Updated: Sunday, November 1, 2009
“Somebody was trying to tackle me, and I said, ‘I’m not going down,’ ” the Bulldogs senior running back said. “I kept my feet moving and popped up out of it.”
The Bulldogs are still on the move. Wilder’s 25-yard touchdown run sealed McKinley’s 35-21 win in front of 15,555 fans at Fawcett Stadium, snapping a four-game losing streak to Massillon and sliding the Bulldogs (6-4) into the final playoff spot in Division I, Region 2.
Box score/recap
The 118th edition of this high school football rivalry will be remembered for different reasons. The Tigers will recall the missed opportunities, including the chance to keep McKinley out of the postseason. They had the ball in McKinley territory on every one of their nine possessions but only came away with three touchdowns.
The Bulldogs will remember the big plays, their bend-but-don’t-break defense and a season being saved. Two weeks ago, they were walking off Hoover’s muddy field with a humiliating loss after blowing a 32-point halftime lead.
Now, after wins against playoff teams Boardman and archrival Massillon, they’re headed to Toledo Whitmer for a Week 11 game next Saturday.
“We were calling ourselves the underdogs, because nobody expected us to win,” said Wilder, whose team hadn’t won consecutive games all season until Saturday. “Everybody was going to come out here and play their hardest, because we wanted that bell so bad. We got it back, and we have new life.”
According to respected rankings Web site Joeeitel.com, the Bulldogs won a Level 3 tiebreaker — which is pretty much a strength of schedule component — to gain the final playoff spot over Hudson. The Ohio High School Athletic Association releases the official pairings this afternoon.
The stars began to align Friday night when everyone around McKinley — sitting 12th at the time — lost in Region 2. But the Bulldogs didn’t pay much attention to those games, head coach Ron Johnson said.
“More than anything, it was Massillon,” Johnson said. “It was the only game on the schedule. And now they got the opportunity to enjoy each other again, to spend at least one more week together.”
The big-play Pups started early. Shortly after Massillon saw an impressive drive to open the game result in a 32-yard missed field goal, McKinley QB Kyle Ohradzansky play-action faked to Wilder and hit Angelo Powell in stride for a 66-yard TD and a 7-0 lead.
“They really made some big plays, just too many for us to recover from,” Massillon coach Jason Hall said.
The next Massillon drive ended with Brice Everett picking off a pass at the McKinley 3. The Bulldogs went down the field methodically this time behind Wilder and junior backfield-mate Elijah Farrakhan. The end result was a 14-0 lead when Ohradzansky plunged in for a 1-yard TD run with 10:24 left in the second quarter.
Wilder ran 17 times for 119 yards. Farrakhan added 77 yards on 12 carries behind a great effort from the offensive line. The two backs, both in the 5-foot-9, 170-pound range, never fumbled.
“They got a couple really talented guys,” Hall said. “(Wilder) is as good a running back as there is in the area. You might hold him down a couple of plays, but then he’ll just explode like he did on that last touchdown.”
Ohradzansky, while calling 70 percent of the offense at the line of scrimmage according to Johnson, was phenomenal. He completed 7-of-10 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns. He also put his head down and got some tough yards, including when he scrambled for 7 yards to convert a third down on McKinley’s game-clinching drive.
Powell caught three passes for 83 yards and two TDs — the second a 5-yard fade route to put McKinley up, 28-14, early in the third. Powell also spent most of the afternoon defending Massillon star receiver Devin Smith after not playing defense all season. Smith’s one catch Saturday didn’t come until the final minute.
“Angelo Powell was a legend today,” Johnson said.
Massillon starting running back Alex Winters did not return after injuring his left leg on the Tigers’ second series. Jake Reiman stepped in for 50 yards on 16 carries. His first of three short TD runs on the day cut the Tigers’ deficit to 14-7 with 3:46 left in the first half.
The Bulldogs answered immediately. Taron Montgomery went 92 yards untouched on the ensuing kickoff.
“I ain’t a rocket (scientist) now, but that 7 points was pretty big,” Johnson said.
Undaunted, the Tigers came back and scored with 46 seconds left in the half. Justin Olack, who had five receptions for 107 yards, hauled in a 40-yard grab to start the drive. A play after converting a fourth down with a 12-yard reception, Reiman scored from a yard out to make it 21-14.
But closing drives was a rarity on this day for Massillon.
“We worked a lot of red zone. We just didn’t capitalize,” said Hall, whose Tigers host a playoff game next week against Hoover. “We’ll look at the film, evaluate and make the corrections we need to make.”
Massillon QB Robert Partridge completed 13-of-34 passes for 235 yards. The Bulldogs only sacked him twice, but they were able to bring enough heat to make him uncomfortable.
“We were just relentless,” said senior defensive lineman Jamaal McClain, who had one of the sacks along with Steve Miller. “We talked about it at practice, going hard and getting in his face.”
Johnson wasn’t worried about the 362 yards of offense his Bulldogs allowed.
“We gave up some yards,” he said, “but you have to cross that last one to matter.”
Coach Johnson
You done it, you showed em coach! Congratulations!!!