DIVISION IV SEMIFINAL Roller-coaster season reaching its peak

Ursuline starts seven players both ways, but Portsmouth West has nine, and both have good size.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- On the bulletin board inside the Ursuline High football team locker room hang congratulatory letters from area football coaches (including Ohio State's Jim Tressel and YSU's Jon Heacock), Irish alumni and other assorted well-wishers.
Newspapers clippings dot lockers. Posters hang from walls. Players wear smiles.
It's playoff week, and all is well.
"This is a fun time for the kids," Ursuline coach Dan Murphy said. "It's exciting for the coaches and the school and everyone has been very supportive. It's a big week for us."
In a matter of weeks, the Irish have gone from underachievers to heavy favorites. They will play Portsmouth West in Friday's Division IV state semifinal at Sulsberger Memorial Stadium in Zanesville.
Ursuline (8-5) struggled to a 4-5 start to the season and looked like long shots to make the playoffs before slipping into the eighth spot.
The struggles may have been due to a brutal regular season schedule that included Division I teams such as Warren Harding, Lakewood St. Edward, Boardman and Fitch, or simply underachieving.
Which was it?
Little of both
"A little bit of both," junior tailback Delbert Ferguson said. "We did play a very hard schedule, but we could have pulled a lot more games out if we had played better.
"But things are really clicking right now. Just like two years ago."
The Irish went 14-1 in 2000, winning their first state title with a victory over Coldwater in the Division IV title game. Ferguson was a freshman in that game, setting three state title game records. He and senior tailback Terrence Graves, who has Type 1 diabetes and has struggled with an ankle injury this season, lead one of the most dynamic backfield duos in the state.
Ursuline starts seven players both ways, but its opponent, Portsmouth West, starts nine players both ways. Both have good size, but Ursuline has an edge in speed -- Ferguson, Graves, senior tight end Louis Irizarry and senior wideout Isaiah Poindexter can pretty much score from anywhere -- and experience. The Senators (11-2) did not win a playoff game until this season and likely have not yet faced a team as talented as the Irish.
"We're coming together," Ursuline quarterback Daryll Clark said. "We've got really great players like Louis and Isaiah and Walt Lacey and two great running backs and a great offensive line. We're glad to be still playing."
And after struggling early in the season, Ursuline's defense has stepped up, holding teams to just 10 points per game in the playoffs.
"We've gotten better, especially on defense," Irizarry, who plays both ways, said. "During the season, it's tough to play both ways but now you don't want to come out. You know you could be home for the rest of your life."
The Senators come in on a roll, winning nine of their last 10 games . They've avenged both their losses from the regular season -- beating Coshocton and Portsmouth the past two weeks.
No stranger to playoffs
Murphy, a Mooney High graduate who replaced Jim Vivo after last season, is in just his first year as a head coach, but he's no stranger to the playoffs. He was the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Massillon Washington the past four years (the Tigers made the playoffs his last three seasons) and was a senior on Mooney's 1990 state semifinal team.
"I learned quite a bit from Coach [Don] Bucci and Coach [Ron] Stoops [at Mooney] and I think I took a lot away from my experiences there," he said, "and it's nice to have kids with playoff experience on the team."
Ultimately, the Irish want to win it all, but they aren't looking past anyone.
"It's like Coach Murphy said, this is the toughest game of the season," Clark said. "It's easy to lose your focus and look ahead. We have to get over the hump, then we can focus on winning the championship."
scalzo@vindy.com