Kirtland defeats Versailles, captures OHSAA Division VI football state title: Ohio high school football 2023 rewind

Kirtland won its seventh state title in program history with a win over Versailles in the 2023 OHSAA Division VI football state championship game

A Kirtland fan holds a sign up during the 2022 OHSAA Division VI 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 VI state championship game, which saw Kirtland win the state title with a 32-15 win over Versailles.

Kirtland 32, Versailles 15

The ball bounced the way of Kirtland from the start as the Hornets took home their seventh state title in program history with a 32-15 win over Versailles in the 2023 OHSAA Division VI state championship game.

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On the opening possession of the game for the Hornets, sophomore quarterback Jake LaVerde tried to run to the left side from inside the Versailels 10-yard-line and fumbled, but the ball found its way into the arms of Gino Blasini in the end zone for a touchdown.

"It definitely boosted our energy," Blasini said. "Falling on the ball felt great. We knew that the weather was gonna play a big factor and we had to hold on to the ball but I was keeping my eyes and I ended up falling on the ball for a touchdown."

Kirtland led from that point on and made it 13-0 on a Will Beers touchdown run from six yards out on the next possession.

Versailles scored on its next possession to cut the lead to 13-7 with 10:55 left in the second, but Beers answered by returning the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to give Kirtland a 19-7 lead that the Hornets would take into the half.

Rocco Alfieri added a touchdown run in the third for the Hornets and Will Sayle iced the game with a touchdown run with 3:07 remaining in the game to make it 32-7.

Versailles scored a late touchdown with less than a minute remaining for the final margin.

LaVerde finished with 124 yards rushing on eight attempts for Kirtland, while Alfieri added 94 yards and a score on 23 carries and Beers had 85 yards rushing and a touchdown to go along with a catch for 13 yards and the kickoff return for a touchdown.

2023 OHSAA Division VI state semifinal results

Kirtland 17, Garaway 0
Versailles 30, Columbus Grove 13

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