By Brian Dzenis

sports@vindy.com

KENT

Nobody kidnapped McDonald coach Dan Williams. The Blue Devils didn’t lose their playbook on the way to Kent State’s Dix Stadium. They actually chose to pass.

Quarterback Josh Celli threw two early touchdown passes to set the pace in McDonald’s 46-20 Division VI, Region 21 win over Rootstown on Friday night.

Celli was 5 for 9 for 94 yards and three scores and rushed for two more touchdowns. For the season, the Blue Devils have attempted just 70 passes.

“It’s that surprising, huh?” Williams said. “[Rootstown] loaded the box with eight guys and dared us to throw seven or eight times. Josh has been working really hard on throwing and he came through on a couple big throws.”

Fifth-seeded McDonald (11-0) made the postseason on the strength of its rushing attack of Celli and running back Alex Cintron, who have 1,211 and 1,854 rushing yards on the season, respectively.

But after fourth-seeded Rootstown drove down the field and Scott Steger tossed a 19-yard pass to Jack Steger on the game’s opening drive, McDonald decided to take to the air. Celli’s first pass was a screen pass to Cameron Tucker that went 15 yards for a touchdown. The Blue Devils followed up on their next drive with Celli throwing a 31-yard TD pass to Jack Bucan.

“We work on [passing], we just haven’t had to do it,” Celli said. “We figured it would shock them and it did just that.”

Rootstown (9-2) also came out of its offensive shell as well with Steger going 20 for 47 for 352 yards and two touchdown passes, but turnovers and the running game made the difference.

The Blue Devils intercepted Steger four times. Tucker got two picks and Dominic Schadl and Cintron each had one.

“I can’t even explain it. I just had to do it to give my team more motivation,” Tucker said. “I had to put the game away. That’s about it.”

The Blue Devils’ bread and butter still worked with 300 rushing yards. Cintron had 32 carries for 158 yards and two scores and Celli added 131 yards.

“We grinded it out. I can’t say enough about those two guys,” Williams said. “They grind things. They break tackles. They do things that I haven’t seen many guys do. They’re determined and their line is unbelievable.”

Conversely, Rootstown usually relied on its running game, but couldn’t get it going with just 34 yards on the ground. The Rovers’ top rusher, Gavin Schlaubach, scored a touchdown in the second quarter, but was held to one yard on seven carries. He finishes the season with 1,060 yards and 14 touchdowns.

After completing the high-wire act of making the playoffs in a weak Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference, McDonald was eager to prove itself on a bigger stage.

“It was something we needed to do. We needed to prove to people what we are capable of,” Celli said. “We showed everyone what we’re capable of.”

McDonald will face second-seeded Mogadore (10-1) on Friday at a site to be determined.