Big second quarter powers St. Henry to state crown, Kirtland and Liberty Center snag crowns
By Keno Sultan
Stark County Prep Press writer
www.starkcountypreppress.com
CANTON--Jeromesville Hillsdale was knocked down early. They got back up. But a big second quarter by the Redskins left the Falcons looking up at the lights on their back.
St. Henry drew the first strike of the game on their second possession when running back Will Speck broke a tackle was into the clear for a 26 yard touchdown and from there the game turned into a rout as St. Henry dominated Hillsdale 37-3 to win their seventh state championship at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
Early on the game appeared to be competitive when quarterback Charlie Werling added on a run to complete the two-point try and the Redskins had an early 7-0 lead.
The Falcons responded with an answer of their own. A spectacular 50 yard catch by Hillsdale receiver Hayden McFadden from quarterback Kael Lewis put the Falcons deep into St. Henry territory. But the drive stalled and Brock Bower's 23 yard field goal truncated the Redskins lead to 8-3 with much of the second quarter to be played.
But St. Henry struck like a bolt of lightning in just one play in what became the quarter of the contest. Werling took a snap and cut to his right and scampered down the right sideline for a 70-yard touchdown run and he added on his second two-point run and the Redskins lead grew to double-digits at 16-3.
Hillsdale was now on the ropes after the Redskins' one punch haymaker. After a Falcons punt, St. Henry went for the knockout as Werling scored on his second keeper, this one spanning 24 yards and with 6:20 before the band show, St. Henry had a stranglehold on the contest in the form of a 23-3 advantage and from there the game was a rout as the Redskins added a seventh state title to their collection.
According to St. Henry coach Josh Werling, the second quarter was everything that the Redskins needed that was advantageous to their cause.
"You have to feel out how they are going to play you and then you adjust accordingly. So once we got those first couple of drives, we executed very well," he said.
For Hillsdale, their bid for a state title was met with another rude ending. Last year they were on the wrong end of a 74-0 loss to Marion Local and this year didn't get any better. Falcons head coach Trevor Cline didn't hold back when asked about the unfairness of how his team should be remembered because of two thunderous losses in the state final
"The things that went our way this year didn't go our way today. That's the way football happens time to time. But I'm extremely proud of our players and the season they were able to put together and to put together back-to-back state championship games speaks a lot of them," he said.
Division VI state championship: Kirtland 41, Bascom Hopewell-Loudon 6
CANTON--It was the John Silvestro show.
Kirtland set the tone for the contest with a nine play drove that concluded with running back John Silvestro scoring on a seven-yard run and in four minutes of competition, the Hornets led 7-0.
It became a portent of things to come for the Hornets as Silvestro added on three more touchdown runs, the highlight, a scintillating 62 yard jaunt and the Hornets returned to the Division VI throne with a - victory over first-time state finalist Bascom Hopewell-Loudon.
It was a much happier ending for the Hornets, who absorbed a debilitating 31-7 loss to Coldwater in last year's final. They made sure this time to leave with the champions trophy and not the runner-up hardware this time.
"They (Hopewell-Loudon) is a very good team, I was not expecting that. I was thrilled how we took care of the ball and ran the ball against a good defense. This was a great way to finish the season," long tenured boss Tiger LaVerde said.
Bascom Hopewell-Loudon general Brian Colatruglio knew what his team was up against having stifled a Kirtland-Coldwater rematch last week by upsetting the Cavaliers in the state semifinals.
"They went down and scored and we got the ball back and got some first downs and we kind of came up short. We've been down before, I thought we settled in and got some stops. Down 14-0 it wasn't the end of the world but we just couldn't get a stop," he said.
Division V state championship: Liberty Center 35, Wheelersburg 3
CANTON--Finally.
After two close losses in the state championship with losses to Lake County Perry and Ironton, Liberty Center had their moment with a decisive 35-3 victory over Wheelersburg in what was the only #1 vs #2 state final to conclude the football season.
Liberty Center cracked the scoreboard when Thomas Mohler scored on a one-yard touchdown to open up the scoring and issue the second-ranked Tigers an early 7-0 lead.
Their lead swelled to two scores when Tigers signal caller Kaden Kreinbrink threw a short over the middle pass to Jaxton Lawniczak, who overcame two missed tackles by Wheelersburg defenders and raced for a 44-yard touchdown that had Liberty Center in command.
The Pirates finally obtained their first points of the game in the form of a successful 45-yard field goal from Cooper Heimbach, ensuring that they were still much in the game.
On the next Tigers possession, they appeared to have scored a third touchdown but a holding flag backed them up 10 yards but they overcame the penalty when Kreinbrink connected to Lawniczak for a 16 yard touchdown in the right corner of the end zone and Liberty Center went to the intermission with a commanding 21-3 advantage.
Garrison Kruse effectively salted the game away with a seven yard touchdown run and the Tigers second state title, their first since 1997 after being on the other end of two state final setbacks. Liberty Center finished 15-0 while Wheelersburg ended the year 14-1.
Keno Sultan is a writer for Stark County Prep Press. He can be reached at 330-445-4575 or email at KenoSultan@hotmail.com.
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