2010 ITCL Playoff Preview

Division 6 - Region 21 (Friday November 19th - 7:30pm kickoff)

McDonald Blue Devils (10-2) VS Mogadore Wildcats (12-0) @ Twinsburg Tiger Stadium

For the first time in ten years, and fourth time in history, these two storied programs will meet once again in the OHSAA playoffs.  The Wildcats hold a 3-0 margin in the series, including a 35-34 win in 1987, the year that Devils head coach Dan Williams was a senior player on the Devils team. "It was a shoot-out, it was a track meet, back and forth.  It got down to 14 seconds left, we scored a touchdown, and we had an opportunity to tie and go into overtime, or to win the game with a two-point conversion.  The coaching staff decided to go for two and we came up short,"  Williams would recall.   The other two games resulted in a 27-0 win for Mogadore in 1983, and a 18-6 win in 2000.      With McDonald's 14 playoff appearances, and Mogadore's 24, it's hard to believe that these two tradition rich programs haven't tangled more often.  But what ever the case, it should be a game that will feature tradition, pagentry, and small school - old school football.

Last week the Devils won in convincing fashion with a 52-28 win over Dalton, while Mogadore beat a very good Ledgemont team 17-12.  This week it will once again be a game that will feature two programs that LOVE to rush the ball.      Mogadore is predominately a running team, using four different backs, while sprinkling in some passing with different types of routes depending on what the defenses gives them.  The Wildcat philosophy basically comes down to them running the ball and wearing down their opponents while using those four different running backs to stay fresh come the fourth quarter.      Those running backs include senior Jake McAvinew #29 (5'10, 200) and Kyle Cramer #24 (5'6, 160) as the starters, while senior Codey Chance #5 (6'0, 190), and sophomore Gary Strain #36 (6'0, 170) come off the bench to keep the running corps fresh.  The signal-caller for the Wildcats is senior Adam Schrack #4 (6'2, 165), and his top receivers include:  senior Trent Ware #6 (6'0, 150), junior Dustin Owens #17 (6'0, 160), and senior tight end Dylan Natko (6'3, 200).      The Wildcats offensive line may be a little undersized, but they make up for the deficiency with their quickness as they start seniors John Everett #71 (6'5, 205), Tyler Ricci #55 (5'6, 155), Nick Heckert #61 (5'10, 170), Charles Rader #59 (5'10, 190), and sophomore Joe Callihan #57 (6'2, 235).  "This is one of just a few times all year that we out size our opponent, and their backs got good speed too," Williams would say.      Mogadore will use a 4-4 defensive scheme as they try to contain the Blue Devils offensive attack.  The starters for the Wildcats will feature defensive linemen in juniors Zach Heigelman #20 (6'0, 165), and Conner Fay #52 (5'9, 160), and seniors Austin Gilchrist #28 (5'11, 155) and McAvinew.  Linebackers are seniors Kodey Chance, and Joe Scolaro #31 (5'9, 180), junior Michael Duma #21 (5'9, 165), and sophomore Scot Hower #54 (5'7, 165).  Finally, the defensive backs are Owens, Kramer, and senior Ryan Tarter #3 (5'10, 145).

McDonald players courtesy:  The Vindicator Mogadore players courtesy:  RecordPub

The Wildcats almost start totally different players on offense and defense, but they will rotate those players on both sides of the ball.  The use of multiple players allows the Wildcats to keep the undersized players quicker come the fourth quarter. "They're shooting gaps on the defensive line," Williams commented specifically about the smaller defensive line that the Devils will face.      As far as the Blue Devil team,the  offense now has Zach Tura as the tailback as Ryan Vernell has recovered from a shoulder injury earlier this season.  The change in the backfield seemed to help the Devils offense last week as Vernell provided power, while Tura gave the Devils speed to the outside.  Of course Matthias Tayala always gives the Devils a dual threat to either run or pass the ball.      But what really stepped up last week was the defensive play of not only Vernell at his defensive line position, but the play of senior linemen/linebacker Chris Humphreys.  Humphreys had an outstanding game with a fumble returned for a touchdown, a second fumble recovery, and numerous tackles in the win.  The whole key to this game will probably be the defensive units again, as the team that can force their opponent into doing something they don't like will probably come out with a regional crown.      "They know the history, they know the tradition.  We have a great tradion, they have a great tradition.  Two teams with a storied tradition, both teams with over 500 victories in their schools history, their kids and our kids are just going to play hard," Williams remarked.