Ursuline runs away with region

By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
AUSTINTOWN -- It was thought the only chance the Girard High football team would have against Ursuline in Friday night's Division IV regional final would be to outscore the Irish.
That meant a high-scoring battle could be the Indians' salvation.
And in fact, both Girard and the Irish appeared headed in that direction early when they each scored seven points with the game just less than a minute old on a rainy night at Falcon Stadium.
But although the Indians had ample opportunities to score, thanks in part to their staunch defense, they failed to capitalize.
Ursuline didn't, however, and behind a balanced ground attack led by Delbert Ferguson, the Irish rolled to a 31-14 win before 7,000 fans and into a state semifinal game next week.
Their opponent and game site will be announced Sunday.
Ferguson stars
Ferguson plowed over the wet and muddy turf for 204 yards in 23 carries and two touchdowns on dashes of 83 yards and 1 yard to power the Irish (8-5).
He was able to overshadow ace quarterback Matt Zuppo of Girard (11-2), who virtually was the Indians' entire offense. Zuppo was 11-for-25 passing for 172 yards and had all of the Indians' ground attack with 14 yards in 16 runs.
Zuppo hit Nick Canterino on three passes for 93 yards and Nick Shirey on three throws for 50 yards.
"Our coverage got busted [on Zuppo's TD pass], but after that we adjusted," said Ursuline coach Dan Murphy. "We used a lot of defensive backs with zone coverage. We had seven or eight guys covering him [Zuppo]."
Murphy credited Ferguson and Terrell Washington for strong play in the secondary to counteract Zuppo's aerials.
"We played extra defensive backs," he pointed out, actually lauding the entire secondary.
Murphy said Ursuline relied on its ground attack and Ferguson over the sloppy terrain.
"The weather conditions benefited us. Your ground game benefits from a sloppy field," said Murphy. "We kept the ball on the ground."
Girard scores first
After Zuppo hit Canterino on a 48-yard pass on the first play of the game, and then hit him again on a 23-yard TD strike on the second play, capped by Jon Raidel's placement, Ursuline retaliated quickly.
The Irish tallied on their first play as Ferguson sprinted 83 yards to a TD, and Nick Royer added the placement to make it 7-7 at 11:05.
And while Girard's offense stalled the rest of the opening period, Ursuline went on to click on two more drives.
First, Ferguson scored from the 1 and Royer hit the placement at 4:49 to cap a 36-yard, 10-play drive that was set up by a bad snap from the Girard center.
Then Royer kicked a 37-yard field goal at 1:17 of the first period to climax a 67-yard, six-play drive.
However, Girard finally got untracked and countered with a 68-yard, eight-play march to Zuppo's 1-yard TD plunge and Raidel's placement at 5:18 of the second period to pull the Indians within 17-14.
Graves delivers
But Ursuline came back with a 56-yard, 13-play scoring march that ended on Terrence Graves' TD run from the 2, and Royer added the placement to push the Irish ahead by 24-14 in the waning seconds of the first half.
In the third quarter, Girard forced Ursuline to punt three straight times, but with nothing to show for the opportunities, fumbling after the third chance at its 46.
Then Ursuline covered the 46-yard distance in 10 plays to Washington's 8-yard TD dash and Royer's kick to make it 31-14.
Girard also failed to capitalize in the last quarter. The Indians got to the Ursuline 13, but Zuppo was sacked by Dom Cutrone at the 17.
Ursuline punted three straight times, but Girard was unable to mount any offense.
Believes schedule helps
Murphy believes his team benefited from a strong schedule that inflicted five losses on the Irish.
"The strength of our schedule helps us in the playoffs," said Murphy.
Graves contributed 40 yards rushing in 13 carries and one TD on 2 yards for Ursuline, while quarterback Daryll Clark was 4-for-10 passing for 47 yards.
The Irish finished with 284 yards in 51 plays and 14 first downs.
Girard had 10 first downs.
kovach@vindy.com