Clinton-Massie outscores St. Clairsville for D-4 title

Published 12:28 am Monday, December 3, 2012

CANTON (AP) — Bayle Wolf’s biggest play wasn’t one of his five touchdowns.

Wolf ran for 220 yards and all those scores, but his interception with 1:30 left helped preserve Clinton-Massie’s 46-36 win over St. Clairsville on Friday for the Falcons’ first state Division IV football championship.

“It was huge,” Wolf said. “They had some momentum. I was just so happy. I had some green ahead of me, but I just slid down so that I didn’t make a mistake and just win the game.”

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Wolf scored on a 9-yard run and 36-yard pass from Tyler Uetrecht in the first three minutes for the Falcons (15-0). They totaled 822 points this year, a state record for any level.

“That’s just an overwhelming feat,” coach Dan McSurley said. “You don’t go into a season thinking you can do that.”

St. Clairsville (14-1) rallied from a 19-0 deficit in its first title game. The Red Devils got within 39-36 as Matt Kinnick passed for 437 yards. The senior quarterback had scoring throws of 7, 76, 9 yards and 46 yards to Jerrid Marhefka.

“It was as we expected, a lot of emotion and both teams showed some of the fireworks that people thought would happen,” Red Devils coach Brett McLean said. “We couldn’t quite claw all the way back.”

Marhefka had nine receptions and a title-game record 272 yards. Kinnick finished 21 of 39 for 437 yards, two shy of the state title game mark in the division.

“We played well, got into our offense, but they are so tough to stop,” Kinnick said. “They just overwhelmed us in blocking.”

Clinton-Massie totaled 408 yards on 60 carries. Wyatt Running added 101 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown.

Yet it was the Falcons’ unheralded defense that came through in the fourth quarter. They held St. Clairsville to its’ lowest point total of the season — helped by stopping the Red Devils on four downs inside the 2.

“That was the game right there, actually,” McSurley said.

McLean agreed: “We needed that one more score right there, and then one more stop. We were confident we could score and we put up some points. We lived on speed all season, but they matched it.”

Still, St. Clairsville kept moving the ball on offense, just about matching the Falcons’ potent attack.

“I was on pins and needles all the time,” McSurley said. “That it came down to Bayle’s interception to win it shows how close it really was. That was the play of the game.”

Division VI

Marion Local 28, Newark Catholic 21

MASSILLON (AP) — Hunter Wilker scored on a 1-yard run with 21 seconds left to lead Maria Stein Marion Local to its sixth state football championship, 28-21 over Newark Catholic in Division VI on Friday.

Wilker, a freshman wide receiver, had three TD runs as the Flyers (13-2) repeated as champions despite losing tailbacks Jacy Goettemoeller and Aaron Nietfeld to injuries.

Nate Nagel broke up a potential tying pass in the end zone with no time left.

Chayce Croch threw two TD passes and had a 5-yard TD run for Newark Catholic (12-3), seeking its ninth title.

Wilker scored from 6 yards 19 seconds left in the first half. Moved to running back after Nietfeld went down, Wilker picked his way through the right side for an 11-yard TD with 18 seconds left in the third quarter for a 21-14 lead.

Division II

Toledo CC 16, Trotwood-Madison 12

MASSILLON (AP) — Amir Edwards has rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns to help Toledo Central Catholic win its second Ohio state Division II football championship by beating defending champion Trotwood-Madison 16-12.

The 14-1 Fighting Irish held Trotwood-Madison running back Isreal Green to 56 yards on 14 carries Friday night. A year ago, Green had 326 yards and six touchdowns when the Rams won the title.

Trotwood-Madison is 12-3. It got a pair of touchdown passes from Messiah Deweaver in the fourth quarter. He hit Ryon Lucas from 13 yards with 9:20 to play and connected with Demarcus Wilson from 24 yards with 2:38 left.

Toledo Central Catholic also won the title in 2005.

Division II

Akron SVSM 42, Bellevue 21

CANTON (AP) — Newman Williams’ spectacular 41-yard touchdown run helped Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary beat Bellevue 42-21 Saturday for the Division III state football championship.

The Fighting Irish (13-2) won their fifth title, and their first since 1988.

Williams’ run, on a fake punt, was the highlight. The 215-pound junior rumbled 20 yards around the left end, broke three tackles and carried a defender the final 5 yards to score.

Seconds later, Williams intercepted a pass at his own 47. Five plays later, he scored from 5 yards to make it 35-14.

Perris Campbell ran for 165 yards and three TD’s for the Irish.

Jalen Santoro had TD passes of 27, 13 and 27 yards for Bellevue (13-2), in its first title game.

Division V

Coldwater 10, Kirkland 9

MASSILLON (AP) — MASSILLON, Ohio (AP) — Austin Bruns passed for 233 yards and one touchdown as Coldwater took the Division V state football championship away from Kirtland 10-9 Saturday in a rematch of the 2011 title game.

The Cavaliers (15-0), ranked No. 1 in the final Associated Press poll, earned their third title, and first since 2007.

Bruns, who ran for 97 yards, passed 7 yards to Mitch Schoenherr for a 7-0 lead. The Hornets (14-1) tied it on a 4-yard pass from Scott Eilerman to Matthew Finkler.

Kyle Bergman’s 28-yard field on the first half’s final play put Coldwater up 10-7.

Kirtland got within 10-9 when Sam Skiljan tackled Brody Hoying in the end zone for a safety in the fourth.

Hoying intercepted a pass with 1:05 left to preserve the win.

Division I

Cincinnati Moeller 20, Toledo Whitmer 12

CANTON (AP) — Spencer Iacavone’s efficient passing and a stout defense helped Cincinnati Moeller defeat Toledo Whitmer for the Ohio Division I championship 20-13 Saturday night at Fawcett Stadium.

The Crusaders (12-3) won their seventh title — first since 1985. They lost title games in 1989, 1991 and 1997.

Iacovone went 15 of 19 for 161 yards and a 7-yard touchdown to Keith Watkins for Moeller, which used a high-powered offense to get to its 12th title game overall— then won with defense. Moeller opponents averaged 25.3 points in 14 games. Whitmer’s total was the lowest against the Crusaders this year.

The Panthers (14-1), in their first title game, got 288 total yards from quarterback Nick Holley, who passed for 196 and two TDs.