IRISH PULL OFF HIGH PROFILE WIN
CLEVELAND OH- Ursuline edged past Villa Angela-St. Joseph 24-17 on Friday night.It was the inaugural game at Gutbrod Field for Cleveland VASJ as they looked to snap the Irish’s six game winning streak as their new stadium overlooked beautiful Lake Erie. After a defensive first quarter, the Vikings punched it in from inside the five-yard line on the first play of the second.
Their defense stifled an Ursuline offense that had been nothing short of dominant coming into play.
Trailing by seven at the half, Dan Reardon made adjustments that led to him becoming he winningest coach in Ursuline football history. After another slow offensive start for both teams in the third quarter, Ursuline forced the Vikings to punt in their own territory. However, the snap went over the punter’s head and gave the Irish the ball on the Viking 10-yard line.
Joe Balog capped off the drive with his first of three scores on the night to even the game at seven. The Irish defense wasn’t done making big plays as sophomore Ray Javey picked off Johnny Vuraich on a third and long. That interception was followed a few plays later when DC Ferrell connected with Jy’Quise Liason on a 3rd and 14 play for 47 yards.
That pitch and catch set up Balog’s four-yard scamper to put the Irish on top for the first time with 4:32 left in the third quarter. The Vikings later responded when Vuraich found an open fan from 35 yards out to tie the game at 14 near the end of the third.
On one of the last few plays of the third, Villa capped off a quick 10-0 spurt with a 32-yard field goal by TJ Moore. On the ensuing Irish drive, Ursuline’s Anthony Tabak answered Moore’s field goal with a 35-yard strike to tie things up at 17 with just under 10 minutes left in the game. That’s when Ursuline’s defense tightened. After holding their own on a goal line stand, an offensive pass interference penalty followed by a sack forced a long field goal attempt, which Moore pushed wide left from 33 yards.
Ursuline then put together a long drive that was jumpstarted by a 40-yard pitch and catch from Ferrell to Devonte Taylor. The Irish needed more magic than that and found it in their senior tailback.
Facing a 4th and 8 from the Viking’s 28-yard line, DC Ferrell scrambled for a bit before dumping off a pass to Balog that he then took 20 yards inside the 10, before punching it in from two yards a few moments later making it 24-17 with 3:19 left in the fourth quarter. The Vikings had multiple chances to score after they went down for the first time since the start of the third. However, a fumble on back-to-back possessions for Villa Angela, the first caused by Vinnie Fecko, and the second and game-sealing one caused by Balog squandered any chance the Vikings had at forcing overtime and fighting for another play.
Ursuline (7-1) will return to the Youngstown area as they travel to Rayen stadium to take on Chaney in a Steel Valley Clash on October 18 at 7 pm.