Massillon Jackson Vs. Boardman

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Blitz High School Football: Week 7

Blitz Tailgate Party: Boardman and Massillon Jackson

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By Chuck Housteau

After five victories, the loss was Boardman’s second in a row.

BOARDMAN — Boardman High football coach D.J. Ogilvie will be looking for a lot of answers next week in practice after the Spartans were stunned, 20-16, by Massillon Jackson on two fourth-quarter touchdown passes Friday night at home.

The Polar Bears’ Max Paulus connected with Wyatt Lloyd twice in the final 4:44 of the game on scoring strikes of 18 and 35 yards, the last with just 1:20 left in the game, to pull out the win.

“Our kids just competed and competed all night,” said an emotional Jackson coach Thom McDaniels, the former coach at Warren Harding.

“This is a big win for our program. Boardman is a quality football team and to get a win here tonight was huge.”

The victory put the Polar Bears (4-3, 2-2) back in the hunt for the Federal League title and throws a damper on Boardman’s successful start to the 2008 campaign.

The loss was the second league loss in a row for the Spartans (5-2, 2-2) who lost last week at North Canton Hoover after opening the season with five straight wins.

“We have to go back to practice and work on the things that got us our early wins,” Ogilvie said. “I was very surprised that they were able to be as physical as we were.

“That has been our strength this season.”

What was more surprising to Ogilvie was the two late scoring passes by the Bears to pull out the game.

“When you’re up by two scores [16-7] in the fourth quarter at home you should be able to get a win,” Ogilvie said. “We knew a Thom McDaniels team would have a good quarterback and the kid was able to get the job done for them tonight.”

McDaniels said the switch to more of a passing game in the second half came out of necessity.

“We had to change something up at halftime after the way we played in the first half,” McDaniels said. “We didn’t play very good football in the first half.”

Boardman led at the half 13-7 on two second quarter scoring drives.

Jackson opened the scoring early in the second quarter after a lackluster first quarter where both teams went three-and-out on six possessions.

Steve Gardner broke free on a 65-yard scoring run to give the Polar Bears the early lead.

Boardman got back in the game on the next series by marching 83 yards on six plays. The Spartans scored when quarterback Rob Boyd found Ken Jones down the right sideline for a 38-yard touchdown pass.

An interception by Boardman’s Pat McFall set up the Spartans’ next score.

Damian Jarrett, who rushed for 162 yards on 24 carries, rambled 34 yards with 32 seconds left in the half to give Boardman a six-point lead at the break.

The Spartans extended the lead to nine points on a 20-yard field goal by Trevor Ragan early in the fourth period before the Polar Bears rallied to pull out the win.

“We didn’t play very consistent football,” Ogilvie said. “We were able to run the ball at times but couldn’t sustain anything much throughout the game.”

Boardman gained 258 yards on offense and had nine first downs but had trouble stopping Paulus and Lloyd in the second half.