Boardman’s D pleases Ogilvie

The Spartans blanked Chaney for their second straight win.

By GREG GULAS

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

BOARDMAN — For the second consecutive week, the Boardman High football team scored at least 46 points while exploding for more than 350 yards of offense.

It has been the play of the Spartan defense, however, that has caught the eye of coach D.J. Ogilvie.

Damien Jarrett rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown and Eric Polen added 62 yards and a score Friday as the Spartans toppled Chaney, 46-0, at Spartan Stadium.

“Our offense has really played well the last two weeks, but give credit to our defense as well,” Ogilvie said. “They [Chaney] have skilled backs that we felt would pose problems for us, but our defense was up to the task.”

Leading rusher Tyler Amendola got the Spartans (2-1) on the board first with a 52-yard interception return just 2:32 into the game.

He entered the game as the team leader with 190 yards in the first two contests, but carried the ball just twice for 3 yards before exiting with a knee injury midway through opening period.

“He [Tyler] will have an MRI tomorrow on his knee and we’ll keep our fingers crossed for good news,” Ogilvie said.

Quick lead

Jarrett made it 13-0 with the first of his two scores at 3:20 of the opening stanza.

When Chaney’s punter Anthony Bowell couldn’t handle the high snap from center, he knocked the ball out of the end zone for a safety and a 15-0 Spartans advantage just 12 minutes into the game.

“I got the ball to the 1-yard line three times last week against Toledo Start, yet couldn’t punch it into the end zone,” Jarret said. “Our offense is really clicking right now so it really felt good to finish off those two carries and get the ball over the goal line.”

Senior fullback Eric Polen, whose 50 yards rushing at halftime was just four yards less than the entire Cowboys’ total offensive output in the half, scored on a 5-yard run for a 22-0 Spartans lead at 10:16 of the second period.

Phil Curl’s 33-yard field goal right before the half gave the Spartans a 25-0 advantage.

Huge holes

“Our offensive line opened huge holes all night and our trap blocking seemed to click right from the outset,” Polen said. “We worked really hard in the off-season, we’re always studying our opponents and the team mentality seems to be back.”

Jarrett’s second score at 6:28 of the third quarter then increased the Boardman lead to 32-0 after three periods.

A four yard run by Cameron Shaffer just 2:11 into the final stanza then made it 39-0 in favor of the Spartans and Sam Porter added a 5-yard score with 4:10 remaining.

The Spartans rolled up 246 yards on the ground on 42 carries while quarterbacks Nick Tuminello (7-of-11, 102 yards) and Roby Boyd (1-of-1, 10 yards) combined for 112 yards.

“I cannot say enough about Nick [Tuminello]. Our players follow and respect him and he is the leader of our offense,” Ogilvie said.