"The Streak Continues"
Berlin Center - For the past 20 years the Western Reserve program has never known what it was like to beat McDonald, That would be nearly two generations of students that have walked thru the halls at WR. Tonight those frustrations continue as McDonald kicked a 21-yard field goal by Will Robison with 8:22 remaining in the game to give them a 15-13 victory.
Lead by their quarterback Matthias Tayala, McDonald came back from a 7-6 halftime defecit to win a game that secures the Devils a share of the Lower Tier title. Tayala would rush for 103 yards, and hit 7 of 17 passes for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The game had an inauspicious beginning for Tayala when he threw an interception on McDonald's first possession at the Reserve 14-yard line. However, Reserve could not take advantage of the turnover, and the two teams exchanged possessions twice before McDonald finnaly drew first blood.
Late in the first quarter McDonald started a drive at their own 30-yard line, and drove 70-yards on 10 plays when Tayala hit Miles Dunlap for a 22-yard pass. The pass would be tipped, but Dunlap's good concentration allowed him to pull in the pass to give the Devils a 6-0 lead as the extra point was blocked.
That scored seemed to wake Reserve's offense up as they drove down the field quickly as they marched 75-yards on 7 plays, ending on a 5-yard touchdown run by Donnie Bolton. With the extra point Reserve grapped a slim 7-6 lead with 8:32 remaining in the half.
Both teams would threaten to score again just before halftime, but Reserve would have a pass intercepted by Stephen Mohamed at the McDonald 20-yard line with just 1:01 left in the quarter. McDonald would throw an incomplete pass as time expired in the first half from the Reserve 32-yard line to turn away their scoring chance as the halftime score remained 7-6 Reserve.
Reserve started the second half with an impressive drive, however it fizzled out at the McDonald 36-yard line and they were forced to punt. That is when Tayala seemed to take over the ball game. He would lead McDonald on a 80-yard, 9-play drive resulting in a 18-yard touchdown pass from Tayala to Nick Rota with 4:17 remaining in the third quarter. McDonald would attempt a two-point conversion try, but Tayala would come up short of the goal line on a run around left end.
Reserve would answer right back. They would take the ball on their own 26-yard line and drive 74-yards on 10 plays, scoring on a 20-yard pass from Jeff Clegg to Tim Cooper as Reserve jumped back ahead with a 13-12 lead, as the extra point would sail wide left.
McDonald would not be fazed as they would put together another impressive drive as they would travel 56-yards to the Reserve 4-yard line on 11-plays. Faced with a fourth and goal from the 4-yard line, Coach Williams decided to give Robison a chance to kick a field goal despite the blocked extra point earlier in the game. He would boot the ball through the uprights giving McDonald a 15-13 lead at the 8:22 point of the fourth quarter.
Reserve would threaten twice in the final eight minutes of the game. The first ended with an incomplete pass on fourth and five at the McDonald 36-yard line with 7:01 remaining in the game. The second, and last effort, would end on another incomplete pass of a fourth and eleven play at the McDonald 37-yard line with only 56 seconds left in the game. The long yardage attempt came as a result of a timely sack by McDonald's linebacker Nick Rota.
For Reserve, Riley Sheptock led the attack with 90-yards rushing, and 7 receptions for 91-yards, while Donnie Bolton also had 68-yards and a touchdown.
This week the Lower Tier was in the spotlight as the proverbal championship game was played between the two undefeated contenders in McDonald and Western Reserve. With McDonald pulling out a 15-13 win against Reserve, they not only have locked down at least a share of the league title, but they have extended their winning streak against Reserve to 24-games. In addition, they may have sneaked back into the OHSAA playoffs.
Also in the Lower Tier, Southern shares second place by knocking off Sebring 34-6. The win moves the Indians into a second place tie with Reserve, with a shot to get sole possession of second place next week. Elsewhere, Wellsville climbed out of the league's basement with a hard-fought 39-29 win over Jackson-Milton, and Lowellville improved its record to 5-4 with a 30-18 win over an injury-riddled Leetonia squad.
With the Upper Tier leadership decided last week, it was up to Mineral Ridge and Columbiana to battle to see who can move up in the standings. The Rams finally snapped a six-game losing streak to the Clippers by winning a 35-32 battle at Firestone Park. The win sets up a game next week against Crestview in which the Rams will still have a shot at sharing a league title.
In other games, Crestview rolled over Lisbon on senior niight with 68-6 victory, helping to set up that encounter with the Rams next week. South Range likewise, won on senior night by beating East Palestine 48-6, while United was able to down the Springfield Tigers 34-21 to hang onto third place in the league.
Next week will see league titles handed-out, while other teams will battle for playoff spots. However, many teams will just play their hearts out for pride as this will be their last chance to put the pads and helmet on. It should be exciting and we will will provide a full recap of the league and playoff foecast next week.