 |
| Scott Foster runs for a first down in the state title game. |
|
By Rob Kiser – Piqua Daily Call
MASSILLON - Piqua linebacker Josh Landis summed it all up in the interview room after the Indians football team had seen the best season in Piqua football history end with a 21-0 loss to Olmsted Falls in the Division II State Championship game at Massillon Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
“It is tough,” Landis said. “It is the last time I will ever wear the Red and Blue. That is tough.”
Be sure of one thing. Landis and 15 other seniors wore the Red and Blue Piqua uniform with pride throughout their careers and along with the rest of the Indians, took the program to heights it had never been before...a berth in the State Championship game.
And the Indians battled to the very end...despite the fact the outstanding season was about to end, linebacker Dominic Burnside barreled in to block a punt with 1:18 remaining in the game.
That is the kind of heart that got the Indians to the title game and never left them Friday night, despite the fact the perfect ending was not to be.
“It is really tough,” Burnside said. “This was the toughest loss of the season.”
With the offense struggling to get untracked in the opening half, the defense found itself backed to wall constantly...and more times than not responded to the challenge.
“Because of some of the turnovers, our offense and defense were both in bad field position the entire first half,” Piqua coach Bill Nees said. “I thought our defense played well the entire game.”
After Piqua went three and out to start the game, the Bulldogs marched 69 yards in just eight plays.
Running back Kenny Jones had six carries for 67 yards on the drive.
“We were pulling our guards and kicking out the ends,” Olmsted Falls coach Jim Ryan said. “We were trying to mix things up.”
Jones took it over from 12 yards out to put Olmsted Falls up 6-0 with 7:48 remaining in the opening quarter.
“We didn’t do a good job of wrapping 34 (Kenny Jones) up on the first drive,” Burnside said. “You have to do it for the entire game.”
Olmsted Falls drove down to the Piqua one on its next drive, but Indian defensive back Dustin Perkins tackled Bulldog quarterback Joe Stanton just short of the goal line on fourth down, giving Piqua the ball.
While the Indians offense was still looking for its initial first down, the Piqua ‘D’ stopped Olmsted Falls on three straight drives that started in Indian territory.
Piqua forced a punt, Perkins picked off a Stanton pass and Landis sacked Stanton for a 13 yard loss on a fourth and five from the Indians 23.
“Piqua has an outstanding defense,” Ryan said. “You look at 90 (Quinn Pitcock), 73 (A.J. Pearson), 79 (Johnny Conner) and 85 (Robert Hull) who do you run at? They are all great players.”
Piqua’s lone first down in the opening half came on a 9 yard pass from John Pearson to Jon Dolph, but the Indians were still down just 6-0 late in the half.
“Their defense played great,” Ryan said. “That goal line stand could have come back to haunt us.”
However, a Piqua fumble with 1:42 left in the half gave Olmsted Falls the ball at the Piqua 13. Stanton ran it in form the one with :10 remaining in the half and passed to Adam Mazzella for a two point conversion to make it 14-0 at the break.
“That was huge,” Nees said. “We were struggling on offense in the first half because our line didn’t do a good job of protecting the quarterback. I thought the line did a good job in the second half.”
Still, the Indians never got untracked offensively. Piqua finished with just 99 yards of total offense. Pearson completed five of 18 passes for 66 yards, but was intercepted four times. Scott Foster, who had rushed for over 2,000 yards on the season, had 37 yards on 16 carries.
“Our defense did what it has been doing for the last two years,” Ryan said.
“We have a bunch of great coaches...a lot of them volunteer their time.
“We were concerned about their offense. Brecksville (who Olmsted Falls played in the second round of the playoffs) runs a triple option. Playing them really helped us a lot.”
Jones, who finished with 141 yards on 20 carries, added an 8 yard touchdown run in the second half and Paul Stibich kicked the extra point for the final margin.
“I can’t imagine a closer knit group or better kids than this,” Ryan said. “They community is really proud of them.”
Piqua football fans know exactly how he feels.
