PREPS Irish top squad from Oregon

The Irish posted a 41-23 win over David Douglas High of Portland.
By BOB ROTH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MINERAL RIDGE -- Before a crowd of more than 1,500, the Ursuline High football team evened its record at 1-1 with a 41-23 victory over David Douglas High of Portland, Ore., Thursday night at Mineral Ridge High's stadium.
The Irish capitalized on big-play scoring, thanks to the passing of Daryll Clark, the receiving of Louis Irizarry and the running of Delbert Ferguson.
Ferguson, a 6-foot-2, 217-pound junior, put Ursuline on the scoreboard at the 6:43 mark of the first quarter with a 22-yard scoring run, the first of his three touchdowns.
After holding the Scots on their second possession, Ursuline drove 60 yards in just four plays, with Clark completing a 49-yard TD pass to Irizarry with two minutes remaining in the first quarter.
First of three
It was the first of three Clark scoring passes on the night.
After a David Douglas field goal, Ursuline answered with a nine-play, 50-yard drive which was culminated by Ferguson's second touchdown, a 22-yard screen pass from Clark, with just under six minutes remaining in the second quarter.
But the Scots, pushed by 6-4, 205 junior quarterback Kyle Bennett, answered just before halftime. Bennett completed a 41-yard pass to James Childress on the drive, setting up his 9-yard scoring toss to John Wiseman.
Ursuline led 20-9 at the intermission.
The Irish committed a turnover early in the third quarter, however, and David Douglas capitalized, scoring on a 1-yard sneak by Bennett. That cut the Ursuline lead to 20-16 with 8:20 remaining in the third quarter.
Irizarry stars
The Irizarry, the 6-5, 243-pound Ohio State recruit, took over the contest in many ways.
He had a 48-yard punt that put the Oregon team in a hole, and twice made big solo hits on a three and out series.
Ferguson's 9-yard scoring run, at the end of a four-play, 36-yard drive, put Ursuline back in control of the game with under three minutes to go in that third quarter.
On the next series Irizarry again came up with a big hit, this time on Childress, the senior rusher for the Scots, forcing the visitors to punt.
Penalties pushed Ursuline back to its 20, but Clark and Irizarry teamed up for 83 yards on completions, the second of which covered 57 yards and ended in the end zone, giving the Irish a 34-16 lead.
Gap is closed
David Douglas closed to 34-23 with 4:15 remaining, as Bennett completed three passes for 48 yards before Childress scored on an 8-yard run.
Bennett was 18-of-32 for 219 yards, but suffered a pair of interceptions, the last of which was returned 30 yards for a touchdown by Ursuline senior Terrence Graves.
"I was just happy to get a win because both our coaches and our players worked hard this week and tonight," said Irish coach Dan Murphy.
"There were good things happening for us on both sides of the ball, but we still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do."
Good performance
Irizarry finished with four catches for 137 yards; he also punted four times for a 46 yard average and had four solo tackles, including three for losses.
Clark completed seven of 13 passes for 176 yards and three touchdowns, and he ran for 39 yards on five carries.
"We were a little shaky at the beginning of the second half, but the defense came up big," said Clark.
The Irish held David Douglas to 24 yards on the ground on 23 carries. Brad Borghetti created two fumbles and recovered one of them.