Damien Jarrett

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Damien Jarrett

By Joe Scalzo

Damien Jarrett scored five TDs in the 63-21 win

BOARDMAN — Damien Jarrett thanked God and his offensive line (in that order). Corey Linsley praised the coaching staff. D.J. Ogilvie praised everybody, from his staff to his players to the P.A. announcers in the press box.

(Not really.)

On Friday night in Boardman, there was plenty of credit to go around.

Putting up 63 points on a Federal League team has a way of putting people in a pretty good mood.

“It’s a good feeling,” said Linsley after the Spartans routed visiting Massillon Perry 63-21. “It shows we’ve got one hell of an offense.

“You know what I mean?”

That much seemed pretty clear, actually.

Jarrett, a senior running back, scored five touchdowns, ran for 203 yards, caught two passes for 57 yards and helped the Spartans (5-0, 3-2) turn what had been a close game through 11‚Ñ2 quarters into a game of “Who wants to letter?”

“When you got guys like [Cameron] Shaffer and Jarrett and Pat McFall and [Rob] Boyd and some good receivers, it makes calling plays a heck of a lot easier,” said Ogilvie, who has guided the Spartans to their first 5-0 start since 1999. “If you had said we’d score 63 points, I’d have told you were crazy.”

Linsley wouldn’t.

“I knew it was possible,” the Ohio State recruit said, “but I didn’t expect it.”

Perry (3-2, 0-2) entered Friday’s game with the league’s second strongest defense. They’d been giving up an average of 12 points per game.

Boardman had 14 in the first seven minutes. The Spartans scored two touchdowns in the final 90 seconds of the first half to make it 35-21 at halftime and dominated the rest of the way.

They finished with 423 yards rushing, 189 passing and rolled up 28 first downs. Boardman did not punt, scored on its first nine possessions and probably would have scored on its 10th had the Spartans opted not to take a knee four straight times in the final minute.

“It was amazing,” said Jarrett. “We always wanted to be 5-0 and we’ve got some great seniors. All the hard work is paying off.”

Junior J.T. Moore, an Ohio State recruit at the defensive line, and the rest of the Spartan defense had a rough start but pulled together in the second half to shut down the Panthers’ Wing-T attack.

By the end of the game, five Panther players had been helped off the field.

“Coach [Mike] Popio and Coach [Roger] Patterson did a little adjustment at halftime because they were really hurting us off-tackle,” said Ogilvie. “Obviously, it worked out well.”

Caleb Laps rushed 15 times for 74 yards to lead Perry, while quarterback Adam Offenberger hit on 4-of-13 passes for 94 yards.

Boyd completed 12-of-15 for 165 yards and Shaffer added 123 yards rushing on 14 carries.

Next up, the Spartans play at North Canton Hoover in a game that could have a huge bearing on the Federal League title.

“Obviously it’s going to be a huge test for our ball club,” said Ogilvie. “I’m real happy with how things have gone so far.”

Boardman made it to the regional semifinals last season — its first playoff berth since 2001. So far, this year’s Spartans look even tougher.

“We’re somewhere our program hasn’t been for a while,” said Linsley. “It’s a credit to all of us and what Coach Ogilvie and Coach Pope [Popio] and Coach [Mark] D’Eramo and everybody has done.

“We really are becoming the toughest team in Ohio. We’re on our way there and we haven’t been there since 2002. It’s a real nice feeling.”

scalzo@vindy.com