By MARTY GITLIN

sports@vindy.com

MAPLE HEIGHTS

The Devin and De’Von Show launched around 8 o‘clock Friday night. The result was the cancellation of The Spartan Season.

That is, the Boardman football team, which could not keep up with a dynamic duo featured by Maple Heights in a 42-12 defeat in a Division II regional quarterfinal.

The pair in question are quarterback Devin Dial and super wideout De’Von Fox. The former displayed his accuracy and the latter showed off his speed and elusiveness to keep the Mustangs alive and unbeaten.

Second-seeded Maple Heights (11-0) exploded for big play after big play after a slow start. The consequence was a 30-point lead early in the fourth quarter that started a running clock. And when that clock finally ticked away, Dial had completed 13 of 17 passes for 333 yards and four touchdowns while Fox had caught five for 160 yards and two of those scores.

Other Mustangs contributed greatly as well as they proved a bit too athletic for the Spartans. But Boardman coach Joe Ignazio felt his team could have countered their speed more effectively.

“It was a combination of their speed and we just did our own things at times,” he said. “It was tough for us to match their speed, but there were some breakdowns in coverage as well.”

The Devin and De’Von Show started in earnest late in the second quarter. It was then the folks attending from Boardman began to understand why the senior wideout is a Division I prospect.

The two teamed up for an incredible aerial show after the Spartans closed to 14-12 on a 27-yard field goal by Tommy Fryda. Fox snagged a 32-yard pass one-handed as the Mustangs began their answer. He then worked his way free just over the goal line and grabbed a high-arching scoring strike from Dial, who barely got the ball off under pressure. And, just for good measure, the two hooked up on a two-point conversion that gave Maple Heights a 22-12 lead.

Dial had not yet concluded his first-half heroics. His defensive teammates forced a three-and-out in continuing to shut down the run after Boardman had enjoyed some success on the ground early, then Dial hit Dante Abrams for 39 yards to the Spartans’ 11. Time finally ran out in the half, but Maple Heights had certainly taken the momentum into the locker room.

“Teams adapt,” Ignazio said about the ability of the Mustangs to control the run. “They gave us some twists up front that we didn’t handle real well. I thought we had the advantage up front for about a quarter-and-a-half.”

It was the Spartan defense that shone early. After a sensational punt by Alex Huzicka pinned the Mustangs back on their 1-yard-line, defensive lineman Tino Arcuri tackled featured back Manny Ramsey in the end zone for a safety.

Seventh-seeded Boardman (6-5) took its momentum and ran with it on a long drive highlighted by a 51-yard sprint by senior running back Joe Ieraci to the Maple 1. A penalty set Boardman back, but soon quarterback Mike O’Horo scored to make it 9-0.

Workhorse back Joe Ieraci finished with 138 yards on 29 carries, but the Maple defense grew more stout in the middle quarters. Mustangs coach Shaq Washington, who starred at the school, believed that was a turning point.

“We knew they were a physical team and that we’d have to stop the run early,” Washington said. It took a while for us to settle in on defense, but once we did and the offense started clicking, we turned the game around.”

But Maple Heights doesn’t average more than 40 points a game by luck. Ramsey saw nothing but green on a 37-yard touchdown run that put his team on the board, then the Mustangs took the lead for good on a dump pass from Dial to Shamarr Simmons early in the second quarter. They put it away in the third on an 85-yard bomb from Dial to a wide-open Fox.