Austintown - They say speed kills. At Austintown's Fitch Falcon Stadium it was the Ursuline Irish team speed that applied constant pressure on the ITCL Championship Crestview Rebels, and ultimately overwhelmed them 48-14. It also didn't help that the Rebels suffered numerous injuries over the course of the evening as the Irish exploded for 27 second half points to pull away from the Rebels.
The Rebels came out fighting as they stopped the Irish on their first possession, but unfortunately the first of three big Irish plays occured on they're second possession. Allen Jones would blast through the Rebels defense and outrace them 52-yards for a touchdown to give the Irish a 7-0 lead with 7:56 remaining in the first quarter.
However, the Rebels would not back down as they exchange two possessions before they would get the ball at their own 34-yard line at the beginning of the second stanza. From there, they would march 66-yards on 9 plays with Jesse Dew scampering in from 17-yards out to knot the score at 7-7 with 9:14 left in the second.
From there the Irish would use back-to-back big plays to pull out a 14-point advantage. First, Irish quarterback Paul Kempe would race 49-yards for a touchdown at the 8:53 mark of the quarter, then Akise Teague would return a punt 61-yards at the 7:54 mark to push the Irish lead to 21-7 at the halftime break.
Crestview would go on a desperate march to start the second half traveling from they're own 39-yard to the Irish 22 on 10-plays. Unfortunately, at that point a Carter Hill pass over the middle was picked off and returned to midfield. From there the Irish would make the Rebels pay. Teague would rush in from 21-yards out to give the Irish a 27-7 lead at the 5:15 point of the third quarter.
The Irish would keep the pressure up as they would score again on they're second possession of the third quarter. This time it was a short 4-play drive with Jones running 50-yards for the touchdown. The extra point put the Irish up 34-7 with only 2:35 remaining in the third.
Crestview would keep fighting as they went on a drive that looked like they would pull closer. They would drive from they're own 48 to the Irish 8-yard line using 9-plays. However on a first and goal from the 8-yard line, disaster would stike the Rebels when halfback Adam Britton would have the ball pop out of his arms into the hands of the Irish linebacker Jesse Curry. He would out race the Rebels offensive players going 97-yards for a touchdown and giving the Irish a 41-7 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
Ursuline would add another score at the 6:57 mark of the quarter when they would intercept a second Carter Hill pass and return it 59-yards to the Rebels 21-yard line. It would only take them 2-plays as Jones would score his third touchdown of the evening. It would be a 17-yard scamper as the Irish had built a 48-7 advantage.
Crestview would show a lot of pride as they fought to the bitter end by going on a 8-play drive, covering 75-yards in the final three minutes of the contest with Carter Hill hitting tight end Jacob Thompson on a 8-yard pass with only 37 seconds remaining.
Due to a knee injury and bad ankles, Carter Hill was not able to run as much as the Rebels had hoped, but he completed 17 of 41 pass attempts for 201 yards and 1 touchdown. The Rebels also had running back Andrew Mayer leave the game with what looked to be a possible knee injury. Jesse Dew would lead the Rebels in rushing with 47 yards and a touchdown on just eight carries.
