OCC CHAMPIONS! Touchdown in closing seconds propels Dover to outright crown
By Keno Sultan
Stark County Prep Press writer
www.starkcountypreppress.blogspot.com
NEW PHILADELPHIA--Michigan football national championship winning coach Jim Harbaugh said "whose got it better than us? Nobody!"
And no one has it better than the Dover Crimson Tornadoes.
Trailing in the final three minutes of their rivalry contest against New Philadelphia by 10 points, quarterback Dieter Weber threw two touchdown passes to Cooper Connare and a second to Dante Clark in the final seconds as the Tornadoes used a 22-7 fourth quarter advantage to subdue a gritty Quakers team 32-28 in front of a sold-out Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium in the 123rd affair between the two high schools.
On a night where the Tornadoes needed to conjure up some Michigan flavor, it could not have come at a better time as they needed every bit of it against a New Philadelphia team who showed they were every bit the spirit of Ohio State in a game that was every bit as competitive as the rivalry states.
For the first time since 2020, a road team won in the contest. Tornadoes head coach Matt Rees is now 6-0 all time against the Quakers (2-0 as head coach).
"I love working with these guys, our staff, our kids. It's our fight. Sometimes in a game, you start to lose your composure but they fine tuned it in, got back to basics and you could see their growth," Tornadoes general Matt Rees said.
Kolston Fox had a stunning 53-yard run all the way to the Dover 21. Four plays after his run, senior quarterback Parker Rieger tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to the left corner where he found an open receiver and an early 7-0 advantage.
Dover turned to the no-huddle offense and using a diet of strong runs penetrated their way to the Quakers 15 yard line where they settled for a Jacob Noretto 32-yard field goal to shrink the Quakers advantage to just four in what was a fast first quarter.
Dover used the momentum to power their running game deep into the Quakers red zone and with all runs and just one pass spanning 10 plays, fullback Carson McGarry scored untouched on an 11-yard run and their first lead of the contest at 10-7.
New Philadelphia was determined to answer the Tornadoes score. Their offense moved to the 12 yard line and from there, Rieger delivered his second touchdown pass to 6'3" target Lincoln Murphy and the hosts repossessed the lead before the intermission at 14-10.
It proved even more advantageous when the defense came up with a turnover when Tornadoes QB Dieter Weber was stripped of the ball that was recovered by the Quakers and in just one play, Caleb Crowthers ran untouched for a 40 yard scamper and in a matter of 45 seconds, New Philadelphia extended their advantage to 21-10, the score to conclude the half.
On their second possession of the third quarter, Weber threw a pass over the middle to Cohen Murray that spanned 31 yard to the Quakers 15. The drive got all the way to the New Philadelphia one yard line and on fourth down, the Tornadoes turned the ball over when fullback Kyle Reveal just didn't get into the end zone as a tiring Quakers defense held him out of the end zone with Fox getting the first hit.
It did not rattle the visitors. After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Tornadoes were back in business as Weber completed a pass over the middle to junior Dante Clark and spanning 51 yards after missed tackles and they were in reach at the start of the fourth quarter. And they did not miss this time when Weber located Clark in the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown pass and Clark scored a two-point try and had New Philadelphia on their heels as Dover pulled to within 21-18 and momentum clearly on their side.
The Quaker defense was languishing. One bad snap that went awry was recovered by the Quakers and got some much needed breathing room.
One play after the turnover, Rieger tossed a 54-yard bullet to T.R. Harriman deep to the Dover nine-yard line. Three plays later, Rieger took a hand off and scored a four-yard touchdown and put the Quakers up 28-18.
At that point, a potential playoff spot was in reach for the Quakers before everything became undone in the final three minutes.
"This is devastating. I feel terrible for the kids. They worked hard all night and played a pretty darn good game and to come out on the side of this is devastating as you mentioned," a dejected Quaker coach Mike Johnson said.
Dover was able to score on a Weber 15-yard pass to Cooper Connare late to pull within 28-25. A Quaker miscue on the onside kick was recovered by Dover and set up the final sequence as Clark hauled in the decisive four-yard score to provide the final margin in the 123rd contest of the third oldest rivalry in Ohio. Clark now has four touchdowns against the Quakers in two years of varsity competition.
No comments:
Post a Comment