By Joe Scalzo

KIRTLAND — In the practices leading up to Saturday’s playoff game against South Range, Kirtland High football coach Phillip Laverde had his sophomore scout team run the Wing-T to give the Hornets’ varsity defense more experience against the Raiders’ primary offense.

“Those younger guys gave our older kids fits,” Laverde said. “They did a great job.”

The Hornets, who lost to the Raiders in the first round of last year’s Division V playoffs, ran up a 14-0 lead early in Saturday’s regional quarterfinal at Kirtland High stadium.

But when South Range senior quarterback Jack Dawson turned a simple off-tackle play into a 65-yard touchdown to make it 14-7 midway through the first quarter, Laverde wondered whether those Wing-T woes would come back to bite him.

“I thought, ‘Here we go again; it’s gonna be a shootout,’ “ he said.

Instead, it was a blowout. Kirtland’s defense recovered, Hornets quarterback Ben Madden took over and South Range had no answer, falling 63-7 for the worst playoff loss in school history.

“Kirtland is a very good team,” said Raiders coach Dan Yeagley, whose worst playoff loss had been to Orwell Grand Valley, 45-6 in 1997. “They’re gonna make a run in the playoffs.”

The Hornets (10-0), who will meet Crestview next Saturday, rolled up 439 yards on the ground and another 152 through the air. Madden carried 15 times for 259 yards and five TDs and added 112 passing.

“He’s a great player, so it doesn’t surprise me,” Yeagley said. “But I’m gonna be a coach here. You’ve got to give a lot of credit to his offensive line. They did a great job all night for him.”

Dawson, a three-year starter and Div. I recruit, finished with 73 yards rushing on nine carries and added 60 yards passing for the Raiders (8-3), whose three losses came to teams still playing (Crestview, Kirtland and Massillon Tuslaw).

“Jack’s a great young man and he’s a great player,” said Yeagley, who has won four straight league titles and advanced to the playoffs six straight years. “We’re gonna miss him. I’m proud of all my seniors. They’re good kids and they worked hard all season.

“They did what a lot of people didn’t think could be done and brought home another league title.”

scalzo@vindy.com