Team

Boardman

Record	Div.	Conf.
6/5	Div. II	All-American Conference Gold Tier

By ERIC FORTUNE

sports@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

After losing the first two games of the season by a combined score of 69-13, the Boardman High School football team showed resiliency.

Friday’s 31-0 victory over Lakeside gave the Spartans the first All-American Conference Gold Tier title.

“Our team is resilient,” Boardman head coach JoeIgnazio said. “I started with this group [of seniors] and played them early. I knew it would pay off. I’m glad to do it with

this group.

In this week’s computer playoff ratings, the Spartans (6-4, 3-0) were fifth in Division II Region 5. They should have a Week 11 date when playoff pairings are announced on Sunday.

“Starting off 0-2, losing to Mentor and Mooney, most people starting like I did three years ago with 36 kids would be down in the dumps,” Ignazio said.

When Ignazio took charge three years ago, the Spartans’ roster dropped to fewer than 40.

“But our coaches battled and they demanded everything out of our kids. They have responded all year,” Ignazio said. “I’m proud of them for that.”

The game started out ugly for the Dragons (2-8, 0-3) when they misjudged the opening kickoff. Boardman recovered at the Lakeside 3.

Spartans running back Mario Graziani punched scored on the next play for a 7-0 lead seven seconds into the game.

“A bad break,” Lakeside coach Frank Hall said. “Unfortunately, we’ve been getting a lot of those.”

Ignazio said the Dragons were fooled by a strange turn.

“From their perspective it looked like it was going to go out of bounds,” Ignazio said. “It was a bad kick. It kind of took a turn and stayed in. Our guys jumped on it and we got the momentum early.”

The Spartans struggled in the first half, but were aided by their defense when Sheldon Broyles intercepted Tyler Nagle’s pass and returned it 42 yards for a 17-0 lead.

“We punched one in there and really kind of battled ourselves most of the first half,” Ignazio said of the first half. “I was disappointed that we couldn’t get things going. Though, we were able to score in all three phases which helped. It makes it look better than it was.”

The Dragons shot themselves in the foot with seven false starts and one first down in the half.

“We were able to throw the ball downfield on them at times,” Hall said. “Our quarterback had just come back from a broken collarbone so he was a little rusty but he fought for us.

“They are a great defensive football team, the best we’ve seen all year,” Hall said of the Spartans.

Matters didn’t improve much for the Dragons with only one additional first down coming. The Dragons finished with 108 yards of offense.

The Spartans were limited to 113 yards.

After a scoreless third quarter, Gaven Strines’ 53-yard punt return made it 24-0.

The Spartans’final touchdown came when Noah Falleti found Travis Koontz on a 23-yard pass.

“After that first score thought things were going to come easy,” Ignazio said. “We’ve been in tight ball games all year.

“The kids are used to battling all game. I thought they kind of let up there,” Ignazio said. “I was disappointed in that and I let them know. They did a much better job in the second half.”