DAYTON - A cousin of Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin, Jeremy Larkin rushed for 239 yards on 22 carries and scored six touchdowns, and Cincinnati LaSalle overwhelmed Olentangy 48-13 in a Division II semifinal at Welcome Stadium.

DAYTON � When Olentangy coach Mark Solis attends the Ohio State-Michigan game today, he plans to tell Buckeyes coaches about a certain Cincinnati LaSalle running back that carved up his team like a Thanksgiving turkey.

�He can go anywhere he wants,� Solis said of Lancers junior Jeremy Larkin, �and if Ohio State�s not recruiting this kid, I�m going to make sure they know about him.�

A cousin of Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin, Jeremy Larkin rushed for 239 yards on 22 carries and scored six touchdowns, and LaSalle overwhelmed Olentangy 48-13 in a Division II semifinal at Welcome Stadium.

Larkin, a finalist for Ohio�s Mr. Football Award that will be announced next week, came in with 2,241 yards and only enhanced his chances with a remarkable performance against a stout defense that was allowing opponents 2.5 yards a carry.

�He�s got a burst we haven�t seen all year,� Solis said. �We didn�t do a good job of tackling. � We missed some tackles we should have made, but that�s a darned good football team. I�m not disappointed in the effort, just the execution.�

Larkin, 5 feet 11 and 183 pounds, opened the game with a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and the Lancers (13-1) never trailed.

�I couldn�t get over how big a hole was there,� Larkin said. �What a way to start the game off.�& amp; amp; amp; amp; amp; amp; lt; /p>

Olentangy (13-1) steadied itself and had opportunities to regain momentum. But in four series inside LaSalle�s 30-yard line, all the Braves could muster were field goals of 38 and 40 yards by Jacob Bell to cut the deficit to 7-6. They were thwarted by a Deeb Haber interception and a fourth-and-goal stop.

By midway through the second quarter, LaSalle was controlling field position and had adjusted its blocking schemes to spring Larkin. He broke off touchdown runs of 3, 30 and 45 yards � the last with just 17.1 seconds left in the half � to give LaSalle a 28-6 lead. He also had scoring runs of 69 and 51 yards in the second half to increase his season total to 40.

�Early on, we just told the offensive line to buckle down, and the coaches did a great job of figuring out what we had to do to make the holes,� Larkin said. �I wouldn�t say it was just me scoring all those touchdowns. It was a team effort.�

LaSalle�s defensive front deserved praise, too. The Lancers sacked Haber six times and limited the Braves to minus-4 yards rushing on 29 attempts. Haber passed for 212 yards and connected with Obi Anunike on a 10-yard touchdown pass. Seth O�Neal made six catches for 75 yards.

�Their defensive front, goodness gracious, we knew they would be a storm we�d have to weather, and we didn�t,� Solis said. �We missed protections, we missed throws and we couldn�t handle their speed. It was a combination of things.�

LaSalle, which had never won a playoff game before this season, will face Macedonia Nordonia (14-0) for the state title at 8 p.m. on Friday at Ohio Stadium.

For Olentangy, it was a bitter ending for a memorable season. The program had won only three previous playoff games.

�We�ve got nothing to complain about,� senior defensive lineman Dalton Endres said. �We put forth the best effort we could and came up short against a great, well-coached team. I wouldn�t trade this year for anything.�

sblackledge@dispatch.com