Tornadoes steel themselves for second affair with Steubenville
By Keno Sultan
Stark County Prep Press writer
DOVER--Jake Adkins is not a prophet.
But his prediction of who would win the Ohio Cardinal Conference was not only accurate but biblically prophetic.
It is only fitting when his Louisville Leopards departed Crater Stadium with a 15-14 walk-off victory over the host Dover Tornadoes that it came from the leg of reliable kicker Parker Daum.
The Tornadoes were 1-2 and at a crossroads when an unforeseen situation rippled through the community and the season might have understandably spiraled downhill. Adkins unflinchingly said they would win the conference outright after his Leopards improved at the time to 2-1 and never wavered on his prediction.
With a nine-game winning streak not to mention winning the conference outright in their first season, Tornadoes coach Matt Rees might want to invite Adkins over for a root beer.
That invitation is currently on hold as the Tornadoes are one of 16 teams remaining in the Division III playoffs and have a chance to take the next step to a regional final next week. But for that to happen, they will have to make a second trip to Harding Stadium to oppose a loaded Steubenville squad who inflicted a 43-13 setback on Dover 11 weeks ago in the same site of Friday's regional semifinal.
In that game, Dover quashed two running clocks after facing 30-point deficits, one in the first half. That is something Rees took from his team's competitiveness and feels that may be advantageous to his legion of Tornadoes.
"I saw fight in the kids that they were going to play four quarters and you saw that also in games against West Holmes and New Philadelphia and that they are going to fight for the man next to them and each other," Rees commented.
Under 46th year head coach and 77-year-old veteran Reno Saccoccia, Steubenville has been the measuring mark of success in winning four state playoff titles and making deep and consistent runs on a yearly basis and making Harding Stadium a nightmare for opposing teams.
Jackson (Jackson County) found out the hard way as the Big Red showed no rust off a bye week in a 47-17 melting of the Ironmen in their second-round contest. Steubenville currently is holding a five-game winning streak.
Rees got a first glance of how Big Red football is played in a 63-34 home loss as that contest became a boat race that parlayed right into the open hands of Steubenville. It was then that the 2004 Dover graduate and longtime defensive coordinator knew what made Big Red the force they are in competition.
"They are well coached and they execute very well and they do it with precision. They are a great program and they are very established," Rees said.
Dover isn't bad themselves. In their last two tournament games, they have outscored Columbus South and Athens by a score of 82-7, routing Athens by an impressive score of 41-0 on the road at Joe Burrow Stadium.
Much of why the Tornadoes have momentum going into this semifinal has a lot to do with their gnashing defense. With only West Holmes, Wooster, and New Philadelphia being the outliers, no other team has scored more than 21 points on them. Rees says a lot of that has to do with his battalion of Tornadoes flying to the ball and getting hats on players.
"Our team concept on defense is to play hard every game. Our defense is able to execute and make plays," he said.
A key result to Friday's game will be to minimize the possessions of Big Red and control the clock. If Dover can generate drives of ten plays or more and conclude them with touchdowns, an upset may be brewing in the kettle. At the same time, the Tornadoes cannot suffer any turnovers, something they have distanced themselves from the last two weeks as they survived two of them against New Philadelphia three weeks ago.
Playoff situations also can bring out the best of teams or the worst of them in terms of adversity. Overcoming adversity is nothing new to a Dover team whose season nearly became undone in the face of an unimaginable situation, two of them to be exact with the other occurring during the rivalry week with the Quakers. And had Dover lost their rivalry contest at Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium and split the OCC title with West Holmes if not for an incredible comeback in the final three minutes of regulation, everyone outside of Dover would have understood.
But the strength of Dover is the community bond and a strong district with strong educators and administrators. The football team took the eight count on the canvas, got back up swinging and were rewarded with a nine-game winning streak.
The play of quarterback Dieter Weber along with tough and bruising backs in Cohen Murray and Carson McGarry (who goes both ways) along with the kicking power of Jacob Noretto and the flashy Dante Clark, they have and the rest of their teammates have shown that Dover is a team that if they have to will take the eight count to recover. But taking the full 10 count is not an option in Dover or the Dover City Schools according to Rees.
"The message we send to our players is that you're going to face adversity. How do you respond to it? You can either run into it or your can run away from it. We focus on the next play and what happened the previous play, you have to let it go and move forward," he noted.
The winner of Friday's game will play for a regional title next week against the winner of Newark Licking Valley and Columbus East.
The deepest run Dover had was back in 2013 when they advanced to a Division III state semifinal before succumbing to eventual back-to-back state champion Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary. This Dover team has the look of that squad right now.
And Rees likes where they are at late in the season.
"I love these players. They are very coachable and you've seen that, Columbus South for one. We were able to execute our sets with precision and that is what we have to do this week against Steubenville," he said. "These moments you don't take for granted."
Rees also made sure to tip a glass to Adkins and his flawless prediction.
"I have a lot of respect for Jake as a head coach. He is great for the Louisville program and they are in great hands. Our players embraced those expectations, not parted from them," he said.
Jake Adkins may not be a prophet. But his prediction of the Tornadoes winning the OCC and playing deep into the season was biblically prophetic to the point where a greater success might await them Friday night in Harding Stadium.
No comments:
Post a Comment