach Bob Gecewich, from Dublin Jerome. “We were right in this game. We just left 14 points on the board.”
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RED 3 7 0 0 — 10
WHITE 0 0 0 0 — 0
R—Thompson 28 FG
R—Dawson 49 pass from Coleman (Thompson kick)