Harding vs Ursuline

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Harding vs Ursuline

By John Bassetti

YOUNGSTOWN — It didn’t take long for Ursuline High to get on the board with a 46-yard run by Allen Jones, but sustained drives by either the Irish offense or Warren Harding were more the exception than the rule in Ursuline’s 33-7 Steel Valley Conference victory at Stambaugh Stadium Friday night.

Allen was one of the fill-ins for tailback Darrell Mason, whose injury kept the standout from playing a down.

Coach Dan Reardon wouldn’t specify the injury, but the 6-foot-1, 225 senior was on the sideline during warm-ups with a heavily taped left foot.

While Allen’s long run and the first of Kevin Patrick’s four extra-point kicks got the game off on a good note, Dale Peterman did plenty of damage in his own right.

The 5-foot-11, 170-pound senior returned a punt 49 yards for a touchdown to push Ursuline’s lead to 14-0 before Jamel Turner chased Aunre’ Davis into the end zone where he was flagged for a safety because of intentional grounding.

“Our defensive staff puts the kids in good position,” Reardon said, giving credit to the unit that kept Harding from a first down until 5:20 in the first half.

Offensively, Ursuline (6-0, 1-0 SVC), ranked No. 1 in the state Associated Press and the No. 1 team in Division V Region 17, used Paul Kempe and Dawalyn Harper at quarterback, with Kempe throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Peterman for a 23-0 lead before halftime.

Although Kempe seemed to be more the passing quarterback and Dawalyn Harper the running QB, Reardon said it’s not always so.

SDLqTonight, that’s how it worked out. Paul can run and Harper can pass and vice versa,” he said.

Neither team had outstanding numbers, but Ursuline benefited from good tackling and good field position.

Open-field tackles by L.J. Stevens and Justin Austin were examples of the small things that figured prominently in the final outcome.

Harding (4-2, 0-2) lost two fumbles, the first of which turned into seven points midway in the second quarter and the second that quickly turned into seven points when Dwight Wright ran 5 yard for a TD with three minutes remaining.

Reardon said he didn’t feel like the Irish lost anything with a bevy of skill players rotating.

“Mason is very good and he brings maybe a physical running style, but playing others didn’t change our game plan one bit,” Reardon said of Jones and Nico Irizarry who got the majority of runs Friday.

Harding was plagued by poor field position, penalties and mistakes.

“We can’t do that stuff,” Harding coach D.J. Dota said. “Our offense has got to perform at a better level than what we are now. It’s been sticking us in a hole too much and that’s how we’ve given up points, so we’ve got to fix that.”

He said little things like high snaps and missed assignments are problems.

“We’ve got to block everybody we’re supposed to on each individual play. We’re not clicking. We’re having one or two breakdowns each play. As an offense, you’re not making it any easier by getting penalties. We can’t have one every single play because, when you play good opponents, they’re going to take advantage of it.”

bassetti@vindy.com