By Joe Scalzo

Ursuline and Liberty Union do it with defense

111Instead, he spent a lot of time looking at his defense.

“We ended up with 32 snaps and two kneel-downs, which is about half as many as we normally get,” said Reardon, whose defense played 66 snaps. “We never got to the second part of our game plan because of the lack of plays.”

He’s hoping his offense will be a lot busier this Saturday as the top-rated Irish (13-0) take on unranked Baltimore Liberty Union (12-1) in a Div. V state semifinal in New Philadelphia.

Ursuline enters the game as a heavy favorite, having just won its second straight regional title and sixth in school history. The 2000 Div. IV state champs are 22-12 all-time in the playoffs.

Liberty Union, meanwhile, won its first regional title last weekend despite gaining just 55 total yards against Columbus Ready, last year’s regional champ.

The Lions are 6-2 all-time in the postseason, with their last appearance coming in 1999. Of the eight teams remaining in Div. V last week, they were the only ones not making their second straight postseason appearance.

Still, Liberty Union is a senior-led team that has worked hard to get this far, said Lions coach Dan Johnson.

“The seniors are the guys who have really dedicated themselves,” said Johnson, who said several players gave up winter sports to work on offseason conditioning.

Their dedication continued through the spring — most of the players participated in sports — and, especially, the summer.

“Last summer when guys didn’t come to workouts, they’d go knocking at their doors,” Johnson said.

Like Ursuline, Liberty Union is a run-first team that relies heavily on its defense to win games. The team’s second-leading tackler, Blake Schooler, was hurt two weeks ago and will miss Saturday’s game. Leading-tackler Shane Little, who plays middle linebacker, guard and is on the kickoff team, leads a defense surrendering just eight points per game.

Ursuline’s defense, led by district defensive player of the year Jamel Turner, is surrendering just nine points per game against much tougher competition. The Irish didn’t play a Div. V team until the playoffs began and seven of their 10 regular season opponents were in Div. III or higher. By contrast, nine of the Lions’ 13 opponents were in Div. V or VI.

The Irish haven’t been this big of a favorite in a state semifinal since, well, 2002, when an Ursuline team filled with Div. I talent (including Penn State QB Daryll Clark) was stunned by Portsmouth West. Coincidentally, Portsmouth West was the No. 1 seed in Region 19 this season before getting upset in the second round by Columbus Ready.

“We’re definitely not taking them lightly,” Reardon said of Liberty Union.

Allen Jones had more than 100 yards rushing and two TDs in last week’s win to lead Ursuline, while Akise Teague also played well. But the Irish have six running backs with at least 200 yards, so expect to more variety this Saturday.

The Irish advanced to last year’s state final, so they’re used to the grind of a long season. They’ve had good luck health-wise, so Reardon is hoping that continues.

“We’re in good shape,” he said. “At Week 14, everyone has bumps and bruises and you’re not necessarily at 100 percent.

“But everybody’s playing, let’s put it that way.”

scalzo@vindy.com