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Sibley, Hoban pull away from Ursuline
Hoban vs Ursuline
Gallery
Sibley, Knights pull away
early in fourth quarter
By MARTY GITLIN
AKRON
The Ursuline football team made several huge plays Friday night. But a bunch of good ones would have proven far more beneficial against powerful Akron Hoban.
The defending Division III state champions are far too talented to defeat without consistent offensive and defensive production. The Fighting Irish got neither in a 37-12 loss.
It was, however, the ultimate closer-than-the-score indicates contest. Ursuline trailed just 17-12 two minutes into the fourth quarter. That’s when Knights senior superback Todd Sibley, who has earned a scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, turned it up a notch. He broke tackles on a 52-yard romp to the Irish 2-yard line to set up a touchdown.
Sibley was merely warming up. On his team’s next possession, he rolled around right end for a 37-yard score that made it 30-12 and gave him a 211 yards rushing on the night.
Game. Set. Match.
Ursuline (2-1) had handled Sibley as well as can be expected until that point. But though its defense spent the majority of time on the field, coach Larry Kempe declined to use fatigue as an excuse.
“[Hoban] didn’t get fatigued and if they didn’t get fatigued, we shouldn’t have either,” he said. “We had some guys missing with an injury bug, but the next guys have to step up and play. We had a great effort for three quarters. We just didn’t do the things we needed to do in the fourth. I’m very disappointed in the way we tackled. It’s a very fundamental part of football.”
Irish feature back Joe Floyd did his best Sibley impression midway through the third, after his counterpart had again broken tackle after tackle for a 20-yard touchdown run that gave Hoban (2-1) a 17-6 lead. On the next play from scrimmage, Floyd bolted left and sprinted 75 yards for a score.
“[Fullback] Spencer [Warren] opened up a hole for me and I saw nothing but green,” explained Floyd, who was held to just 36 yards on his other 13 runs. “Their defense kept coming in on us quickly tonight.”
The Irish struggled to move the ball in the first half. They also struggled to prevent the Knights from marching. But they were also opportunistic and clutch defensively. They began their heroics on Hoban’s first possession when sophomore defensive back Duane Leggett picked off a pass by southpaw quarterback and Ohio State Buckeye-to-be Danny Clark. Ursuline, however, failed to cash in when a 30-yard field goal attempt by Ian O’Brien failed to sail through the uprights.
The Knights sought to take advantage, but after moving into enemy territory, Irish defensive back Dawalyn Washington added the second interception of the quarter. Clark, however, was not to be denied minutes later when he found well-covered wideout Garrett Houser with a perfect lob pass in the left corner of the end zone for the score.
Hoban continued to shut down Ursuline, which needed a very special special teams play to maintain pressure. Warren blocked a punt in the second quarter, giving his team the ball on the Knights 6. Teammate Daylen Harris scored three plays later, but a missed extra point prevented the Irish from tying the game.
The Knights soon embarked on their most impressive drive of the half. They reached the shadow of the end zone, but a defensive stand by Ursuline held them to a field goal that stretched the lead to 10-6.