Trotwood-Madison kept it close against Central Catholic (Toledo).
File photo by Wayne Litmer
– Ohio has "recognized" high school football champions since 1895. Saturday,
Clinton-Massie (Clarksville, Ohio) did something that hadn't been done in the previous 117 years.
Behind a vaunted wishboned-based run game, the Falcons churned out 408 rushing yards to beat
St. Clairsville (Ohio) 46-36 in the Division IV state final at Canton's Fawcett Stadium. With its output, Massie becomes the first school in Ohio history to score 800 points in a season. The Falcons end with 822.
The state title was Massie's first in school history and the first for a Clinton County school.
"I told the kids before the game that not only do we have a chance to go 15-0, we have the opportunity to be the best (Ohio) high school team ever," C-M head coach Dan McSurely said. "We've taken some criticism about our competition but we scored 46 points today and last week we scored over 40 against Hartley. We're not going to play second fiddle to anyone. (These kids) deserve to be respected as one of the best."
It took everything Massie had to finish unbeaten in a game that featured substantial individual and team efforts from both sides.
Massie and St. Clairsville combined for 988 yards (third most in Ohio finals history) and one punt.
Massie junior RB
Bayle Wolf tied a D-IV state finals record with 30 points and five TDs. Wolf ran for four TDs and 220 yards and caught a 36-yard TD pass. He also had a game-clinching interception on St. C's final drive. The last two years Wolf has rushed for 3,449 yards and 72 TDs.
The Red Devils – who finished the season with 713 points (fourth best all-time for a single-season in Ohio) – countered with senior QB
Matt Kinnick and senior WRs
Dan Monteroso and
Jerrid Marhefka. Kinnick completed 21-of-39 passes for 437 yards and four TDs. He fell two yards shy of the D-IV finals record (439) set by Kenton's Ben Mauk in 2001. Kinnick's 437 ranks No. 4 all-time in Ohio in the finals.
Marhefka set an all divisions finals record with 272 yards receiving and tied a D-IV record with four receiving TDs on nine catches. Monteroso (Boston College commit) finished with 143 yards receiving on nine catches.
"I think both teams showed some of the fireworks we thought they'd show," St. Clairsville head coach Brett McLean said. "(The wishbone) is something we've seen, but they executed the best we've seen. They understand what they're doing."
Said McSurely: "We felt very confident that we could move the ball and we did. We didn't deviate from what we do. Our kids were poised. They executed."
Division VIMarion Local (Maria Stein, Ohio) overcame a third quarter deficit and staved off a final Newark (Ohio) Catholic snap from the 5-yardline to win its sixth state championship 28-21 at Massillon's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. The win moves ML into a tie with St. Henry (Ohio) and Versailles (Ohio) for the most football state titles by an Ohio public school.
Playing in its eighth state final since 2000, Marion Local lost its leading rusher and scorer – sophomore RB Jacy Goettemoeller – to a leg injury on the game's first drive. Enter freshman RB Hunter Wilker.
Wilker, who came into the game with 14 carries for 106 yards and a TD in 14 previous games, ended the day with three TDs and 30 yards on seven carries. His final run – a 1-yard TD with :21 seconds left – provided the game-winning points.
Newark Catholic (Newark, Ohio) connected on two long pass plays to move the ball to the ML 11-yardline where an ensuing penalty gave the Green Wave one more snap. The untimed down ended in an incompletion.
Marion Local junior QB
Adam Bertke threw for 166 yards and ran for 102 on 27 carries, while NC junior QB
Chayce Crouch threw for 236 yards and two TDs and ran for another score.
Division IICentral Catholic (Toledo, Ohio) built a 16-0 lead and dominated through three quarters before holding off a late Trotwood-Madison rally to win the D-II state final 16-12 at Massillon's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Trotwood, which had 44 yards of offense through three quarters, erupted for 183 fourth-quarter yards and two TDs. It wasn't enough.
TCC senior RB Amir Edwards
ran for 185 yards and both his team's TDs on 38 carries. Defensively, the Irish added a third quarter sack and secured the game by forcing a turnover on downs with six seconds left.
Trotwood, playing in its third straight state final, fell to 1-2 in those games. TCC improved to 2-0 in state finals (won 2005 D-II title).
