Ursuline sent reeling in Wheeling, 49-22

Pittsburgh Central Catholic running back Damian Jones-Moore had 209 yards and four touchdowns.

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

WHEELING, W.Va. — Ursuline High football coach Dan Reardon just shook his head and said, “That kid’s only a sophomore.”

The Irish were victimized to the tune of 209 yards and four touchdowns by Pittsburgh Central Catholic sophomore Damian Jones-Moore en route to their first loss since 2007, a 49-22 defeat the Vikings in Saturday’s “Rally in the Valley” at Island Stadium.

“We told the kids he’s the best running back we’ve faced since [Warren Harding’s] Danny Herron,” said Reardon, referring to Ohio State’s current running back. “He reminds me of [former Mr. Football] Tyrell Sutton.

He’s just an outstanding football player.”

Ursuline (1-1) suffered its first loss since the 2007 Division V state championship game and its first regular-season loss since a Week 9 defeat to Cardinal Mooney earlier that year.

“The final score got a little out of hand,” said Reardon. “I was real proud of the way the kids played for three quarters and then it just snowballed at the end.

“I thought the game was a lot closer than the final score showed, but a loss is a loss.”

Ursuline actually got off to a terrific start, dominating the first quarter while running up a 16-0 lead on two TDs and a field goal.

Irish junior Akise Teague returned the opening kickoff 99 yards, then Ursuline’s defense promptly forced a punt.

The Irish drove 73 yards in 13 plays, taking a 9-0 lead on a 20-yard field goal by Jeff Podolsky.

Ursuline then recovered the ball on the ensuing kickoff to get the ball at the Vikings’ 23.

Three plays later, Paul Kempe hit Nico Irizarry for a 17-yard TD that made it 16-0 with 3:15 left in the first quarter.

“We knew with their size and their numbers, we had to get off to a fast start,” Reardon said. “We have a bunch of guys playing both ways and they kind of wore us down as the game went on.”

Central (1-0) dominated the rest of the first half, scoring three second-quarter TDs to take a 21-16 halftime lead. The Vikings added another score late in the third quarter on a 3-yard TD run by Jones-Moore that made it 28-16.

But Ursuline injected a little drama into the game, cutting the deficit to six points on a 20-yard TD pass from Kempe to Chris Collins.

But Central scored three more TDs in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

“We had chapel before the game and we talked a lot about perseverance,” said Central coach Terry Totten. We had to have a lot of perseverance today.

“I am not happy with the we played.”

Allen Jones rushed for 110 yards to lead the Irish, while Teague added 49 yards. Kempe finished 7 of 10 for 75 yards and an interception.

For Central, Dom Maggio had 40 yards and David Smyers added 37 yards rushing and 52 passing.

Central Catholic, the alma mater of Pro Football Hall of Fame QB Dan Marino and current Rams QB Marc Bulger, went 16-0 two years ago and won the Class AAAA state title, finishing 11th in the nation in USA Today’s national poll. The Vikings have reached the WPIAL playoffs three of the last four years.

The contest was the fourth in the five-game classic and was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. It didn’t start until 7:15 and didn’t finish until 9:56 p.m., pushing the fifth game’s start time back to 10:30 — two hours after its scheduled start.

scalzo@vindy.com