Monday, December 6th, 2010
Ursuline captures third straight title
Cavs finish runners-up to Irish once again
By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Coldwater players hold up the Division V state runner-up trophy after the Cavaliers lost to Youngstown Ursuline 51-21 on Saturday at Canton's Fawcett Stadium. It's the second straight year that Ursuline has beaten Coldwater in the state championship game and the third consecutive season the Irish have been crowned state champions.
CANTON - What was touted as a rematch of last year's title game turned into a replay.
And at times, it had the feel of a horror film.
Youngstown Ursuline repeated its dominance on the Coldwater Cavaliers, scoring 44 points in the first half as Mr. Football Akise Teague showed the honor was well-deserved as the Fighting Irish dominated the Cavaliers 51-21 in the Division V state championship game at Fawcett Stadium in Canton on Saturday morning.
The Irish win their third straight state title in D-V while completing a 15-0 perfect season. The Cavaliers, runners-up for the fourth time in six trips to the state finals, end the season at 11-4.
"Congratulations to Ursuline. (They're) certainly a big, fast, strong team with a lot of good players and one great player," said Coldwater coach Chip Otten, referring to Teague. "We certainly had a tough time tackling."
"Everytime it seems we get together, there's a lot of offense on both sides," said Irish coach Dan Reardon. "Coach Otten has done a tremendous job. To come back after losing their coach (John Reed) and seamlessly get back to the championship game is a huge accomplishment."
Teague, who had 119 yards in last season's 55-25 drubbing of the Cavaliers, proved to be unstoppable in the first half against the Cavaliers. In just the first two quarters of play, Teague carried the ball 13 times for 192 yards, scored three touchdowns, and caught four passes for 94 yards and another touchdown as the game got out of hand in the second quarter.
Teague eventually set the Division V state final record for most touchdowns in a game with five, and he tied the record for most rushing touchdowns with four, last occurring in 2001 by Tony Franklin of St. Peter Chanel.
After Teague's first score, a 73-yard screen pass from Paul Kempe in the opening minutes of the game, Coldwater was quick to counter. Coldwater's Reese Klenke snagged a 49-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Bettinger just over a minute later and the Irish was up 8-7.
Unfortunately, that would be all the excitement that the Cavaliers could muster, as the Irish took control.
Jesse Curry made it 15-7 at the 5:21 mark in the first quarter with a 53-yard TD run.
Then it was Teague Time.
In a span of six minutes in the second quarter, Teague ran for touchdowns of 46, 65 and 17 yards that kept the Fawcett Stadium scoreboard operator busy.
"One of our keys to winning this game was to prevent the long, long touchdown run," said Otten. "Unfortunately, we didn't do that. ... That killed us."
Teague gave credit to the offensive line for helping to open the holes that got him touchdowns.
"All week, we told the O-Line they had to win the game for us," said Teague. "They led me to help the team to victory."
The Cavaliers, lamenting the inability to tackle, were impressed as well.
"It showed we did a poor job of tackling," said Cavalier linebacker Aaron Rammel. "There's just something about the kid. He was hard to take down. He's quick. I know for the few (Coldwater) kids that played last year when he played, we knew he was quick, but I didn't think we'd expect him to be that quick."
Teague finished his incredible effort with 249 yards rushing on just 19 carries with five total touchdowns while Jesse Curry added 113 yards rushing on 10 carries.
"It's just a tremendous day because it's our third straight championship," said Teague.
Klenke closed out his high school football career with nine catches for 125 yards and scored all three of the Cavaliers' touchdowns.
"We knew we weren't going to win, but we talked about 'Guys, it's football at this point. Go play.'" said Otten about what was talked about at halftime. "We beat them in the second half."
"They're just a quick team. They can bring blitzes from every place," said Klenke. "Whenever you run a flat route or into the flats, they're running to the ball. They bring it."
The Cavaliers did finish with 323 yards of offense, 221 through the air. The only turnover came on a fumble as Bettinger and Rammel combined to complete 19-of-39 passes, with Rammel throwing a touchdown pass to Klenke.
"(Klenke) is a great player," said Ursuline linebacker Jordan Markota. "Their offense is a spread and it's dynamic. Their receivers are great, their quarterback is great and their offensive line knows how to pass block. One of the best offensive lines we've been up against all year. They're a great team. It was a challenge."
Although the Cavaliers weren't able to bring home the school's third state title, the seniors were glad to have the chance to play in the title game.
"It's just a great feeling to play on this team with all these guys that care so much about each other," said senior running back Ross Wermert. "To make the state championship three out of four years is amazing. It would be definitely better to win two more of those, but we've got a lot to be proud of."
Division V State Final Summary:
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Coldwater 7 0 7 7 - 21
Ursuline 15 29 7 0 - 51
First Quarter
Ursuline 8, Coldwater 0 - Akise Teague 73-yard pass from Paul Kempe. PAT: Jeff Podolsky run. Drive: three plays, 80 yards. Elapsed time: 1:08. Time on the clock: 10:52. Key Play: Teague takes a screen pass from Kempe and breaks a couple tackles to open the scoring.
Ursuline 8, Coldwater 7 - Reese Klenke 49-yard pass from Ethan Bettinger. PAT: Troy Otten kick. Drive: five plays, 72 yards. Elapsed time: 1:30. Time on the clock: 9:16. Key Play: Klenke snags a pass near the sideline and steps over a couple tacklers to get to the end zone.
Ursuline 15, Coldwater 7 - Jesse Curry 53-yard run. PAT: Podolsky kick. Drive: one play, 53 yards. Elapsed time: :10. Time on the clock: 5:21. Key Play: Curry breaks several tackles on a dive play.
SECOND QUARTER
Ursuline 22, Coldwater 7 - Teague 46-yard run. PAT: Podolsky kick. Drive: 11 plays, 98 yards. Elapsed time: 4:17. Time on the clock: 11:31. Key Play: On third-and-eight forom the Ursuline 29, Kempe finds Teague for a 13-yard pass and a first down.
Ursuline 30, Coldwater 7 - Teague 65-yard run. PAT: Podolsky run. Drive: two plays, 65 yards. Elapsed time: :20. Time on the clock: 9:47. Key Play: Teauge gets an opening from his offensive line and breaks a couple tackles to get the touchdown.
Ursuline 37, Coldwater 7 - Teague 17-yard run. PAT: Podolsky kick. Drive: eight plays, 63 yards. Elapsed time: 2:40. Time on the clock: 5:25. Key Play: All eight plays come via the rush.
Ursuline 44, Coldwater 7 - Kempe 1-yard run. PAT: Podolsky kick. Drive: 13 plays, 89 yards. Elapsed time: 4:14. Time on the clock: :17. Key Play: Tramain Thigpin converts a third-and-one on a run from the Coldwater 39 to keep the drive going.
THIRD QUARTER
Ursuline 44, Coldwater 14 - Klenke 24-yard pass from Aaron Rammel. PAT: Otten kick. Drive: six plays, 65 yards. Elapsed time: 1:53. Time on the clock: 10:10. Key Play: Kurt Schoenherr takes an end-around for 10 yards, at the time the best rushing play of the game for the Cavaliers.
Ursuline 51, Coldwater 14 - Teague 42-yard run. PAT: Podolsky kick. Drive: three plays, 49 yards. Elapsed time: 1:16. Time on the clock: 4:00. Key Play: Teauge again finds an opening and and runs for his fourth rushing TD of the game.
FOURTH QUARTER
Ursuline 51, Coldwater 21 - Klenke 9-yard pass from Bettinger. PAT: Otten kick. Drive: 16 plays, 94 yards. Elapsed time: 4:55. Time on the clock: 4:26. Key Play: The Cavaliers convert a fourth-and-10 from the Irish 34 when Bettinger hits Klenke for a 13-yard pass to keep the drive going.
TEAM STATISTICS
CW YU
First downs 18 26
Rushes-yards 21-102 61-492
Passing yards 221 119
Comp.-Att.-Int. 19-39-0 6-9-0
Total offensive plays 60-323 70-611
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties-yards 1-5 6-55
Time of Possession 19:17 28:43
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing - Coldwater: Rammel 10-55, Bettinger 6-25, Wermret 3-23, Schoenherr 2-10. Ursuline: Teague 19-249, Curry 10-113, Thigpen 9-74, Kempe 10-22, Podolsky 4-14, Smith 3-13, Durkin 1-8, Klempay 2-5, Ulicny 1-5, Hightower 1-1, Harrison 1-0.
Passing - Coldwater: Bettinger 18-37-197-0, Rammel 1-2-24-0. Ursuline: Kempe 6-9-119-0.
Receiving - Coldwater: Klenke 9-125, Schoenherr 4-55, Stammen 3-27, Otten 1-11, Feltz 1-8, Wermert 1-(-5). Ursuline: Teague 4-94, Curry 1-13, Thurston 1-12.
Punting - Coldwater: Bergman 6-39.3. Ursuline Kempe 3-42.3.
Kick returns - Coldwater: Rammel 2-35, Wermert 2-29, Schoenherr 2-28, Rios 1-11. Ursuline: Teague 2-42.
Punt returns - Coldwater: none. Ursuline: Teague 1-20, Podolsky 1-7.
Interceptions - none.
Tackes (solo-assist) - Coldwater: Rammel 7-9, Chapin 3-7, J. Klosterman 3-6, Wermert 3-6, Klenke 4-2, Harlamert 2-5, Siefring 3-2, Post 2-4, Feltz 2-3, Grieshop 2-2, Dickman 1-2, Schmackers 1-1, D. Klosterman 1-1, Sink 1-0, Gillis 0-1, Schramm 0-1, Stammen 0-1, Dippold 0-1. Ursuline: Curry 6-1, Dundee 4-1, Podolsky 4-1, Markota 3-2, Thigpen 3-2, Hightower 2-2, Davis 2-1, Smith 1-1, Durkin 1-0, Thurston 1-0, Ulicny 1-0, Teague 1-0, Williams 0-2, Monroe 0-1.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Youngstown Ursuline running back Akise Teague, 26, breaks free from the Coldwater defense during Saturday's Division V state championship football game at Canton's Fawcett Stadium. Teague, Ohio's 2010 Mr. Football, ran the ball just 19 times but totaled 249 yards and scored five touchdowns in Ursuline's 51-21 victory over Coldwater. It's the third straight D-V state title for Youngtown Ursuline.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Reese Klenke, left, breaks free from the Youngstown Ursuline secondary and scores on a 49-yard touchdown reception during the Division V state championship game on Saturday. Klenke caught 9 passes for 125 yards and scored all three of the Cavaliers' touchdowns in a 51-21 defeat.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Ross Wermert, 8, and Kurt Schoenherr, 4, lead the Cavaliers through a school banner and onto the Fawcett Stadium field prior to Saturday's Division V state championship game in Canton.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Caleb Siefring, 28, makes a tackle on Youngstown Ursuline's Keil'n Thurston during Saturday's Division V state championship game.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Aaron Mestemaker, 9, reaches out to make a tackle on Youngstown Ursuline's Jeff Podolsky during their Division V state championship game on Saturday in Canton.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Coldwater quarterback Ethan Bettinger was 18-of-37 passing for 197 yards and two touchdowns against Youngstown Ursuline in Saturday's D-V title game.
