Local Sports
Monday, November 09, 2009
H-L wins a thriller
SPORTS WRITER
McDONALD — Hopewell-Loudon football coach Brian Colatruglio said earlier in the week that his Chieftains are not a typical No. 8 seed.
First-round opponent McDonald found that out the hard way.
Senior Matt Brickner scored three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 2:59 remaining in the game, and the Chieftains stunned previously unbeaten McDonald 28-24 in a Division VI, Region 21 quarterfinal contest Saturday night at Burkey Field.
The Chieftains (9-2) will face fourth-seeded Wynford (11-0) this Saturday at 7 p.m. in a regional semifinal game at Tiffin Columbian's Frost-Kalnow Stadium. Wynford advanced by crushing fifth-seeded Dalton 41-21. McDonald (10-1) suffered its third first-round elimination in the past four years.
"There aren't too many eight seeds in the state that would have overcome what we overcame tonight," Colatruglio said. "We had so many opportunities to just put our heads down and go away. I think a lot of eight seeds and a lot of teams — no offense, but they dominate their league and the teams that they play know they're supposed to get beat by them. Our kids didn't know that. They just fought to the end.
"I'm so proud of our seniors. All they heard all offseason was all the guys they had to replace and all the All-Ohio players we lost. Our guys just took that challenge. And to get on a bus for three hours and come to a place like this against just a tremendous team — it's unfortunate it had to happen first round. That's not two first-round teams right there. That's the way this region is, and unfortunately it had to happen in the first round. Unbelievable."
Hopewell-Loudon was down two scores in the fourth quarter after senior fullback Nick Cupan's 14-yard touchdown run with 10 minutes left on the clock capped a 10-play, 70-yard drive. Devon Bansberg's extra-point kick made the Blue Devils' lead 24-13.
On its next possession, Hopewell-Loudon faced third and 20 at McDonald's 45. Fuller's short pass on to senior Aaron Kapelka gained 5 yards, and on fourth down Fuller hit Brickner for 28 yards over the middle.
Kapelka finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run three plays later. His second effort pushed him across the line as he was hit by three Blue Devils at the 1 yard line and looked to be down, but he broke away and dove over the goal line. Brickner rushed for the two-point conversion to pull the Chieftains within 24-21 with 5:59 left in the game.
"(McDonald) had all the momentum and I'm thinking of punting," Colatruglio said of the fourth-and-15. "But we're down two scores and we really haven't stopped them all that much. Again, it's two seniors: a quarterback making a perfect throw and a receiver making a great catch -- two seniors not wanting their season to end."
From that point the game got wild. Bansberg fumbled the kickoff return and Hopewell-Loudon recovered at McDonald's 40.
Five running plays then moved the Chieftains to the 13, and Brickner scored the go-ahead touchdown with a 13-yard run from the Wildcat formation. Ickes' kick put the Chieftains on top 28-24.
Ickes booted a high, short kick on the ensuing kickoff and it appeared that the Chieftains had recovered to reclaim possession, but an offsides penalty forced the Chieftains back five yards for a rekick, and the Blue Devils' offense took possession at their own 40.
Four plays later, on third and eight from Hopewell-Loudon's 47, Hopewell-Loudon sophomore Austin Harrison intercepted Nicola Accordino's pass with 1:56 remaining.
But on the next play, the Blue Devils got the ball back as Cody Colburn fell on a Chieftain fumble at Hopewell-Loudon's 34.
McDonald moved to Hopewell-Loudon's 15 but saw its hopes for winning the game disappear on fourth down when Miles Chapman intercepted Accordino's pass and fell to the ground intentionally at the 17.
"(Chapman) was awesome tonight," Colatruglio said. "He just made play after play on both sides of the ball.
"I can't say enough about Ethan Fuller our quarterback. We've struggled in the passing game the last half of the year and we've really been dominating people running. They're good -- McDonald is so good inside that they forced us to have to throw the ball and our quarterback and receivers really responded tonight."
Hopewell-Loudon didn't lead until the third quarter when Fuller hit Brickner with a 6-yard touchdown pass to put the Chieftains up 13-10. The Blue Devils took the lead back almost immediately as Accordino hit Justin Rota with a 65-yard scoring pass.
McDonald scored on its first possession of the game as Accordino hit Zach Tura with a short pass in the backfield on third and 10 from the McDonald 48. Tura took off up the left side of the field, getting a good block at Hopewell-Loudon's 30 and running for the 52-yard touchdown. Accordino's point after put the Blue Devils up 7-0 with 9:24 left in the first quarter.
Accordino extended the Blue Devil lead to 10-0 with a 21-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
Brickner put the Chieftains on the board with his first touchdown of the game, a 2-yard run up the middle. Ickes' kick made it 10-7 with 5:02 left in the half.
Brickner finished the game with 56 yards on six carries and caught four passes for 84 yards, while Chapman caught 10 balls for 117 yards and Kapelka ran 12 times for 67 yards. Fuller completed 10 of 28 passes for 242 yards with an interception to go with the touchdown.
Cupan led the Blue Devils in rushing with 140 yards on 17 carries.
"We haven't done anything easy all year long," Colatruglio said. "If you look at our results, we were in these types of games all year long. The two we lost were battles and we won three or four like this. We've had our backs to the wall several times this year just to get into the playoffs. Our kids are just fighters. They're winners."
All contents © 1996 - 2008
Fostoria Review Times
Ph: (419) 435-6641 • Fax: (419) 435-9073
113 E. Center St. • P.O. Box 947
Fostoria, OH 44830
The Findlay Publishing Company
P.O. Box 609
Findlay, OH 45839-0609
Phone: (419) 422-5151
www.findlaypublishing.com
Please read our privacy guidelines
Ph: (419) 435-6641 • Fax: (419) 435-9073
113 E. Center St. • P.O. Box 947
Fostoria, OH 44830
The Findlay Publishing Company
P.O. Box 609
Findlay, OH 45839-0609
Phone: (419) 422-5151
www.findlaypublishing.com
Please read our privacy guidelines
VIDEO