By MiKE Mclain

sports@vindy.com

WARREN

So what if the Garfield Heights Bulldogs had just finished the school’s first undefeated season in 41 years?

As far as most high school football observers thought, the Bulldogs were underdogs on their trip to Mollenkopf Stadium to meet the Warren G. Harding Raiders.

The only person in attendance who wasn’t convinced of Heights’ underdog status was Raiders coach Steve Arnold. He looked beyond the Bulldogs’ so-called weak schedule and saw a scary-good opponent.

Arnold’s concerns proved accurate as Heights advanced in the Division II, Region 5 playoffs with a convincing 42-25 win.

“Every facet of the game they beat us at tonight,” Arnold said. “We got beat by a very good football team. There’s a reason they’re 11-0 right now and averaging 42 points a game.

“[People] saying all week, ‘Oh, man, their schedule.’ You can only beat who’s in front of you. They’ve taken care of that 11 weeks in a row. They dominated us on both sides of the ball. They physically beat us up.”

The Bulldogs now draw the unenviable task of taking on undefeated and the region’s top seed, Akron Hoban, in a Region 5 semifinal next week. The Raiders finish 8-3.

It appeared as if the game would go down to the final minutes after the Bulldogs took a 14-7 halftime lead. Heights, however, began to show its strength when it forced a three-and-out to start the third quarter and then blocked Cavin Stouffer’s punt. Donald Willis picked up the ball just inside the 5-yard line and scored.

Yousef Jebrin made one of his six point-after kicks to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 21-7.

The teams began trading touchdowns, but the Raiders had trouble adding extra points. Harding quarterback Elijah Taylor scored on a 1-yard sneak, but kicker Mike Clauss was wide right on the point-after kick.

After Isaiah Jackson answered with a 21-yard scoring run to extend Heights’ lead to 28-13, the Raiders answered with a 3-yard scoring run by Kayron Adams. However, Taylor’s pass for the extra two points failed, keeping the differential at 28-19.

A 5-yard touchdown pass from Marlon Jordan to Willis on the next possession put Heights ahead, 35-19, with 1:26 remaining in the third quarter. The issue was no longer in doubt for the Bulldogs, who won their first-ever playoff game.

“I’m all about the preparation, and we were ready,” Bulldogs coach Lance Reisland said. “We were healthy. So win, lose or draw, we had all our cards. I thought we had a little advantage on special teams because we work so hard on them. We feel you might not win offense or defense, but you can always win special teams.”

Special teams did play a difference with the score tied, 7-7, in the second quarter when Adrian Thompson of Heights fell on a muffed punt by Jamel Anderson at the Raiders’ 42. Five plays later Jackson, who rushed for 179 yards and four touchdowns, tallied on a 12-yard run that led the Bulldogs to a seven-point halftime lead.

Harding opened the scoring on an 8-yard run by Elijah Smith in the first quarter. The Bulldogs evened the score four plays later on a 6-yard run by Jackson.

“They have numerous playmakers on the field at any given time,” Arnold said. “So, if you take this away, this kid can beat you. I can see why the Willis kid is going to Minnesota. He creates havoc. And I had to find No. 13 [Jordan]. My man plays 120 snaps a game at outside linebacker and quarterback, and he plays extremely hard.”

Heights pushed its advantage to 42-19 midway through the fourth quarter on a 10-yard run by Jackson. Harding finished the scoring when Taylor connected on a 13-yard pass to Adams, who rushed for 127 yards to finish an outstanding scholastic career.

“We lost but that doesn’t take away of how proud I am of this team and in particular the senior class,” Arnold said. “You start out 1-2 and you’re able to win seven consecutive games, you can only do that with a strong senior class.”