The Irish have found Klinefelter Field to by a very lucky place over the years.

By TOM WILLIAMS

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — Ursuline High football coach Dan Reardon wasn’t upset to hear that his Irish football team would be returning to Canton Central Catholic’s Klinefelter Stadium.

“It’s a great facility,” said Reardon whose Irish won their second-round playoff game at Klinefelter Stadium two weeks ago. “We have some familiarity with the place and hopefully that makes our kids feel much more at home.”

Friday at 7:30 p.m., Ursuline (11-2) will take on Columbus Bishop Ready (12-1) in a state Division V semifinal. The winner will advance to the state title game which will be played on Nov. 30 at 11 a.m. at Massillon’s Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.

The Irish have a pleasant history playing at Klinefelter Stadium. In Ursuline’s Div. IV state championship season in 2000, the Irish won their Week 12 and Week 14 playoff games at Canton Central Catholic’s field.

Asked if it’s a good omen to be playing there, the fourth-year Ursuline coach replied, “I guess it is. We’re happy to be playing where we are.”

Like the Irish, the Silver Knights have some size up front.

“They run the wing-T offense and use a lot of misdirection,” Reardon said.

Two of the Silver Knights weight in about 290 pounds.

“They’re brothers — one is 6-3 and the other is 6-4,” Reardon said. “They are both very talented and very big. The rest of the line has more traditional size.”

Ursuline’s line is led in size by tackle Harold Coates (327). Others are Michael Herns (279), Justin Brown (263), Ryan Kelly (228) and Michael Paul Jenkins (287) who injured a leg in the Region 17 title game.

Like the Irish, the Silver Knights have shown they can score a lot of points.

“I don’t know if there is any one victory that jumps out, maybe the one over Lima Central Catholic,” Reardon said, “but they have 12 wins and most are lopsided. That’s what’s impressive — they’ve played a very high-level schedule.”

The Knights defeated Lima Central Catholic, 17-12, their closest margin of victory. Their loss was to Plain City Jonathan Alder (27-20).

Their wins against teams that finished above .500 were against Riverside (68-0), Nelsonville-York (47-0) and Notre Dame Catholic (53-6).

In the playoffs, the Knights defeated Belpre (48-0), Johnstone-Monroe (34-14) and Fredericktown (35-7).

The Irish also have blowout victories against teams with strong records. All were in the playoffs: Bedford St. Peter Chanel (43-0), Apple Creek Waynedale (29-6) and previously unbeaten South Range (31-7).

Practicing in Week 14 has the Irish excited.

“This is a really big step from the past couple of years when we didn’t get to the playoffs or didn’t make it out of the first round,” sophomore running back Allen Jones said. “This is a big step in the process, so we’ll continue to fight.”

Kelly said, “I can’t even describe what this is like. From two years ago going 3-7, last year’s 5-5 and this year... Everybody talks about how the teams we play have so much heart, but I think we have the most heart I’ve ever seen on any team.”

williams@vindy.com