"Blue Devils Capture Another Title"
McDonald - The Devils have become the envy of most programs in the ITCL as they have won their fourth title in a row, and third outright with a 27-0 win against the Southern Indians. Led by the rushing of senior Nick Rota and two interceptions by senior defensive back Stephen Mohamed, the Devils took advantage of Indian mistakes to pull away in the second half.
The two teams battled back and forth in the first half with neither team establishing an advantage. Finally, with 2:50 remaing in the second quarter the Devils would draw first blood with a 8-yard touchdown juant by Zach Tura to give them a 7-0 lead.
On the Indians next possession, the Devils would intercept a Jake Botle pass at the Devils own 45-yard line. Mohamed's pick would give the Devils one more chance to score before the halftime break. However, the Indians would come up with a interception of their own as Eric Baker would make the pick in the endzone for a touchback, and close out the first half with the 7-0 score.
At the start of the second half, the Indians began a good drive, but Rota would pick off an errant deep pass at the Devils own 21-yard line. The turnover seemed to spark the Devils offense as they would drive 79-yards on 11-plays, ending with a 10-yard run by Rota. The score would give the Devils a two score lead at 14-0 with 4:43 left in the third quarter.
The Indians next possession would be an instant replay of the previous as Boyle would have another pass intercepted as Mohamed would make his second theft at the Devils own 13-yard line.
This time the Devils would drive 87-yards on just 6-plays with Matthias Tayala scoring on a 4-yard blast to push the Devils lead to 21-0 at the 1:05 mark of the third stanza. The score was set up by a 52-yard scamper around right end by Rota to the Indians 35-yard line.
The next two possessions for the Indians would end in turning the ball over on downs as they had turned to desperation to get back into the contest. After the second turnover, the Devils would put the final nail in the Indians coffin when Tayala would reverse field and out race the Indian defense around right end to score a 21-yard touchdown run. The extra point would sail wide left as the Devils would settle for a 27-0 win.
On the night, Rota would carry the ball 14 times for 140 yards and one touchdown, while Tayala would rush for 79-yards and two touchdowns. The Indians were lead by Josh Melhorn who rushed for 36-yards, while Zac Puckett also added 21-yards rushing.
The win clinches a playoff spot for the Devils with a possible re-match with Western Reserve a possibility. Southern finishes with a 8-2 regular season record, but they may also be in the OHSAA playoffs depending if they get a little help.
The United Eagles have punched their ticket to the OHSAA playoffs with a very hard-fought 13-6 victory over South Range.
The Eagles defense turned away two Raider fourth quarter drives to preserve the victory, while a touchdown run by Travis Gray would prove to be the difference.
The Raiders defense would keep stand-out quarterback Josh McLaughlin in check most the night, led by defensive lineman Nathan Ruiz. But they would answer a Raider score with two of their own.
The second by Gray would force the Raiders to drive for a winning touchdown late in the game. But the Eagles would pick off a David Buzzacco pass along the sideline to keep the Raiders out of the end zone.
The win pushes the Eagles record to 7-3 and gives them a tie for second place in the ITCL Upper Tier. The Raiders season in all likelihood is over, however they improved from a 2-8 team last year to a 7-3 season and a tie for second place in the ITCL.
The Crestview Rebels outlasted the Mineral Ridge Rams as the Rebs have clinched a second consecutive ITCL Upper Tier championship, and a first round home playoff game next week.
The Rebels used a balanced attack of running and passing as they grabed an early 28-13 lead going into halftime, but the Rams kept battling back lead by their outstanding running back Dan Skiba. But quarterback Carter Hill would lead the Rebels to a 42-25 lead into the fourth quarter.
However, the Rams would score late, at the 2:44 left in the game in an attempt to make things inetersting , but the Rams would not be able to pull any closer in the final mintues.
The win pushes the Rebels record to 9-1, while the Rams fall to 6-4 and a three-way tie for second place in the ITCL Upper Tier.
The league could have had many different senarios take place tonight, but in the end the teams that have been there before proved why they have been so successful. Both Crestview and McDonald took charge of the situation at hand and completed the task with big wins tonight. Crestview's 42-31 win against a stubborn Mineral Ridge team, and McDonald turning back the Southern Indians 27-0 gives both of them outright championships.
One other big game that took place was United getting past South Range 13-6 to give the Eagles a playoff spot next week. It should be noted too that the Raiders turned around from a 2-8 season a year ago to finish 2010 with a 7-3 mark. A remarkable turn around from one year to the next.
In other action from around the league, East Palestine closed the year with a big win against rival Springfield 14-7, and Columbiana now has a little momentum going into 2011 with a big 58-0 thumping of Lisbon. The win for the Clippers helps them avoid their first losing season in the neighborhood of ten years as they finish with a 5-5 mark.
Although it may be anti-climatic now, the Western Reserve Blue Devils finish with a terriffic 9-1 regular season record and clinched a home playoff game with a 44-13 win over Leetonia. Wellsville won the battle of the 'Villes as they came away with a 34-30 hard fought victory over Lowellville, and Sebring closed out the 2010 season with a very impressive 4-6 record by beating Jackson-Milton 40-12. With the year that both Sebring and Southern had, they are truely the feel good stories of this season!
We will certainly have all the who, what, and where as far as the playoff picture is with the ITCL later this weekend, as the OHSAA will announce the pairings this Sunday. We will have previews and cover those games in the next week.