By Phil Keren

Correspondent

With many experienced players sidelined with injuries, Aurora faced an uphill battle in its Division III Regional Semifinal game against Youngstown Ursuline on Friday.

And while the Greenmen ended up on the short end of a 29-10 score at North Canton Hoover High School Memorial Stadium, Aurora head coach Bob Mihalik took great pride in his team’s effort.

“I told our guys they left it all out on the field,” Mihalik said. “Nothing to be ashamed of. They prepared hard all week. Nobody in the state of Ohio gave us a chance in this game. I think we were like three-touchdown underdogs. The score is not indicative of how close it was.”

Even though the Greenmen were playing without seven starters (six that play both ways), they fought and scrapped their way to a 10-9 lead at the start of the fourth quarter, but Ursuline responded with three big plays to pull away.

“We’re up 10-9 going into the fourth quarter and their athletes took over,” Mihalik said. “I really think we kept battling and battling, but (Devonte Taylor) and (DC Ferrell) for them, they’re two Division-I athletes, (they) made some plays at the end.”

Ferrell, Ursuline’s senior quarterback, rushed for 118 yards on 12 carries, completed 12-of-20 passes for 147 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown. Taylor, Ursuline’s junior wide receiver, caught 4 passes for 85 yards and a score.

A first half that included a turnover from each team, a failed fake punt from Aurora, and two defensive stands by the Greenmen ended with Ursuline leading 6-0.

On its opening drive of the second half, Ursuline drove from its 38-yard line to the Aurora 8- yard line on six consecutive keepers from Ferrell — the longest being a 37-yard scamper. On third-and-goal, an Ursuline pass was intercepted at the goal line by Aurora sophomore defensive back Luke McGovern.

Three plays later, Greenmen senior running back Tommy Tartabini sped through a big hole created by his offensive line and broke free down the sideline for a 65-yard gain to the Ursuline 18-yard line.

“We saw something at halftime we thought we could address, too, with a little run scheme and it worked, and we were able to go back to that several times in the second half,” Mihalik said. (Tartabini) popped that one and just cut it back right where you’re supposed to.”

On third-and-goal from the 5-yard line, Dwyer rolled to his left and lofted a pass to senior slotback Ben Lukasik in the back corner of the end zone. When senior kicker Colin Dockman connected on the extra point, Aurora led, 7-6, with 6:01 to go in the third quarter.

“That’s one of our base plays that we run,” Mihalik said. “Usually Ben’s the third option on that, and Ryan came off our 1 and 2 and hit Ben in the corner as the third option. That’s the kind of cerebral quarterback Ryan is. We run that play probably 30 times, Ben gets it once or twice, and one of them was tonight.”

On the ensuing kickoff, Ursuline senior wide receiver Jy’Quise Liason sprinted through the special team coverage and returned the ball 87 yards to the Aurora 6-yard line. The Greenmen defense dug in and forced Ursuline to settle for a 20-yard field goal from senior Anthony Tabak. The trifecta gave Ursuline a 9-7 lead with four minutes to go in the third period.

The Greenmen answered the Ursuline field goal with an eight-play, 45-yard drive culminating in a 35-yard field goal from Dockman to snag a 10-9 advantage with 28 seconds left in the third quarter. The highlight of the drive was a 32-yard pass from Dwyer to Lukasik. Dwyer scrambled to his right and fired a pass to Lukasik, who caught the ball near the sideline while surrounded by Ursuline defenders.

In a game filled with plenty of momentum-shifting plays, the most pivotal one happened early in the fourth quarter. Energized by Dockman’s field goal, the Aurora defense on third down stopped an Ursuline option running play for a three-yard loss, forcing a punt. Aurora had a chance to get the ball back and go on a time-consuming drive and score again, but Ferrell had other ideas.

Ferrell dropped back to punt, caught the snap, and appeared set to kick it rugby-style. He then pulled the ball back to his body, cutback to his left, and flew down the sideline for a 13-yard gain to keep the drive alive.

“I think it really was a rugby punt and he saw it on his own and he decided to take off,” Mihalik said. “That’s just an athlete making a great play. He’s done that all year for them.”

The Greenmen defense again stood strong and forced a third-and-5 at midfield. Ferrell dropped back and threw a deep pass to a wide-open Taylor who caught the ball at the 10-yard line and ran into the end zone untouched to give his team a 15-10 lead.

The Ursuline defense stiffened, forcing Aurora to punt on its next two possessions. Following the first defensive stand, Ursuline marched 91 yards in 12 plays and took a 22-10 lead with 5:55 left when senior running back Joe Balog scored on a 31-yard run.

After the second defensive stand, Ferrell returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown to give Ursuline a 29-10 advantage with four minutes remaining.

Mihalik tipped his hat to his squad for a top-level effort against a highly talented team. “Our defense played their butts off, our offense battled, we moved the ball all night,” Mihalik said. “There were a few times in the first half we just couldn’t punch it in. I think that was big.”

With the season-ending playoff loss, the Aurora coaching staff said good-bye to a group of 23 seniors who experienced plenty of success in their four years wearing the green and white.

“They’re 22-4 over the last two years, advancing to the regional semifinals two years in a row,” Mihalik said. “Six of them weren’t dressed tonight with season-ending injuries. You never know what might’ve been. I’d like to have had all of them ready to roll tonight. They gave everything they had both on and off the field. Good students, (they) represent us well in the classroom and in the community and they left a legacy for our underclassmen to try to emulate, that’s for sure.”