ICL/TCL Dominic sparks Ridge to victory

His big plays rallied the Rams past United, 45-27.
By DAVE DEVEREUX
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MINERAL RIDGE -- After a first half marred by miscues and penalties, the Mineral Ridge High football team came out of the locker room looking to make up for lost time.
The Rams erased a 10-point halftime deficit, scoring 35 second-half points as they rolled past United 45-27 Friday night at E.Z. Whittaker Field.
"The first half we were shooting ourselves in the foot, getting penalties," Mineral Ridge coach Shawn Brown said. "We just cut back on the stupid mistakes and came out in the second half ready to go."
Leading the charge
Senior Greg Dominic sparked the Mineral Ridge rally on two huge scoring plays.
Dominic's first score came on a 67-yard touchdown reception from senior quarterback Chris Ault, which put the Rams in front 24-20 at the 3:12 mark of the third quarter. Ault pump faked, then placed the ball on stride with Dominic as he raced past the defense.
Ault, who completed 10-of-10 passes for 225 yards, said the long bomb to Dominic worked exactly as planned.
"We knew the safety wasn't really backpedaling, he was sitting on the hot route," Ault said. "And Greg's like, 'If we run a pump fake, I can run right by him.' "
Dominic did. However, he wasn't done.
With the Rams leading 31-20 early in the fourth quarter, Dominic got the ball on a handoff, sprinted right then blew by the defenders for an 80-yard touchdown run. Brian Palmer added the extra point to give Mineral Ridge a comfortable 38-20 lead with 11:53 to play in the final quarter.
Dominic finished the game with six receptions for 138 yards while tallying 91 rushing yards on six carries.
"Greg is a fast kid, fastest kid on our team," Brown said. "He just makes things happen."
United in front
Mineral Ridge fell behind 6-0 at the 4:14 mark of the first quarter, when United senior tailback Corey Manfull plunged in from 4 yards out. The Golden Eagles' 15-play, 67-yard drive lasted 5 minutes, 32 seconds.
The Rams answered with a long drive of their own. Senior Levi Leigh's 2-yard run capped off a nine-play, 77-yard drive. Palmer added the placement putting Ridge ahead by one point at the 11:51 mark of the second quarter.
United appeared to grab control of the momentum in the second quarter, as quarterback Mitch Phillis twice connected with Manfull.
After hitting Manfull on a 37-yard scoring strike at the 9:13 mark of the second quarter, Phillis found his favorite target again on a 22-yard touchdown pass.
Trailing 20-10 entering the third quarter, Mineral Ridge struck first at the 8:21 mark when Leigh scampered 31 yards for the touchdown. The run capped a six-play, 74-yard drive.
Leigh added a 5-yard touchdown run at the 2:18 mark of the third quarter, stretching the lead to 30-20.
Leigh finished the game with 12 carries for 102 yards and three touchdowns as the Rams amassed 228 total yards on the ground.
By the numbers
The Rams (2-1) tallied 453 total yards of offense, while United racked up 486 yards.
Phillis hit on 33-of-48 passes for 406 yards through the air, while Manfull recorded 16 receptions for 269 yards. He scored four touchdowns in the game for the Golden Eagles (2-1).
"Last year was a dog fight, we lost 21-20," Ault said. "And we knew that they were a better team and we were a better team, so we had to put on our game face tonight."
United will try to bounce back next week against Tri-County League foe, Leetonia. Mineral Ridge begins Inter-County League play against Western Reserve.