Waid leads Indians to regional final against familiar foe

By DAN HINER

sports@vindy.com

NILES

The Girard football team finally got payback.

After Perry sent the Indians home last season, Girard won 42-33 at Bo Rein Stadium in Niles in a Division IV, Region 13 semifinal.

Perry beat the Indians 50-21 in a regional semifinal last season. But Girard quarterback Mark Waid didn’t want this season to end.

The Indians’ quarterback finished with a combined 556 yards and six touchdowns.

“We made the playoffs last year and we got a taste of it,” Waid said. “But we knew we wanted more. We knew what our end goal was and we’re excited to have another Monday together.”

Waid was 26 of 37 for 321 yards and four touchdown passes. He also ran for 235 yards and two scores on 42 carries.

Girard head coach Pat Pearson said the team’s goal was to return to the regional semifinals.

“It feels good,” Pearson said. “We got a lot of kids back. We went on a mission all year to get better and play the next play, the next down and the next day. And they showed that.”

Both teams were going back and forth in the first half until the final minute of the second quarter.

Girard (11-1) scored on a 1-yard run by Waid to take a 28-21 lead with 1:03 left. The Indians attempted an onside kick and recovered with just enough time for Waid to find Nick Malito on a 22-yard touchdown pass.

Drew Schiano kept the Pirates (10-2) in the game.

Perry’s quarterback threw three touchdown passes on the Pirates’ first three plays of the game. His scores were on throws of 44, 51 and 42 yards. Jacob Allen caught two of those passes and finished with four catches for 139 yards.

Schiano finished with 241 yards passing and five touchdowns.

The Indians didn’t put the game away until Malito broke up a pass from Schiano on a two-point conversion. Girard was leading 42-33 and the two points would have made it a one-possession game with 6:55 left.

“It’s the team,” Pearson said. “It’s a family group in the team. In every aspect of the game — whether it’s the offensive line blocking, receivers making plays and obviously Mark leads the show as the quarterback — but this is a team effort, a community effort.

“It’s just an unbelievable thing we got going on right now.”

Girard will play Hubbard on Saturday night after the Eagles’ 34-16 victory over Steubenville.

Girard and Perry were scheduled to play at Ashtabula Lakeside Stadium, but heavy snowfall in that area led to the game being moved to Niles early in the afternoon.

“I’m excited for the Mahoning Valley,” Pearson said. “It shows the kind of football we have in this area. A lot of teams are putting us down and putting Hubbard down. Now we’re the last two left.”