By Tom Williams

MASSILLON — The seed for the Ursuline High football team’s Division V state championship was planted a year ago when the Irish finished runner-up to Marion Local.

“We were at the big stage before,” senior wide receiver L.J. Stevens said. ”There was a lot to motivate us.”

In 2007, Dan Reardon’s Irish waltzed through four playoff games before losing 20-14 to Marion Local.

Following Saturday’s 21-0 victory over Findlay Liberty-Benton at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium, several players admitted the ’07 loss left “a bad taste” in their mouths and helped motivate the Irish to an unbeaten season and the school’s second state championship.

“We learned from our seniors last year that we didn’t want the feeling [of coming close] in the back of our minds the rest of our lives,” senior defensive back Justin Austin said. “They can’t come back and do anything about what happened last year. We didn’t want it to [happen to] us.”

Senior linebacker Alex Menton, who sat out his junior season recovering from an injury, said this year’s team was inspired by “seeing those seniors last year give it all they had and end up coming short about six points.

“On the sidelines [in ’07], I was saying that if we make it this year, I don’t want that to happen my senior year,” Menton said.

Lineman Matt Krause said the graduates had advice during the team’s preparations.

“There were a bunch of guys from that team who were seniors telling us we’d never get a chance to come back,” Krause said. “We didn’t want that feeling in our gut.”

Reardon, the Irish’s fifth-year coach, said going through the intense focus of championship week in 2007 benefitted him.

“Personally, having been through it last year, this year was easier,” Reardon said. “There are so many distractions and so forth that come along when you get into a game of this magnitude.”

Unlike the Irish, who were playing in their second straight state final, the Eagles (14-1) qualified for the title game for the first time. Two years ago, Liberty-Benton lost in the state semifinals.

“I think we as a team handled it better this year having been through it one time,” Reardon said. “It’s a big, big game. There’s more media, more boosters, more family wanting to come to the game and get a ticket. I had probably 400 people [ask] me for a sideline pass and the state gave us 20.”

But Reardon felt “having been through it doesn’t affect how you play in the game.”

Ursuline’s championship victory was a lot closer than the three-touchdown margin indicates. Senior running back Allen Jones broke through the Eagles’ line early in the third quarter and ran 59 yards for the game’s only offensive score.

With time running out, Eagles quarterback Aaron Craft started making desperation tosses. Dale Peterman (44 yards) and LaVance Turnage (40 yards) intercepted two of them and scored touchdowns.

“To come to the sideline and see all those smiling faces, it feels so good,” Peterman said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

The low score surprised Reardon.

“I thought there were some things that we thought we would be able to take advantage of,” Reardon said of the Eagles defenders. “Clearly, we were not as successful as we thought we would be.”

Ursuline was limited to 152 total yards. A more significant number was the points allowed by the Irish defense.

Asked the last time his high-flying team was blanked, Liberty-Benton coach Tim Nichols said he didn’t know.

“It’s been a while,” Nichols said.

Craft and his teammates said Ursuline’s speed on defense was a challenge.

“We have a big sign in our locker room that says if you can’t run, you don’t belong on the field,” Reardon said. “These guys bought into that — they attacked the football.”

At the postgame press conference, Krause heard Reardon’s words and couldn’t resist shouting “Pursuit” in honor of the drill the Irish practiced to shut down opponents, prompting big laughs from his senior teammates.

“In high school football there are so many great things that it teaches,” Reardon said. “The one negative is that there are only six teams that get this feeling at the end of the season. Everybody else is left a little disappointed.”

This year, it’s the Irish’s turn to celebrate.

williams@vindy.com