Tornadoes battle bravely but fall short of victory
By Keno Sultan
Stark County Prep Press writer
www.starkcountypreppress.blogspot.com
DOVER--Matt Rees and Shaq Washington brought their respective teams into Crater Stadium for a Friday evening showcase.
The fans got every bit of their money's worth.
In a contest that featured three lead changes with neither team leading by more than eight points, it was a crucial turnover that ended up being the difference as Maple Heights obtained the only Dover turnover of the game in the form of an interception and Marlon Brown's four-yard touchdown on a reverse broke a tie late in regulation and the Mustangs defense held firm, quashing the Tornadoes final rally on their way to a 28-22 victory.
On a night that featured the Tornadoes softball team being praised for their Division III state softball title, not to mention the Tornadoes cheerleading squad winning the Division III state title as well, Dover under first-year coach Rees were hoping to obtain another quality victory, which would have been the first home win for him as their newly minted football coach having succeeded longtime general Dan Ifft.
That will have to wait till next week when Millersburg West Holmes invades Crater Stadium.
Maple Heights didn't have the vaunted scoring barrage they displayed in the second half of last week's 42-16 road win over Lorain in which they did not punt the entire second half as they had just four second half possessions, all of them ending in touchdowns but had just enough in their repertoire to escape, much to the zealotry of their eighth-year head coach, a 2011 graduate of Maple Heights and former wide receiver at Cincinnati.
"It's great whenever you can come out on the road, come together and as a team compete and it's awesome. But we kind of look forward to those challenges," Washington said while being gracious in his compliments of Dover.
Leading the charge for the Mustangs offense was senior quarterback Mike Banks. Showing a prowess that mirrored the play of his head coach, Banks was methodical in throwing and passing while also mixing in hard runs by running back Andrew Cummings-Byrd. Banks got the visitors on the scoreboard with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Marlon Brown, who ripped away a potential interception in the end zone from a Dover defender and their two-point conversion was good.
But the Tornadoes were not deterred by the early deficit. After a Maple Heights personal foul moved the ball to the three, Dover found real estate in the form of a Jack Judkins three-yard touchdown run and they tied the score at 8-8.
Dover maintained the momentum when they came up with a bounced ball for an interception and in just one play, Judkins tossed a 43-yard scoring strike to Hughes. However the extra-point kick hit the crossbar and although the Tornadoes led 14-8, that missed point eventually became an asset for the Mustangs and a torturous detriment for Dover.
"We knew their offense was dangerous and they have athletes and so offensively and defensively along with the special teams game, we need to do our best to minimize their ability to make athletic plays and they did," Rees said. "There were times we had them in third down and fourth down and we just couldn't get the stop and they are athletes. They were more athletic than we were."
Dover appeared to deliver a knockout punch in the third quarter as Hughes scored on a one-yard touchdown run and the Tornadoes had a 22-16 lead. But the Mustangs leaned on their resiliency and it paid dividends when Banks, who was as slippery as a fish wriggled out of multiple tackle attempts and scored a 42-yard touchdown run that equalized the score at 22-22.
That set up the fourth quarter in which the Mustangs were able to truncate the final five minutes of regulation after obtaining possession of the ball via interception, ending with Brown's second touchdown with 49 seconds remaining to capture their second road victory of the season.
The performance of Banks based on his play and skill took Washington back to his prep days when he was the signal caller under Todd Filtz.
"He is a special talent and he is a super competitive player. He battled through adversity early and he came back level headed and he made some huge plays for us," he said. "We just now have to take it one game at a time. We never look too far ahead and I am proud of the guys that they competed for four quarters. We will enjoy this one for 24 hours and then we will get back at it again."
A missed extra point and a two-point conversion amounted to three points left on the field by the hosts. Despite the setback, Dover players left the field to cheers from their partisan crowd, a portent of things to come for the Tornadoes.
They did not obtain the victory that they aspired for but Rees witnessed his team display the toughness that defined Dover football and knows that it is only upward for his legion of Tornadoes.
"You can't look at a loss as a loss of momentum. You have to look at it from a higher view in the form of 'did we fight', 'did we do some of the things we preached in practice'. I told the team that I saw some fighters tonight and it could have been very easy to cash in, so when we look at the film, I have to see the film before I make a true assessment," he said. "When I turn on the film, I am going to see some kids that fought for the duration of the game. And that's the key. We are going to continue to fight and continue to grow."
Matt Rees and Shaq Washington brought their respective teams into Crater Stadium for a Friday evening showcase. While the Mustangs prevailed and the Tornadoes were six points short, the fans got their money's worth all the way to the end.
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