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Sleepless and speechless in Canton: Energy drives Irish to second straight title championship
Ursuline Vs. Coldwater
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Ursuline vs Coldwater
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The realization of winning a second straight state football title was enough to bring tears to fans after Ursuline High School’s 55-25 victory over Coldwater in the Division V championship game at Fawcett Stadium in Canton.
Not weeping, but not sleeping, either, was defensive lineman Dawalyn Harper, who recovered a fumble in the second quarter to help Ursuline snap a 7-7 tie in Friday’s afternoon contest.
“I didn’t sleep,” said the 6-foot-1, 217-pound senior. “I was thinking about this all night. Now I’m speechless.”
Harper spoke those words just before the moment of the trophy presentation for the best team in Division V and the accolades of back-to-back championships.
“I made the change to better the team,” Harper said of his switch from an alternate quarterback last season to the defensive side of the ball in 2009.
In doing so, Harper had the satisfaction of playing alongside Tony Brown, DeAndre Harris and Jordan Markota, a front line that had a tall order against a prolific Coldwater team.
Harper said he’s made a verbal commitment to play at the University of Toledo next fall.
“Don’t do that senior lap, yet, hold on!” Harper yelled as he ran away.
The game set several Division V state records, including a few for Ursuline, such as most points (55), most touchdowns (8), most points in a quarter (27, in second quarter) and most total yards (508).
“We’ve overcome a lot of adversity this year, more so than in the past couple years,” said head coach Dan Reardon.
“We had a tremendous team meeting last night [Thursday] and had a chance to talk about some of those things.”
Reardon was ebullient after his team’s performance that is a great sense of pride, not only for the Ursuline faithful, but for the Mahoning Valley.
“It’s takes lots of hard work, good people and the luck of the Irish,” Reardon quipped.
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bassetti@vindy.com