Blue Devils defenders force three turnovers

By Brian Dzenis

bdzenis@vindy.com

NEW MIDDLETOWN

McDonald has always had a good ground game, but the Blue Devils needed a little more to get by Springfield.

The Blue Devils defense intercepted Springfield quarterback Brannon Brungard three times to win the matchup of unbeatens, 20-17.

In the proverbial tightrope that is the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference, Friday’s victory was huge. Springfield (4-1) essentially starts playoff play next week with another loss potentially knocking them out of playoff contention. McDonald (5-0) is sitting pretty with two of its next three games against winless sides.

Even more encouraging was the performance of a defense that previously gave up 35 points and 396 yards by air to Columbiana in Week 2.

“It shows how much we’ve grown as a team,” McDonald senior Zach Gray said. “Hopefully we can improve and make the playoffs.”

With a 13-10 lead in the third quarter, Springfield pulled out a variation of its “Boilermaker” trick play, a double flea-flicker that led to a touchdown in the Tigers’ 20-13 win against South Range in Week 1.

Brungard handed the ball off to wideout Mitchell Seymour on a reverse and he pitched the ball to fellow wideout Garrett Walker, who subsequently pitched the ball back to Brungard. Instead of finding a wide-open Shane Eynon at tight end, he found Gray, who returned the pick 37 yards for a touchdown.

“Zach read that. It was a double reverse we’ve seen on film, but it was a screen to a tight end instead of a go,” McDonald coach Dan Williams said. “Zach almost tackled the first guy who had the ball, but he put the breaks on and backpedals there and jumped up and picked it off.”

The touchdown proved to be the game-winner. A quarter later, Springfield mounted an effective two-minute drilled capped by Luke Snyder’s 40-yard touchdown run where he was able to hurdle a McDonald defender and run down the home sideline to have his team trail 20-17 with 7:07 left to play.

Tigers kicker Clayton Medvec got a lucky roll into the end zone on the ensuing kickoff. McDonald converted a third-and-12 and a third-and-6 on the ground before Springfield forced a punt to get the ball back at its own 20 with 2:22 to play.

Springfield made it to a fourth-and-6 from its own 36 with 1:13 to go when Brungard made his final heave downfield. Dominic Schadl dove to make the interception that sealed the win. He previously picked off Brungard in the second quarter.

“We had a mix of man and zone stuff to confuse [Brungard]. I liked our defensive line. They got a lot of pressure on him and got to him a few times,” Williams said. “When you have a rush coming at you instead of sitting back there and seeing the whole field, it really helps our secondary.”

Alex Cintron rushed 27 times for 186 yards and two touchdowns, including a 79-yard TD run in the first quarter. Quarterback Josh Celli was the only other Blue Devil with carries. He ran 15 times for 69 yards and also had 79 yards by air.

Eynon caught a one-handed touchdown pass in the second quarter and collected nine tackles, including two for a loss.