LEOPARDS DEFEAT IRISH, 6-0

The Leopards now face Cardinal Mooney.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
AUSTINTOWN -- When two high school football teams teams are playing great defense, they have to take advantage of whatever scoring opportunities come their way.
Ursuline had two scoring chances in the first quarter at the Liberty 18 and 20, and failed to capitalize.
Liberty had one great opportunity on its first offensive series of the third quarter thanks to an 88-yard, 13-play drive, and made good on it as quarterback Brian Jones dashed the final 3 yards to the only score of the game.
The result was Liberty's 6-0 victory over Ursuline in a Division IV regional semifinal game Friday night at Falcon Stadium, advancing the Leopards (11-1) against Cardinal Mooney (9-2) next Friday night in a regional final at 7:30 at a site to be determined.
Mooney advanced with a 42-13 win over Chagrin Falls Friday night in the other Division IVregional semifinal.
Trenches determine outcome
The major difference in the Mooney-Liberty game was that the Leopards won the battle of the trenches.
Both teams came in averaging about 30 points a game, but Liberty bottled up Ursuline's outstanding runner Alex Allen, and Irish quarterback Scooter Hargate had trouble hitting his receivers. Ursuline had no other offensive weapons to turn to, and were stymied.
Whereas on Liberty's scoring drive, the Leopards had a good mix of offense with several players contributing different ways. The march was led by Jones' passing and Dania Gillam's rushes after he replaced injured Chris Harden in the second quarter.
"We played great team defense and we had great pursuit to the ball," said coach Jeff Whittaker of Liberty, emphasizng that the game was, "Won or lost in trenches. We did a great job in the third quarter [coming] off the ball."
Whittaker, in his 10th year at the helm, said his offensive line paved the way during the scoring drive.
"We knocked them off the ball. That's why we were able to score," said Whittaker, calling the victory "the greatest win of my career."
First-year coach Dan Reardon of Ursuline said his offense failed, although he felt that the defense played pretty well considering Liberty came in as a high-scoring team.
"The bottom line was their defensive line controlled the game," said Reardon.
And, "We couldn't get our running or passing game going tonight. They have so many guys that can handle the ball effectively. We did not play a good offensive game."
Opportunity came early for Ursuline on the first offensive series of the game, as the Irish, keyed by Derrick Stewart's 32-yard run on a reverse on Allen's five runs for a combined 32 yards, drove to the Leopards' 18 only to sputter and lose the ball on downs.
Than in the second quarter on a Liberty punting situation, the Leopards interfered with the receiver and Ursuline got the ball at the Liberty 45. Behind Allen's runs, the Irish drove to the 20 where Allen fumbled and John Humphrey of Liberty rceeovered to foil the Irish bid.
Liberty's only threat in the first half came on its first offensive series of the game on a 44-0yard drive that stalled on the Ursuline 35.
But to start the second half, Gillam's runds and Jones' passes spearheaded a drive from the Leopards' 12 to Jones' 3-yard TD dash at 5:13 of the thgiurd quarter.
Gillam finished with a game-high 107 yards rushing in 24 carries while Jones was 5-for-10 passing for 50 yards. Harden had 3 yards in seven runs.
Allen rushed for86 yards in 21 carries, but he was stopped in the second with minus 4 yards rushing in seven carries. Hargate was only 3-for-10 passing for just 9 yards.
Libertry had 239 total yards to Ursuline's 127.
"We didn't do anything differently on defense," said Whittaker. "We played a good inside-outside defensive game and we were pressing up the lanes."
But, "We played good defense all year. There was no difference. [Except] we were more patient."
Reardon said Liberty's "linebackers were very active. They did a little bit of stunting and it was tough to pick up."
But overall, "They controlled the game up front. They were a better team up front than we were."
kovach@vindy.com