By Matt Florjancic
MaxPreps.com
CANTON, Ohio - In the shadows of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where the game’s greatest players are enshrined, high school athletes from several states took part in the fourth installment of the Burger King Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series Saturday.
Canton was one of three sites to feature games this season. The Series also returned to Cincinnati. In addition to the 11 games in Ohio, Texas Stadium, home of the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys, is also slated to host seven games over the Labor Day weekend.
The nightcap featured a strange atmosphere. At the home of Canton McKinley, the archrival Massillon Washington Tigers took the field under a blanket of applause. The Tigers made their second appearance in the Series. In the 2006 event, Massillon Washington beat Hamilton High School of Arizona, 35-26.
Massillon Washington (1-1) and Utah's Jordan (1-1) did not disappoint in the 2008 finale. The only close game of the day was decided in the fourth quarter. Despite questions about a possible timing issue in the final seconds, Jordan’s Garrett Blaisdell kicked a 36-yard field goal for the 27-24 victory.
“The last two days of practice were phenomenal,” Jordan coach Alex Jacobson said. “Massillon has a first-class program. That’s a good football team. They’re going to beat a lot of people this year.
“This is football heaven,” he added. “My kids would love to be in this environment. We just got the taste of it for a few days. Win or lose, we would’ve had a great experience coming down. It’s because of how we were treated by the Massillon Tigers and their administration.”
“It would have been nice to see this game in overtime,” Massillon Washington coach Jason Hall said. “Sometimes the ball bounces your way, sometimes it doesn’t. We’ve got to get back to work tomorrow and Monday and prepare to play Normandy.”
Jordan junior quarterback Alex Hart initiated the scoring with a 20-yard scamper late in the first quarter. The Tigers struck back when Massillon quarterback Mike Clark ran the ball in from the Jordan six-yard line.
The Beetdiggers retook the lead on a Brayden Dimond four-yard run, but Massillon Washington answered 1:12 later. On first-and-goal, J.T. Turner pushed his way through the line for a touchdown.
Jordan drove to the Massillon Washington five with 19 seconds remaining, but a sack on second down and an incompletion as time expired kept the score tied at 14 going into halftime.
In the third quarter, Massillon Washington marched 80 yards on its first possession and scored from 21 yards out when Clark connected with Robert Partridge at the goal line. The extra point gave the Tigers their first lead at 21-14.
“Mike’s doing some consistent stuff and we’re happy with his progression,” Hall said. “He’s making some good reads. There are some reads that he still needs to work on. We’re going to keep competing and keep trying to represent Massillon with some class.”
The score was tied at 21 going into the fourth quarter after Jordan running back Ty Spillman ran in an 11-yard touchdown.
Klein Forest (Texas) 27, Warren Howland (Ohio) 6
The Klein Forest Golden Eagles (Houston, Texas) met the Warren Howland Tigers (Warren, Ohio) in Saturday’s first game. The Eagle offense used strength and speed to beat Warren Howland 27-6.
Howland’s Dante Marsh returned the opening kickoff to Klein Forest’s 40-yard-line, and the offense drove the ball to the 26. However, Klein Forest’s defense held on a fourth-down attempt.
Penalties nullified the first two plays of Klein Forest’s season, but once the Golden Eagles settled their nerves, they moved the ball with ease. Behind a strong offensive line, Dominic Wilkins took a third-and-one handoff 58 yards for the touchdown. Jacob Decker’s extra point made it a 7-0 game.
“We knew coming in here that they were going to win the power game,” Klein Forest coach Ken Hammock said. “I told my coaches Woody Hayes would be proud of their running attack because they block down and kick out. We knew speed was our strength and it showed today.
“It’s really good for our kids,” Hammock added about the long touchdowns. “It’s exciting, but you would like to establish a drive too. I’ve been on Coach [Richard] Angle’s side and I know it’s deflating. It put them in a bad situation because they’re a grind-it-out type of football team.”
The Golden Eagles (1-0) went up top with the football on their second drive. After penalties put Klein Forest in a first-and-29, senior quarterback Vernell Caldwell connected with Christian Evans on a 46-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline. The point-after made it 14-0, where the score stood at halftime.
“Their speed was the difference,” Howland coach Richard Angle said. “We were worried about their speed all week. We got the opening kick-off and we had great field position. We needed to drive down and score. That would have made them question their trip to Ohio. When we didn’t score that one that was a big psychological thing for them.
“Not only did they come up with speed, they brought the [darn] Texas heat with them,” Angle added. “We’re in good shape, but when you’re cramping, you can’t [go]. We had guys in our secondary that had never taken a practice snap. We were spent physically. We just could not handle the heat and platoon football with their speed.”
The Golden Eagles went back to work in the second half. After saving the possession on a fumble recovery, Klein Forest moved down the field with Wilkins and Levon Castillo. Facing a second-and-12, Klein Forest ran a draw up the middle and was in the end zone 28 yards later. Decker’s extra point made it 21-0.
Klein would score again with 6:32 remaining in the third quarter. Caldwell dropped back, found Wilkins on a screen pass and the NCAA Division I prospect scored from 21 yards away. Howland scored its only touchdown as time expired.
“I’m real proud of Vernell Caldwell,” Hammock said. “It was his first start. He’s been the back-up for three years. I thought he threw the ball real well, ran the offense and executed it.”
“It felt real good because I’ve been waiting,” Caldwell said. “Last year, I broke my leg and I’ve haven’t been playing. My ultimate goal was to come back, help my team and get some starts.”
Caldwell finished the game 8-of-11 for 164 yards. On the ground, Wilkins rushed for 119 yards and one touchdown. As a team, Klein Forest out-gained Howland 341-137.
Indianapolis Cathedral (Ind.) 34, Canton McKinley (Ohio) 13
Cathedral High School (1-1) lost its opener to powerhouse Carmel on national television last weekend, but came back with a strong effort against the Canton McKinley Bulldogs (0-2). The Fighting Irish, who defeated Cincinnati La Salle 7-6 in the 2007 Series, controlled the tempo of the game and claimed a 34-13 victory over the host Bulldogs.
Though both offenses started slow, Cathedral used its running game to wear down the Bulldogs. Nick Najem had 96 yards on 20 carries.
Quarterback Kofi Hughes rushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Cathedral’s defense held McKinley, a once-dominant program in the country, to 166 yards of total offense.
“We don’t get frazzled,” Cathedral coach Rick Streiff said. “We step up and play. The settings don’t seem to get to our kids. We just go about our business. We don’t get awestruck, so that’s really a positive.”
Cathedral’s schedule does not get any easier. They will play Cincinnati powers St. Xavier and Archbishop Moeller on the road later this year. With Indiana’s playoff format, scheduling good competition and losing does not hurt as much as it does in Ohio.
“The beauty of Indiana is everybody’s in the tournament,” Streiff said. “Every game that we play and get better is a plus for us. We’re not going to play anybody better than Carmel, McKinley and St. X and those folks in Four-A in Indiana.
“You might as well play them,” he added. “You’re going to get better if you survive and get through it.”
Cardinal Mooney (Ohio) 57, Covington Catholic (Ky.) 0
The Youngstown Cardinal Mooney Cardinals (1-1) fell to Mentor 34-20 in week one, but provided some redemption for the State of Ohio with a 57-0 victory over Kentucky’s Covington Catholic (0-1). The Cardinals tripled the combined point total of McKinley and Howland.
Mooney struck early when Ray Vinopal scored on a nine-yard run with 9:51 remaining in the first quarter. On Covington’s ensuing drive, quarterback Zach Isler’s pass to the right sideline was intercepted and returned 77 yards for a touchdown by Braylon Heard.
“We were able to catch momentum, get the opening kickoff, drive it down and score,” Mooney coach P.J. Fecko. “We had the momentum and gave it back on the penalty on the punt. They started moving the ball and that’s a big play at that point, not only the interception, but the score.”
The Cardinals took a 30-0 lead into halftime and broke two Herbstreit Varsity Series records in the second half. They set the marks for most points scored in a Series game and the largest margin of victory.
The previous record for points scored in a game was held by De La Salle High School from Concord, Calif. The legendary Spartans scored 56 points against Cincinnati Elder in 2006. The St. Edward Eagles set the margin of victory record when they defeated Springdale (Ark.) 49-3 in 2006.
Matt Florjancic, a freelance reporter and sports show host for WOBL and WDLW, covers Northern Ohio for MaxPreps.com.
