Boardman rallies late but Lake’s big plays are the difference

By John Kovach

BOARDMAN — The Boardman High football team was unable to contain the passing of Uniontown Lake quarterback Ryan Christiansen early in Friday’s Federal League game. The Spartans fell behind 27-7 in the third quarter and 34-13 with about 10 minutes left.

But to the Spartans’ credit, they never gave up and rallied to score back-to-back touchdowns to pull within 34-27 with 1:01 remaining.

But after that, the only chance Boardman had of winning was getting control of an onside kick. That didn’t happen, and the Blue Streaks escaped with a 34-27 victory in the Federal League opener for both teams.

Christiansen completed 12 of 17 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns, both to Corey Paulino in the first quarter covering 41 and 60 yards. Jim Luther ran for a pair of TDs from the 5- and 6-yard lines to power Uniontown Lake (2-2, 1-0 FL).

Luther rushed for 74 yards in 21 carries

“[Christiansen] was just on fire. He was 9-for-11 in the first half,” said Boardman (2-2, 0-1) coach D.J. Ogilvie about the senior quarterback’s strong passing offense in the first half.

“Our defense played horribly. We did a bad job of tackling, and we practice more tackling than any team around.”

Boardman’s final 14 points came from speedy junior halfback Nick Buonavolonta’s 10-yard dash, senior quarterback Rob Boyd’s 1-yard plunge and senior placekicker Trevor Ragan’s two placements.

Boyd completed 15 of 25 passes for 178 yards and one TD and one interception, while Buonavolonta rushed for 135 yards in 13 carries and on TD.

Both teams were able to move the ball well, but Lake did a better job of sustaining its drives while Boardman fizzled at times.

“We had some chances in the third quarter,” said Ogilvie. “They had two big plays that sealed the deal for them.”

Christiansen’s two TD strikes to Paulino, a sophomore wide receiver, and Matt Gallegly’s two extra points gave Lake a 14-0 lead, before Boyd hit Chase Hammond on a 28-yard scoring pass and Ragan hit the placement to cut the deficit to 14-7 still in the first period.

Then Luther tallied from the 5-yard line and Gallegly connected again to give the Blue Streaks a 21-7 lead entering the second quarter.

The Blue Streaks struck through the air again, this time Logan Wartman taking a pitch from Christiansen and finding Derek Sitzlar on the end of a 49-yard scoring pass for a 21-7 Lake command.

Boardman retaliated with a pair of field goals by Ragan covering 26 and 39 yards to enter intermission still in a 27-13 hole.

Ragan accounted for nine points in the game.

Boardman’s defense played better in the third quarter and held Lake scoreless, but the Spartans’ offense also was shut out during that span.

Then the Blue Streaks picked up where they left off when Luther raced 6 yards to cap a 91-yard, 12-play march and Gallegly kicked the placement for a 34-13 advantage with 11:05 remaining.

But Boardman senior Dimitri Stanley returned the ensuing kickoff 50 yards to the Lake 41 to set up a four-play, 41-yard drive to Buonavolonta’s 10-yard scoring dash with 10:0 left.

Late in the game, after Boardman held at its 15, the Spartans, keyed by Boyd’s passing, drove 85 yards in seven plays to Boyd’s 1-yard TD dash.

Ragan hit the on-side kick pretty hard and it went right into the hands of Lake player, ending the Spartans’ last chance.

“Normally he does a lot better on that,” said Ogilvie regarding Ragan’s hard thump instead of a slow wobbly kick with a better chance of being fumbled.

kovach@vindy.com