Northeastern’s 2A football team stepped up two enrollment classes and matched 4A Delta play-for-play for 36 minutes in its home game played on the Knights field on Friday, Sept. 4. The fourth quarter, however, favored the larger school as the Eagles outlasted the Knights on a warm, muggy evening.
The teams entered the final period tied at 14-14, but Delta scored on back-to-back drives to open the fourth quarter and went on to win the preview of future Eastern Crossroads Conference members. Northeastern is in its first season in the ECC. The Eagles will join the ECC next season.
“I thought we went toe-to-toe with a good 4A team for three quarters, but their conditioning got the best of us in the fourth quarter,” said Knights coach Wes Oler. “We go seven or eight guys both ways. Delta has got two pretty fresh units out there, and that’s the advantage of being a bigger school. It’s early and we’ve got to get in better shape, but I love the way our kids fought. You hate losing, but we got better tonight for sure.”
Northeastern faced a Class 4A opponent for the first time since at least 1994, per the information at the johnharrell.net website.
Oler said the enrollment class difference “was a bit of a topic of conversation” in the week leading up to the game. (Not being able to practice in helmets due to the heat was arguably a bigger area of concern).
“You are watching film, you see what you see, and it doesn’t matter if they are a 1A, 2A or 4A school,” Oler said. “We did talk afterward—this schedule and playing these kinds of teams will get us ready for the tournament. You don’t play any 4A teams in our tournament, so this schedule is going to prepare us for games late in the season.”
Oler said the Knights played their best defensive game of the season, and their passing game was dialed in for the first two-and-a-half quarters.
Knight quarterback Jarrett Leitner’s sizzling start included a pair of touchdown passes. Gavin Platt got his defender spun around and hauled in an 18-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter. The ensuing two-point conversion gave the Knights an 8-7 lead. Another big pass play tied it at 14 early in the third quarter. A ball deflected off the fingers of a Delta defender and found its way into the hands of Quanell Denton, who dove into the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown.
Leitner completed 14 of his first 19 passes, averaging almost 15 yards per completion. The 14th completion put the Knights inside the Delta 30 late in the third quarter, in position for a go-ahead score.
The Northeastern aerial attack then got disconnected, with only four completions on the Knights’ last 17 pass plays and a couple of interceptions.
Delta took advantage. The Eagles scored the go-ahead touchdown two plays after the first interception. JJ Furney got behind the defense for a 32-yard touchdown pass from Deacon Blevins on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 21-14.
The Delta fans, who watched their team lose each of their first two games by one point, breathed a collective sigh of relief when Aven Thomas provided the Eagles with a two-score margin on a 14-yard burst through the line with 6:49 remaining. Thomas, who piled up more than 100 rushing yards in the second half as Delta controlled the final minutes, had opened the scoring with a six-yard run up the middle to cap the game’s first possession.
Delta (1-2) 7 7 0 14 28
Northeastern (1-2) 0 8 6 0 14
Delta stats (unofficial) – Rushing: Aven Thomas 25-170, Deacon Blevins 7-46, Cale Taylor 5-29. Passing: Blevins 16-23-0-194. Receiving: Ryan Lynch 9-36, JJ Furney 4-117, Carter Jackson 3-14, Thomas 2-21, Dylan Clawson 1-6.
Northeastern stat leaders – Rushing: Luke Billings 11-29, Jarrett Leitner 2-9, Corbin Isaacs 4-7. Passing: Leitner 18-36-2-227. Receiving: Quanell Denton 8-112, Trent Deloney 4-33, Gavin Platt 3-26, Jenson Davis 2-43, Billings 1-13. Defense: Platt 15 tackles (3 TFL), Deloney 14 tackles (1 TFL), Hunter Thomas 9 tackles.
Bulldogs drop ECC opener at Eastern Hancock
The Centerville football team, decimated by injuries, had the unenviable task of traveling to Charlottesville on Friday, Sept. 4, for a game with the Eastern Hancock Royals, who entered the game unbeaten and 14th ranked in the 2A poll.
The Royals fumbled the ball once and were intercepted three times, but the Bulldogs could not capitalize on the uncharacteristic Royal mistakes and fell by the final score of 40-6.
It was the first league football game for the Bulldogs in the newly formed Eastern Crossroads Conference.
The Royals used a punishing running game in the win, accumulating 419 yards on the ground.
Junior quarterback Matt Hunt threw for 81 yards and a touchdown, and he also ran for 239 yards and two touchdowns. Blake Whittington rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
Jace Hollendonner ran for a 66-yard touchdown late in the third quarter for the only Centerville score.
Centerville statistical information was not available at press time.
Eastern Hancock (3-0, 2-0 ECC) 40
Centerville (1-2, 0-1 ECC) 6
A version of this article appeared in the September 9 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.
