Spartans’ defense shuts down ’Bears

Boardman won its third straight game, dropping
Jackson 28-0.

By GREG GULAS

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

BOARDMAN — For the second time in as many weeks, the Boardman Spartans dominated both sides of the football, held their opponent to under 100 yards rushing and won the all-important turnover battle.

The end result: a second consecutive shutout for Spartans, who have now allowed just six total points over their past three outings.

Cameron Shaffer rushed for 99 yards and scored twice while Damien Jarrett added 126 yards and a score to pace Boardman to a 28-0 victory over Massillon Jackson Friday in the Federal League opener for both schools at Spartan Stadium.

“When you win the turnover margin, your chances of winning the game increase dramatically. A stingy defense and an offense that executes only add to that formula,” Spartan coach D.J. Ogilvie said.

“Assistant coaches Mike Popio, Mark D’Eramo and Roger Patterson formulated an excellent defensive game plan. To stop [Carlin] Isles, the fastest player in the state of Ohio, speaks volumes of that game plan.

“[Cameron] Shaffer and [Damien] Jarrett each stepped up since Tyler [Amendola] is sidelined with a knee injury. That is the team concept; when someone is down, another player needs to step up and that is exactly what happened for us tonight.”

Unsuccessful return

The win spoiled the return to the Valley of Polar Bear head coach Thom McDaniels, the highly successful Warren Harding coach who is in his first season with the Federal League school.

“This is a much improved Spartan team over last year, a team that was very competitive in every game and especially in those that they lost a season ago. They’re a veteran team this year,” McDaniels said.

The Polar Bears, who returned just four starters and 10 overall lettermen this season, were held to just 20 rushing yards and 90 total offensive yards on the night.

“We don’t make any excuses and give the Spartans all the credit. We had a hard time finding a play that was successful for us, probed and probed but just weren’t able to shut them [Boardman] down,” he added.

The Spartans scored a touchdown in every quarter, their first coming at the 5:38 mark of the opening period when Shaffer penetrated the Jackson end zone from 4 yards out for the first of his two scores on the night.

When quarterback Nick Tuminello connected with Pat McFall from 21 yards out just 55 seconds into the second period, the Spartans had built a 14-0 advantage at intermission.

The game was also delayed for 49 minutes in the second period due to lightning and rain.

Pulling away

Jarrett’s 89 yard run at 6:39 of the third quarter then increased the Spartan lead to 21-0 while Shaffer’s second score of the night, a 53 yard jaunt with just 53 seconds remaining, closed out the scoring on the night.

“I really felt like I had to pick it up with Tyler on the sidelines. Give all the credit to my offensive line. On my last score, Jordan Paradise followed me all the way to the goal line, leading interference right up to the end,” Shaffer said.

Ogilvie, pleased his team is 3-1, is happier that they started out on the right foot in league play.

“This is a long season but at this stage, while we feel we still have a way to go, we feel like we are pointed in the right direction. The Federal League is a tough league, a league in which you can go 0-6 as fast as you can go 6-0,” Ogilvie added.

The Spartans rushed for 210 yards on 49 carries while holding the Polar Bears to less than a yard per carry (20 yards on 25 carries) on the ground.

The Spartans racked up 249 total offensive yards and held Jackson to just 90 total yards.