By Doug Chapin

sports@vindy.com

KIRTLAND

Columbiana’s response to an early Kirtland High touchdown was a positive one Friday night in a Division V, Region 17 playoff opener on the top-seeded Hornets’ field.

Junior Britton Steiginga returned the ensuing kickoff from the 3 to the Kirtland 19, setting up a five-play Columbiana scoring drive. After quarterback Austin Barbato found Nate Huk in the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion, the score stood at 8-8.

The Clipper defense forced a punt on the next Kirtland possession and it looked like Columbiana was going to give the Hornets, ranked second in the final statewide Associated Press Division V poll, a battle.

From that point, though, things fell apart for the Clippers (8-3) who lost turnovers on five consecutive possessions — three fumbles and two interceptions — on the way to a 49-8 drubbing at the hands of the Hornets.

“You can’t play a team like this with turnovers and we haven’t done that all year,” Columbiana coach Bob Spaite said. “The two interceptions, let’s give them credit. One is a tipped ball and the other was as good a break on the ball by a defender as you’re going to see in high school football. The fumbles, I have no idea what’s going on with the fumbles.

“We fumbled once a game at the most. We had a plus-16 giveaway-takeaway ratio coming into this thing. And let’s give credit where it’s due, that’s a good football team.”

Kirtland (11-0) took full advantage of Columbiana’s generosity, putting up four touchdowns in the second quarter and two more on its first two possessions of the third quarter. After three periods Kirtland had a 21-4 edge in first downs.

The Hornets were led by Damon Washington (16 carries for 207 yards, two scores running and one receiving) and Christian Hauber (27 carries for 127 yards, four TD runs) as they amassed 392 yards on the ground on 51 runs.

Barbato finished his outstanding Columbiana career with 55 yards on the ground. Jacob Thiel scored the Clippers’ lone touchdown from a yard out.

“Our guys will play hard. This is one of my favorite teams for a lot of reasons,” Spaite said. “We are not the most talented team. I’m not trying to poor-mouth. We’ve got some kids that are pretty good, we’ve got some talented young men.

“But this isn’t the most talented team I’ve had, but this is a team that has tremendous heart. Our seniors have done a tremendous job of leading this. These guys are first-rate. This is one of my favorite teams.”