Ursuline dominates Kirtland in Div. V

By John Bassetti

bassetti@vindy.com

AURORA

It was No. 1-seeded Ursuline against No. 2 Kirtland for the Div. V, Region 17 championship Saturday night.

The Irish whipped Kirtland, 48-0, for its 13th straight win in 2010.

Saturday’s game came on the heels of a 42-0 win over Creston Norwayne a week ago.

“It means we played good offense and good defense back-to-back weeks,” Ursuline coach Dan Reardon said matter-of-factly after his Irish outgained Kirtland, 635-158.

Quarterback Paul Kempe threw for two touchdowns to Akise Teague and Kempe ran for another. Teague also ran for one as the pair led a powerful offense.

Teague finishd with 199 yards on 17 carries, while Kempe had 119 yards on eight rushing attempts. Kempe was also 5 of 6 for 182 through the air.

“We talked about starting fast,” Reardon said of the game’s first score, an 80-yard run on the first play from scrimmage by Kempe.

“That’s about as fast as you can do it. He did good job of reading the defensive end,” Reardon said of the option play, which could have, otherwise, been a pitch to Teague. “We were able to get a big play out of it.”

Reardon attributed the night’s high offensive numbers to the line of Pete Wearsch, Mike Zappa, Troy Vasquez-Atkins, Ty Vasquez-Atkins, Zach Conlan and Ronald Green.

“They certainly opened up some big holes, while Akise and Jesse Curry made some big plays, as well as Trevor Smith and Paul [Kempe]. We’re in a situation where, if you concentrate too much on one guy, we have other guys who can beat you as well.”

Kirtland bowed out 12-1, losing to the Irish for the second time in two years in a Region 17 title game.

The Irish jumped to a 13-0 lead on Teague’s 49-yard run and Jeff Podolsky’s point-after kick at 5:47. The drive started at Ursuline’s 4-yard line.

The Irish bumped their lead up to 20-0 at 0:44 of the first quarter when Teague jetted 58 yards for a touchdown. Podolsky’s PAT followed and Ursuline carried the 20-point into the second period.

Ursuline’s first tally of the second quarter came on another Teague run, this one covering 87 yards before Podolsky’s kick put the Irish up, 27-0.

The only bump in the road for Ursuline’s offense in the first half was a fumble that Kirtland’s Mike Brettrager recovered at the Hornets’ 11.

Kirtland had a touchdown nullified by Damon Washington’s offensive pass interference call after Washington pushed Jermaine Williams prior to Washington catching a pass from Scott Eilerman, a sophomore quarterback who was sharing time with Ryan Loncar, a freshman. The apparent TD pass play covered 36 yards, but the infraction pushed Kirtland back to its 49 just before halftime.

Christian Hauber had 34 yards on 10 carries for the Hornets.

Ursuline scored 14 more points in the third period with Jesse Curry scoring from 4 yards out and Kempe running from 5 yards away. Podolsky had both PATs.