North Canton, OH- On a brisk November evening with a misty precipitation falling throughout the game, the Ursuline Fighting Irish and Aurora Greenmen met at Memorial Stadium in North Canton for the right to advance to the OHSAA Division 3 Region 9 final. Both teams entered the night 11-1, with Ursuline holding the top seed in the Region and Aurora coming in as the 4 seed.
It was a back-and-forth affair for much of the first half, with both offenses showing a bit of promise on drives before the defenses strengthened. It wasn't until 1:07 before halftime that the scoreless tie was broken when Ursuline Senior QB CD Ferrell found Sophomore WR Ray Javey on the right sideline for the score after Javey put a spin move on the Greenmen defender after hauling in the Ferrell throw.
The two point conversion attempt following the score was unsuccessful and the scoreboard read 6-0 in favor of the Irish after 24 minutes.
Ursuline took the opening kick of the 2nd half and marched down the field into Greenman territory before a Ferrell pass was picked off in the endzone by Luke McGovern with 9:30 left in the 3rd, keeping the score 6-0.
Senior fullback Tommy Tartabini busted through the line on the ensuing drive and rumbled 66 yards into the red zone for the Greenmen. A few plays later, it was Senior QB Ryan Dwyer finding fellow Senior Ben Lukasik from 5 yards out to give the Greenmen the lead following the successful PAT.
It didn't take long for the Irish to come roaring back, as Senior WR Jy'Quise Liason took the kick-off 90 yards to the Aurora 6-yard line. The Aurora defense once again stood tall, forcing the Irish to kick a 20-yard field goal, which Ursuline Senior Kicker Anthony Tabak split the uprights on with ease.
In the latter stages of the 3rd quarter, it was Aurora Kicker Colin Dockman nailing a 35-yard field goal to regain a 10-9 Aurora advantage with 0:28 on the 3rd quarter clock.
The DC Ferrell show officially got underway once the clock turned to the 4th quarter. A fake punt by Ferrell in the early stages of the quarter resulted in a 13-yard gain for the 1st down. On 3rd down from that set of downs, Ferrell found Junior WR Devonte Taylor down the middle of the field after Taylor blew past his defender, hauling in the Ferrell offering around the 12-yard line before scooting in for the score on the 50-yard catch and run to regain the lead. Ursuline would once again attempt a two-point conversion but were unsuccessful once more, making the score 15-10 with 10:27 remaining.
Aurora would be forced to punt on their ensuing drive but was able to pin the Irish deep in their zone at the 9-yard line. Trailing only by 5, the Greenmen defense took the field hoping to once again force the Irish to give the ball back. Unfortunately for Aurora, the Dan Reardon led Irish had other plans, going 91 yards on 12 plays, capped off by Senior Running Back Joe Balog galloping down the right sideline 31 yards to paydirt.
Facing a 4th down and 18 from their own 15 with 4:20 left and trailing 22-10, coach Bob Mihalik opted to punt. Awaiting that punt was DC Ferrell, who received the punt at the Ursuline 45 and weaved his way through the Greenmen coverage unit to the end zone, putting the final nail in the Greenmen season.
Ursuline (12-1) moves on to take on Gilmour Academy (12-1) in the Division III Region 9 final next Friday after the Lancers defeated CVCA by a score of 35-28. The neutral site for that bout will be determined later this weekend.
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