Team

Ursuline

Record	Div.	Conf.
1/9	Div. IV	Independents

Team

Youngstown East

Record	Div.	Conf.
7/4	Div. II	All-American Conference Red Tier

By Tom Williams

williams@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Scoring three touchdowns on the first three possessions, Friday’s Ursuline High School football opener against East had the makings for an Irish romp.

But the Panthers, playing before the second largest crowd at The Rayen Stadium since it opened in 2012, didn’t quit.

The Panthers scored twice in the fourth quarter and recovered an onside kick late for one last possession before the Irish hung on for a 28-13 victory.

“It could have been a lot worse,” said East head coach P.J. Mays, crediting his players’ resolve. “A lot has been said about our district and our kids.

“These guys have learned through adversity in life and in football and the way that they live, that nothing is over,” Mays said. “It’s very fulfilling to see us continue to fight because it shows they are starting to learn that lesson. And that lesson is very important to our kids.”

Ursuline’s sophomore quarterback Jared Fabry help engineer two first-quarter touchdowns by completing five of his first six passes for 89 yards.

Those completions set up touchdown runs by Deion Edwards (8 yards) and Fabry (9 yards) for a 14-0 lead. Early in the second quarter, Daylen Harris scored from the 4.

Sloppiness followed. The Panthers lost 32 yards when three consecutive shotgun snaps went over the head of quarterback James Boatwright III.

The Irish responded by taking five penalties in the second quarter totalling 66 yards. It didn’t get better in the second half.

Late in the third quarter, the Irish took advantage of a Panthers fumble and Edwards scored on a 5-yard run, putting the Irish within two points of the running clock.

It never came on. The Panthers took advantage of Ursuline’s substitutes to make the game interesting.

First, Boatwright connected with Imoni Donadelle for a 71-yard touchdown. The pass covered about 35 yards.

Then with 3:07 remaining, Larry Reed scored from the 2, then recovered his own onside kick. The Panthers’ final drive stalled at the Ursuline 17.

“We subbed early in the third quarter,” Ursuline head coach Larry Kempe said. “We will not do that again.

“We had a chance to do some damage and ... we’ve got to get better,” Kempe said. “I’m not real pleased at all with this effort tonight.”

The game was East’s first Throwback Night that honors closed Youngstown schools. The North High Bulldogs’ 1973 880 relay state championship team (Earl Taylor, James Smith, Jimmy Morrison and Tyran Purdue) was honored, as was the 1970-71 football team including coaches Clifton Knox, Joseph Conly and Herman Jackson and players Sherman Smith and Anthony Jones. The Panthers wore red-and-black (North’s colors).

Kempe said Fabry showed progress after completing 7-of-11 passes for 102 yards.

“He’s growing as a quarterback,” Kempe said. “We’ve worked awful hard this summer on getting people to step up and we’re still not getting that. It’s very frustrating.”

Neither team will be thrilled to hear their coaches comment on penalties. Both committed 12: Ursuline for 151 yards and East for 97.

“East played very hard,” Kempe said. “They represented themselves very well tonight.”

One-hundred-twenty-five of Boatwright’s 154 yards passing came in the fourth quarter.