Kyle Ohradzansky and
Sa'veon Holloway rushed for two touchdowns apiece and
Elijah Farrakhan ran for a game-high 139 yards as
McKinley (Canton, Ohio) powered past
Washington (Massillon, Ohio) 40-17 in the 120th meeting between the two squads on Saturday.
Taron Montgomery scored first TD on 38-yard run.
Photo by Jason Heffran
The Bulldogs rushed for 357 yards on 54 carries while finishing the regular season at 8-2.
Washington, which was outgained 427-280, finished 7-3.
Both squads will advance to the Division I-2 playoffs next week.
Considering one of the nation's top rivalry games, the Bulldogs broke open a close game by outscoring the Tigers 26-7 in the second half. Washington didn't help its own cause with five turnovers.
Ohradzanky scored both his touchdowns in the second half on runs of 24 and 36 yards. He also completed a 19-yard scoring strike to
Malcolm Robinson.
Holloway finished off the win with a 1-yard TD plunge with 1:19 to play.
The game figured to come down to McKinley's running game against Washington passing game and indeed it did.
While McKinley averaged 6.4 yards per rush and controlled the ball, Washington quarterback
Kyle Kempt struggled, hitting just 15 of 35 attempts for 189 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Devin Smith's only passing attempt was also intercepted.
Jermaine Edmondson had two of the interceptions for McKinley and
Ruben Burrows added one.
McKinley's Elijah Farrakhan ran for game-high 139 yards.
Photo by Jason Heffran
McKinley need just more than two minutes to take a 7-0 lead on a 38-yard run by
Taron Montgomery. But Washington recorded its first and last lead by scoring the next 10 points on a 1-yard TD run from Jake Reiman and a 37-yard field goal by Anthony McCarthy midway through the second quarter.
McKinley took the lead for good on a 6-yard run by Holloway with 3 minutes left in the first half, capping a 10-play, 76-yard drive.
When Ohradzansky opened the second half with his 24-yard TD jaunt, McKinley was off and running. Literally.
It took McKinley just four plays to go 72 yards and the Bulldogs were in complete control the rest of the way.
Reiman scored his second touchdown of the game, a 2-yard run late in the third quarter to cut the lead to 27-17, but McKinley responded right back going 80 yards in six plays capped by Ohradzansky's 36-yard TD run.
McKinley's defense was led by
Freddie Burton and Burrows with 6.5 tackles each.
Steve Miller added a pair of sacks and
Don Davidson also had a sack.
For Washington, Clayton Mattox had 9.5 tackles and Aaron Robey added nine.
Somehow Montgomery kept his feet as did McKinley.
Photo by Jason Heffran
Despite the loss, Massillon still leads the series 64-51-5.
The teams split a pair of games last season, with McKinley beating the Tigers 35-21 in the regular season finale and Washington evening the score with a 10-7 victory in the Region 2 championship.
McKinley is a 10-time state champion – including seven poll titles prior to a state playoff system – while Washington has claimed 22 state titles, all coming before the advent of playoffs.
McKinley 40, Washington 17McKinley 7 7 13 13 - 40
Washington 7 3 7 0 - 17
MCK – Montgomery 38 run (Lioi kick)
W – Reiman 1 run (McCarthy kick)
W – FG, McCarthy 37
MCK – Holloway 6 run (Lioi kick)
MCK – Ohradzansky 24 run (run failed)
MCK – Robinson 19 pass from Ohradzansky (Lioi kick)
W – Reiman 2 run (McCarthy kick)
MCK – Ohradzansky 36 run (Lioi kick)
MCK – Holloway 1 run (kick failed)
