It’s Ursuline’s first title bid since 2000.

By TOM WILLIAMS

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

CANTON — Not much went right for the Ursuline High football team’s offense in the first half of Friday’s Division V state semifinal against Columbus Ready.

The big Irish linemen were struggling to open holes and midway through the second quarter, Silver Knights cornerback Mark Louks picked off a Lamar McQueen pass at the Ursuline 31 to set up the game’s first score.

With 1:36 to go before halftime, Ready quarterback Brock Brown hit wideout Stevie Christman with a 5-yard touchdown and the Irish hopes for a state title game were in jeopardy.

But from that moment on, pretty much nothing went wrong for Ursuline, beginning with a bad snap on an extra-point kick and a six-play, 74-yard touchdown march before halftime that turned the game around.

Quarterback Lamar McQueen hit wide receiver Ross Revella in stride in the back of the end zone for the tying touchdown.

“It was a go-route,” Revella said of his 23-yard reception.

“I told Lamar on the play before that I was wide open. When I saw the ball in the air, my first thought was to keep my feet in the end zone.”

In the second half, the Irish took advantage of a costly Silver Knights fumble for an eight-point lead, then turned the game over to their power running game.

Allen Jones’ 91 yards in the fourth quarter helped Ursuline win, 28-6, to earn the Irish their first title bid since the 2000 team won the Div. IV crown.

“It felt good running downhill in the second half,” said Darrell Mason who rushed 15 times for 101 yards.

“My line was running downhill with me.”

Ursuline coach Dan Reardon said his staff felt the line wasn’t performing at its best in the first half and challenged them in the locker room.

“[The Silver Knights] took advantage of a turnover and we gave them good field position,” the fifth-year Irish coach said. “That was kind of the story of the first half — we had a lot of unforced errors, between penalties and one turnover. They capitalized.”

The difference came when Harold Coates, Justin Brown, Ryan Kelly, Danny Baco, Michael Herns and Carlo Eggleston began asserting themselves in the third quarter.

“We were able to run them down a little bit and that’s they type of running back that Darryl Mason is,” Reardon said. “He’s much better in the fourth quarter than he is in the first.

“He’s been like that all year for us. He’s a big strong kid with the ability to cause missed tackles.”

With Ursuline leading 7-6 in the third quarter, the pressure mounted on the Silver Knights (12-2) when Jamel Turner downed John Colla’s punt at the Ready 1.

Two plays later, Ready running back Colin Leidinger was stripped of the ball and Dominque Cole fell on it at the Ready 1.

“All through the playoffs, our defense has played very, very well,” Reardon said. “It was no different tonight.”

Defensive ends Turner and Brown applied constant pressure on Brown.

“They’ve spoiled me, quite frankly,” Reardon said.

“They are outstanding defensive ends.”

It took the Irish three tries but Mason carried the football into the end zone for a 14-6 lead.

The fourth quarter was all Irish, with Mason and Dwight Wright each scoring 1-yard touchdowns. Jones carried the ball nine times for 91 yards as the Irish wore down the Ready defenders.

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williams@vindy.com