Cin. Winton Woods wins first Div. II championship

MASSILLON — Cincinnati Winton Woods players should have aimed this high in previous years.

The Warriors, in their third straight trip to the playoffs, won their first Ohio Division II championship, 42-12 over Maple Heights on Friday night.

“We never set a goal before of winning a state title and that’s something the seniors talked over this summer,” coach Troy Everhart said. “They vowed to do it and they achieved their goal.”

Quarterback Dominique Brown ran for four touchdowns and passed for one, and the Warriors set a title-game record with 376 yards rushing.

“This means a lot for the community and all the former players in the program,” said Brown, The Associated Press’ co-offensive player of the year in the division. He gained 172 yards on 20 carries.

“We said before the year that we were going to win it and that anything less would be a failure,” added Jeremiah Goins, who ran 21 times for 155 yards.

“Those two feed off each other,” Everhart said of his senior backfield tandem that accounted for 4,129 yards and 56 touchdowns rushing this year. Goins totaled 2,144 yards and Brown had 32 touchdowns.

Devonte Ransom had a 3-yard touchdown run for Maple Heights (12-3), making its first finals appearance in 26-year-old Todd Filtz’s second year as head coach. Ransom gained 127 yards on 17 carries overall.

“Nobody wants to lose once they get here and we’ll be heartbroken for a few weeks,” Filtz said. “But this team can be proud of its accomplishments.”

The Mustangs moved the ball but had difficulty scoring. They ran 72 plays for 381 total yards, including 214 on 16-of-31 passing by Shaq Washington.

“To get in the red zone twice in the first half without points hurt,” Filtz said.

Brown, who has committed to the University of Cincinnati, scored from 50, 58, 17 and 1 yard and threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Juan Glover.

Winton Woods’ only losses came to seven-time Division I champion Cincinnati Moeller, 45-34, and to 2007 Division II winner Cincinnati Anderson, 52-38.