2008 Ursuline Vs. Kirtland

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Ursuline Regional Champs 08

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By Joe Scalzo

Ursuline rallies for 18-17 win over Kirtland

WARREN — With the game’s biggest play behind him — and not in a good way — and a winter’s worth of sleepless nights ahead of him, Ursuline senior Dale Peterman entered the final three minutes of Saturday’s Division V regional final with a chance at redemption.

He grabbed it.

This was the situation. Ursuline, the state’s top-ranked team, found itself trailing upstart Kirtland by five points in the closing minutes with the Irish facing second-and-10 at the Hornets’ 37 yard line. Irish quarterback Dawalyn Harper connected with Peterman on a simple out route. He caught it, cut back toward the middle of the field and snaked his way to the end zone for the touchdown.

Two minutes later, Irish senior Justin Austin intercepted Kirtland quarterback Ben Madden to seal an 18-17 victory at Mollenkopf Stadium.

“I was thinking in the back of my head, ‘Oh man, if I don’t make a play right here, this whole game is gonna be on me,’ ” said Peterman, who gave up a touchdown from his cornerback position minutes earlier that gave the Hornets the lead. “I knew the defender was gonna go in hard to defend it and I spinned out, cut it up and my teammates had my block.

“I did this for everybody. I did this for my team. I love Ursuline.”

Still, it was much harder than anyone expected. That cold breeze you felt outside late Saturday night? It wasn’t wind. It was a city breathing a collective sigh of relief.

“My emotions were up and down, then up, then down,” said Peterman. “I was like, We got it. No we don’t.

“But we won it in the end.”

Ursuline (13-0) will likely Findlay Liberty Benton in Saturday’s state semifinal at a site to be determined. Liberty Benton, which was ranked third in the state, beat second-ranked Patrick Henry 28-0.

“It feels good to know we’re going back to the state semifinals,” said Austin, whose team fell to Maria Stein Marion Local in last year’s state final. “That [Kirtland] was probably the toughest team we played all year.

“We knew they were good, but we didn’t think they’d be that good. This game is really going to prepare us going into next week.”

Fourth-ranked Kirtland, which entered the game averaging 45 points a game, played more conservatively on offense Saturday, keeping the ball out of Ursuline’s hands in order to shorten the game and control the line of scrimmage. The game plan worked to perfection as the Hornets ran 66 plays to Ursuline’s 33. The Irish also committed 10 penalties for 106 yards (including an inexplicable 20-yard pass interference penalty that left the Irish coaches irate), while Kirtland was flagged just four times for 30.

“That was the only way to stay in the game,” Hornets coach Tiger LaVerde said of the game plan. “I usually call a lot more pass plays, but we needed to run the ball and move the sticks and keep it away from them.”

Kirtland outplayed Ursuline in the first half, but three turnovers — including two inside the Irish 15 yard line — cost the Hornets a chance to take control and they led just 7-6 at halftime. The Hornets outgained Ursuline 174-147 in the first half.

“We thought all week that we could win the game,” said LaVerde, whose team committed four turnovers after going turnover-free in its first two playoff games. “But you just can’t do that [turn the ball over] against a good team. We needed to get points when we got down there [in Ursuline’s red zone.]”

Kirtland senior Dominic Samf recovered a pop-up kickoff to start the game and the Hornets scored three plays later on a 22-yard TD pass from Madden to Anthony Ritossa. The Hornets nearly recovered the next kickoff, but Samf touched the ball before it hit the turf, surrendering possession to Ursuline.

Three plays later, Irish junior Allen Jones rumbled 29 yards to make the game 7-6. Kirtland had a chance to expand the lead on the last play of the first half, but kicker Ethan Lyons was short on a 38-yard field goal attempt.

Ursuline made it 12-7 midway through the third on a 42-yard touchdown run by Jones, who finished with 169 yards on 15 carries. The Hornets answered with 6:28 left in the fourth on a 7-yard TD pass from Madden to Samf with Peterson covering.

On Ursuline’s next offensive play, it snapped the ball over Harper’s head and into the end zone, giving Kirtland a safety and a 17-12 lead. But Ursuline held Kirtland to just one first down on the next series, leading to Peterman’s game-winner.

“I give our seniors credit,” said Ursuline coach Dan Reardon. “There was no panic. The kids have been in tough situations before and they handled it.

“It was nothing short of a roller coaster. We kept playing all night long. You have to play a full game. We knew we were going to face a great football team and we did.”

scalzo@vindy.com