CHANEY Cowboys march but miss points

Chaney lost to Louisville, 17-7, despite a 200-yard rushing performance and a lopsided time of possession.
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LOUISVILLE -- The gameplan was working: Control the ball with the running game, take time off the clock and keep the opponent's offense on the sideline.
There were just two problems that confronted the Chaney High football team Friday: by the time the Cowboys made the gameplan effective, they were already trailing Louisville, and the City Series champions couldn't convert their second-half chances into points.
The result was a 17-7 loss to the unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Leopards in a Division II, Region 7 quarterfinal game at Louisville High Stadium.
Final record
Chaney's (7-4) season ended despite a 200-yard rushing performance and a nearly 2-to-1 ratio in time of possession.
"We were trying to keep the ball out of their hands," Chaney coach Ron Berdis said. "There's no disguising; that's what we've done for our success this year -- run the football.
"We picked our shots throwing it ... we're not a prolific passing team," Berdis said. "We got where we needed to be; we just didn't push it across."
With the second-half kickoff, the Cowboys drove from their 35 to the Louisville 4 in 11 plays and nearly 6 minutes.
They overcame two fumbles on the drive and converted a fourth-and-1 at their own 44 to do so. But on fourth-and-goal from the 4, quarterback Justin Hood's pass for Andrew Bowell was broken up in the end zone by Louisville's Marc Zustin.
"[At halftime] we talked about getting that first possession and getting within a field goal," Berdis said. "For us to be down there with a lot of clock [remaining], I think that would have really put some wind in our sails. We just missed getting in; we mishandled the ball a little bit down there."
The Leopards were able to the move to the Chaney 27 before the Cowboys' Salih Robinson recovered a fumble.
Again Chaney marched, this time to the Leopards' 5, but on fourth-and-2 tailback Ed McElroy was stopped a yard short. That drive consumed 19 plays and 9 minutes, 50 seconds, yet still came up empty.
Pickoff
Chaney got one more possession, but John Stallings intercepted Hood at the goal line.
"We took advantage of some of the things that they do defensively," Berdis said, "but they made a couple more plays than we did."
McElroy finished with 146 yards on 30 carries as Chaney rushed for 202 yards. Hood added 48 yards and a touchdown on 14 attempts, and was 4-for-11 passing for 52 yards.
Louisville (11-0), the champion of the Northeastern Buckeye Conference and the region's top seed, will play Olmsted Falls in a semifinal Friday at a site to be announced Sunday.
With 1,000-yard rusher Curtis Elsass still recovering from ACL surgery (Coach Paul Farrah elected not to play the senior on the turf he described as "slippery"), the weight of the Leopards' no-huddle attack fell on the shoulders of senior quarterback Gary Whaley.
He responded with 231 total yards -- 194 through the air on 16 of 26, and another 37 on 10 rushes, which include touchdown scampers of 5 and 28 yards.
"That [first] goal line stand was huge," Farrah said. "We're only 180 pounds, 190 pounds, going against that fullback and those tight ends. We just kept crashing our ends and bringing our linebackers and let the chips fall where they may."
Senior Mike Batdorff rushed for just 26 yards, but he caught six passes for 65 yards. Whaley also completed four passes to Justin Boudler.
"I'm really proud of our kids; we lost four tough ball games [this season] and we were kind of here unexpectedly," Berdis said. "I just asked them to leave it all on the field. I thought they played their tails off."