PUSKAS: Girard opponents feel heat for 48 minutes

Nolan Richardson coached the Arkansas men’s basketball team to a national championship in 1994 by employing what he called “40 minutes of hell.”

The Razorbacks pressed the length of the court on defense and ran the floor mercilessly when they had the ball. The combination made for a hellish experience for most Arkansas opponents, hence the description.

It’s harder to play that way in football, given the nature of the game, the number of players involved on each side of the ball and the physicality involved.

But defenses tasked with stopping — ha! — or even slowing the Girard High School football team might describe what the Indians do as 48 minutes of hell.

Senior quarterback Mark Waid and his teammates on offense don’t actually have the ball that much in a game. It just seems like it, because of the no-huddle and the pace of play it allows the Indians to achieve.

“It’s really what we do. We’ve been doing it for the last 20 years,” Girard head coach Pat Pearson said. “We have the ability to make calls with a single word. We snap the ball every eight seconds in practice. We practice faster than you could ever possibly play.

“I think it can give us an advantage sometimes, not only in calling plays but also wearing people down.”

Newark Licking Valley learned that the hard way in a 53-48 loss to Girard in a Division IV state semifinal last Saturday night.

The Panthers played fast, too, albeit with a bit more of a ground-oriented attack. Licking Valley used it to build a 34-20 halftime lead in a frenetic first half.

But the Indians were just getting started. Waid led Girard on three third-quarter TD drives as the momentum shifted. The Indians won the game with one final drive, capped by Waid’s 22-yard TD pass to Nick Malito on fourth-and-15.

It may take another shootout for Girard (13-1) to win its first football state championship Saturday night at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. Cincinnati Wyoming (14-0) also plays fast behind a dual-threat QB in junior Evan Prater, like Waid a first-team All-Ohio QB in Division IV.

Prater was 74 of 122 for 1,482,yards and 19 TDs and rushed for 1,049 yards and 21 TDs in the regular season.

But Waid has passed for 4,182 yards (256 of 380) and 47 TDs and rushed for 1,744 yards and 26 TDs. Waid is second nationwide in total yards and will be No. 1 not long after he takes the field in the state final.

And yet Prater was voted Ohio’s Division IV Offensive Player of the Year.

But to win a state title the Cowboys will have to endure 48 minutes of hell and slow the fourth-most prolific passer (11,464 yards) in Ohio history.

And remember, the Indians can push teams around, too.

“We’re both ways,” Pearson said. “Last week [in a regional final victory] against Hubbard, we ran for 300-some yards.

“Our O-line is physical. When we get in that no-huddle and we go, we count numbers. If people want to take away the pass, then we’ll get physical. If people want to pack the box, we’ll get our athletes in space and throw the ball.”

But whatever Girard does, you can bet it will be at a break-neck pace.

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.