Ursuline, Coldwater set for Fawcett replay

'09 Ursuline Highlights

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Ursuline 48 Ridgewood 6

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Ursuline defeats Ridgewood 48-6 during the Div. V semifinal game at Central Catholic on Friday in Canton.

By Joe Scalzo

In 2000, a Warren Harding assistant coach named Dan Reardon sat in the stands at Fawcett Stadium to watch Ursuline play Coldwater for the Division IV state championship.

“That games goes down as one of the great state championship games in history,” said Reardon, the Irish head coach whose team will play Coldwater in Friday’s Division V state final.

Ursuline won 49-37 in a game that broke a host of state records. Freshman Delbert Ferguson and sophomore Terrance Graves helped the Irish roll up 502 yards on the ground, which is still an all-division record by 34 yards.

It was Ursuline’s only state title until the Irish won it again last fall.

When asked what he remembered from that game, Coldwater coach John Reed said, “I remember them running up and down the field. We couldn’t tackle them.”

Reed’s program has fared pretty well since then. Since 2000, the Cavaliers have gone an Ohio-best 123-14 with state championship wins over Cardinal Mooney in 2005 and 2007.

Ursuline has been even better in recent years, advancing to its third straight Div. V state final. The Irish (10-3), ranked 14th in the state, are trying to become the first team in Valley history to win back-to-back state titles.

Only three other area programs have even had the chance. Mooney advanced to four straight Div. IV finals from 2004-07, winning in 2004 and 2006. Warren Western Reserve won an AAA title in 1972 — the first year for the playoffs — and lost to Mooney in the 1973 final. Warren JFK won the Div. V title in 1991 and lost by one point in the 1992 final to Cincinnati CAPE.

“From my perspective, that’s a testament to the type of kids we have,” Reardon said Monday. “They’ve played a lot of football games over the last three years and that does nothing but make you better.

“I don’t know if it’s apparent to them what they’ve done yet. As they get older, they’ll appreciate it more and appreciate how significant this three-year run has been.”

The Irish, who are 28-12 in 15 postseason appearances, have been led by district offensive player of the year Allen Jones, a senior running back who broke Graves’ school’s career rushing record last week. Jones has rushed for just under 4,300 yards and 63 TDs in his career, including 2,224 yards this season.

“He’s been a very, very steady football player ever since his sophomore year,” Reardon said.

Coldwater (13-1), the state’s second-ranked team in Div. V, hails from the powerful Midwest Athletic Conference, which has had a state champion in 11 of the last 12 years. Delphos St. John (Div. VI) is the other MAC team still alive.

The Cavaliers are 37-12 in 15 postseason appearances.

“You have to have kids willing to do what it takes to win,” Reed said. “Everybody wants to win, but not everybody is willing to do what it takes to win.

“As soon as Friday is over, on Monday, all the kids coming back will be in the weight room. That’s one of the reasons we’ve been successful.”

The Cavaliers are led by senior quarterback Keith Wenning (6-foot-4, 220 pounds), who has committed to Ball State.

Wenning has thrown for more than 3,000 yards and rushed for almost 1,000 and Coldwater will need a huge game from him if it wants to win Friday’s game.

“From the three [game] tapes we’ve seen, Ursuline is by far the most explosive team we’ve faced,” Reed said. “We always look for weaknesses to exploit and, so far, we haven’t found any.”

scalzo@vindy.com