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Irish numbers dazzle
Special to the Vindicator
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Ursuline's Akise Teague flies past Lima's Rufus Johnson Saturday night in Ashland.
Ursuline Vs. Coldwater
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11.27.2010 Ursuline Football
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By Jon Moffett
YOUNGSTOWN
Dan Reardon was casually reading off statistics during his conference call Monday morning with reporters.
Two thousand-plus rushing yards on 208 carries. Seven hundred-plus receiving yards on 31 catches. Forty-three total touchdowns.
Ho-hum.
Oh, and that was all one player: senior running back Akise Teague.
Chip Otten, head coach of the Coldwater team the Irish will play Saturday in the Division V state championship game, was on the phone line and heard the numbers.
“Wow,” he said. “It’s a little scary to hear some of those stats.”
Teams have been running scared all season because of the Irish. And Teague has been running wild all over them.
The lightning-in-a-bottle Teague has been the do-it-all guy for the Irish this year. He’s their leading rusher — by far — and receiver.
He’s set schools records in single-season scoring and all-purpose yards. After Saturday’s game, he’ll probably be the second all-time rusher in school history.
The No. 1 spot is a longshot, but it’s not out of reach, Reardon said.
“He has somewhat of an unusual running style,” Reardon said of Teague. “At times he looks like a slasher and other times he’ll lower his shoulder and knock somebody over. But he runs very strong for his size.”
Teague is listed at 5-foot-8 on the Ursuline roster. But unless he’s standing on a hill, it’s more like 5-foot-6.
Still, Teague plays bigger than he is. And a larger part of his success is that his offensive line plays, well, just as big as they are.
“Teague has had a great year and is a dynamic player, but it all starts up front with our offensive line,” Reardon said.
The Irish, who are looking to earn their third-straight state title after a 14-0 season, return three behemoths to their offensive line. Their total weight: 1,370 pounds.
“Our offensive and defensive lines have improved,” Otten said. “But we’re not a big, stout team so a matchup here with Ursuline might be pretty difficult. We are athletic, but we’re not very stout ... We can’t line up and knock people out of there.”
Ursuline has the horses.
Reardon said he has three bigger guys and two “traditional high school” linemen. The thinnest starting lineman weighs in at a dainty 214 pounds.
Three seniors — Zach Conlan, Pete Wearsch and Michael Zappa — and twin juniors Troy and Ty Vasquez-Atkins are the bricks in the wall. The unit has produced almost — are you sitting down? — 5,000 total rushing yards this season. The team averages about 355 yards on the ground each game.
“Our offensive line is playing really, really well are playing well as a unit,” Reardon said.
Then there’s senior quarterback Paul Kempe.
Hardly the forgotten offensive piece, Kempe has been under center in what will be three-consecutive state championship games. Reardon wonders if it’s the first time in Ohio history.
The respect is there for Kempe, too.
Kempe has passed for just about 1,300 yards this season. He’s also tossed eight touchdowns and five interceptions. But Otten said the signal-caller could easily be a 3,000-yard passer if he was asked to do so.
Pick your poison.
“We’re going to face the best team we’ve played all year,” Otten said.