2008 ITCL Playoff Preview

Division 6 - Region 21 (Friday October 31st - 7:30pm kickoffs)

Western Reserve Blue Devils (8-2) VS McDonald Blue Devils (10-0) @McDonald A.A. Burkey Stadium

Sometimes a re-match has a lot of media hype that is unwarranted.  However in the case of Western Reserve and McDonald, this game is about redemption, and proving themselves.  McDonald also has a long history of tradition that they are trying to live up to.      A 47-6 McDonald blow-out in week seven gives Reserve a lot of reasons for motivation to show not only themselves, but they're fans and the community that they are better than that score would indicate.  "I think it's what we wanted because we don't feel like we played as well as we could've in the first meeting.  McDonald had a great gameplan and executed it flawlessly.  They clearly wanted it on that night more than we did," Reserve's head coach Mike Kopachy would remark.      McDonald, who is making they're 10th playoff appearance, and third in a row will try to continue the tradition that has made the Devils one of the premier programs in the ICL, and now in the ITCL.  Usually the playoffs match teams that don't face each other very often, but McDonald head coach Dan Williams said this is a little different.  "Yeah, it makes it a little tougher to play a re-match," he admitted.  He would agree that Reserve will be highly motivated to change the results of week seven.  However, he also spoke about seeing a team from your own league in the playoffs.  "You get to see them more.  It definetly benifits you, we've seen them three or four times on film against people we play," Williams revealed.

Any fan of Western Reserve or McDonald is already aware of the many weapons and quality athletes that both teams possess.  Reserve may very well have the best quarterback in the league with junior Shane Ewing (6'3, 195 ).  He has completed 100 of 170 passes on the season for 1,935 yards and 21 touchdowns.  Ewing's favorite target is junior receiver Clayton Hull (6'0, 180) who has 47 receptions for 837 yards and 9 touchdowns, while senior Justin Lude (6'2, 170) is also a key receiver with 32 receptions for 700 yards and 6 touchdowns.  Although Reserve is a pass first type offense, they like to mix a running game to keep opponents honest.  Junior Paul Arditi (5'8, 170) has 108 carries on the season for 708 yards and 8 touchdown, while Ewing is also a threat to run out of the shot-gun formation as he has 519 yards on 86 carries and 8 touchdowns.  Senior fullback Bob Banks also provides some power running with 194 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns to go along with his strong linebacker play.      McDonald on the other hand, is the classic hard-nosed power runnng team that will try to wear you down by stuffing the ball down your throat.  They are lead by standout senior running back Alex Sampson (5'10, 190), who has 1,094 yards rushing and 23 touchdowns.  Sampson has been bang up a little recently, however, he and junior running back Nick Cupan (5'10, 170) should both be ready to go for Friday nights game.  Cupan has 634 yards rushing on the season with 5 touchdowns.  He also started the 47-6 Reserve blow-out with a 60-yard run for a touchdown to set the tone for that first game.  McDonald will also use speedy senior receiver/running back Mike Thomas (6'0, 180), who has 468 yards rushing and 6 touchdown on the year.

If McDonald is forced to pass, they have the talents of junior signal-caller Nick Accordino.  He has completed 33 of 56 passes for 557 yards and 7 touchdowns with only 1 interception on the season.  Accordino's favorite target has to be junior tight end David John (6'3, 195) who has 9 receptions for 183 yards.  But Devils aldo use the services of senior Devon Colburn (6'1, 170) who is also a back-up running back, Thomas, senior Cory Lunn (6'1, 155), and senior Adrien Tillery (6'2, 170).      The key to this re-match will come down to who can control the ball with their style of play.  "We need to control the ball, they have so many weapons on offense," Willimas would remark. "We must get stops on defense to win and finish drives offensively.  We moved the ball on them fairly well.  We will approach this game like any other, except for the fact that it's win or go home now," Kopachy would comment on the game.

2008 Western Reserve Blue Devils Results: Mathews (6-4) W 28-27  Newcomerstown (2-8) W 49-0  Southington (5-5) W 41-14  Southern (7-3) W 30-21  Wellsville (7-3) W 27-24  Jackson-Milton (3-7) W 56-26  McDonald (10-0) L 6-47  Leetonia (8-2) L 34-40  Lowellville (2-8) W 45-7  Sebring (0-10) W 51-19 Offense:  36.7 pts. per game Defense:  22.5 pts. per game

SIDE NOTES: -This will be the first home playoff game for the             McDonald football program -CalPreps Prediction: Western Reserve (Berlin Center, OH) at McDonald (OH), 7:30pm   [projection: McDonald (OH) 42-22] -Drew Pasteur's Projections: Mc Donald (10-0, D6 R21) by 16 (87%) vs Western Reserve (Berlin Center) (8-2, D6 R21) -McDonald has a 20 game winning streak against Reserve

2008 McDonald Blue Devils Results: Youngstown Christian (7-3) W 43-20  Windham (1-8) W 56-21  Mineral Ridge (3-7) W 25-0  Wellsville (7-3) W 41-19  Jackson-Milton (3-7) W 61-30  Sebring (0-10) W 69-0  Western Reserve (8-2) W 47-6  Southern (7-3) W 21-20  Leetonia (8-2) W 21-13  Lowellville (2-8) W 43-6 Offense:  42.7 pts. per game Defense:  13.5 pts. per game