By John Bassetti

bassetti@vindy.com

ASHLAND

The Ursuline High football team overcame a sloppy first half on Saturday then poured on the power to earn their fourth-straight appearance in the Division state title game.

Behind tailback Akise Teague’s 269 yards rushing and five touchdowns, the Irish defeated Lima Central Catholic, 51-36, in a state semifinal at Ashland Community Stadium.

On Saturday at 11 a.m. at Canton’s Fawcett Stadium, Ursuline will play Coldwater (11-3) in the state final.

Lima Central Catholic coach Jerry Cooper said that his team had no answer for Teague.

“He was definitely the difference,” Cooper said. “They have a big line and they create a lot of seams for him and Teague made run after run and run.

“We didn’t tackle him in space very well,” Cooper said. “But give our kids credit for competing for all 48 minutes.”

Tramain Thigpen tallied twice for undefeated Ursuline (14-0) which will attempt to win its third straight Div. V crown. The Irish out-gained the Thunderbirds, 531 to 418.

Ursuline coach Dan Reardon said the victory came down to his offensive line controlling the line of scrimmage.

“When you’re playing in the state semifinals and you don’t have to punt the ball, your offensive line is doing something very, very well,” Reardon said. “When you score 51 points in a state semifinal, your offense probably did something well.”

Despite the final score, it wasn’t a Saturday night massacre at halftime when Lima Central Catholic was within two, 22-20.

In the third quarter, Ursuline overcame the sting of a three lost fumbles from the first half.

“In the first half, we didn’t do a great job taking care of the football.” Reardon said. “We gave them real good field position one time and they capitalized and knocked it in.

“As poorly as we played in the first half, we were very lucky to have a lead at halftime,” Reardon said.

Cooper added: “We said we wanted to stay in the game and keep our offense trying to score and, with three minutes to go, it was an eight-point game.”

Teague also had five receptions for 54 yards. Irish quarterback Paul Kempe completed 10 of 13 passes for 96 yards, while Lima Central Catholic’s Tyler O’Connor was 14 of 28 for 259 yards.

Ursuline took the second-half kickoff and moved 76 yards with Teague scoring his fourth TD of the game on a 9-yard run. Podolsky’s extra point kick gave the Irish a 29-20 lead with 8:08 remaining in the third quarter.

Teague was a big part of the next Ursuline score as the senior intercepted O’Connor on a high pass that skipped over the hands of Jon Steiger. On a third-and-18 play, Teague ran 37 yards for the score and Podolsky’s pass to Markota gave Ursuline a 37-20 lead.

After LCC pulled within 37-28, Ursuline went on a 65-yard drive that ended in Thigpen’s 4-yard run and Podolsky’s PAT that gave the Irish a 44-28 edge.