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11/10 - 7:00 PM Football Final Girard 42 Perry 33
NILES, Ohio — Perry's promising season came to a sobering end on a night in which the OHSAA Division IV football playoffs took a surprising turn.
Not only did Perry drop its Region 13 semifinal to fifth-seeded Girard, but Hubbard knocked off defending state champion Steubenville in the other semifinal.
An onside kick and Girard quarterback Mark Waid were the main reasons Perry did not advance. Waid accounted for 566 total yards and five touchdowns Saturday night at Niles McKinley’s Bo Rein Stadium to take down Perry, 42-33.
“Last year, we got a bad taste in our mouth,” said Waid, whose team lost in 2017 to the Pirates in this round, 50-21. “We made the playoffs, and we got a little taste, but they ruined it for us. This year, our motto was, ‘Get the revenge.’”
Waid, a 6-foot-3 senior and Fordham commit, completed 27-of-36 passes for 334 yards and three TDs. He ran another 44 times for 232 yards and two TDs.
The legwork made the difference as the game wore on, and Girard (11-1) held the lead after a dramatic turn of events late in the second quarter.
Perry scored three times in the first half — all on its first three offensive plays — and took a 21-14 lead. Both teams scored at rapid paces, each reaching the end zone on its first three drives.
That all changed on a fourth-down play deep in Girard territory, when the football slipped from Perry quarterback Drew Schiano’s grasp. Girard defensive lineman Haeden Gump recovered, and the following drive gave the Indians the lead with Waid’s 2-yard run.
Just a minute remained in the half after that go-ahead score, which led to an onside kick that Girard’s Jeff Dinard recovered. Three plays later, Waid hit junior receiver Nick Malito on a 22-yard heave that gave Girard a two-score lead.
Perry (10-2) could not overcome the swing.
“It’s just the way the ball bounces sometimes,” Perry coach Matt Rosati said. “If we could hold on to that football and keep it a one-score game coming out into the second half … after that, I don’t think they really did stop us.”
Statistically, Rosati’s team put up numbers good enough to win most nights. Schiano threw for 263 yards and five touchdowns. Senior Jacob Allen caught four passes for 130 yards and two TDs. Jake Reid scored twice on Schiano passes in his last high school game, and sophomore Jaylen Anderson rushed 10 times for 75 yards.
Rosati added, “We just couldn’t stop their offense.”
Both offenses benefited from their regional semifinal being moved from Ashtabula Lakeside, which could not have the snow removed from its new turf field, to Niles.
The drive is just 5 miles for Girard. By contrast, Perry had to trek more than 60 miles despite being the region’s No. 1 seed.
Much of Perry’s problems, defensively, stemmed from the loss of senior linebacker Jason Beyer to an injury on the first play.
“That was huge,” Rosati said. “He’s definitely one of our best players inside. We were really counting on him to take the quarterback away in the run game.”
Girard scored on all but four possessions and never punted.
Perry still had hope after an Anderson interception in the third quarter near the goal line. The sophomore ran it back for a touchdown, only to have it called back on a penalty.
The Pirates answered by scoring after a long drive.
They even had a chance to tie it again after an early fourth-quarter fumble, but gave back the football on an interception that bounced off the shoulder of Reid and into the hands of Girard’s diving cornerback, Aidan Warga.
Waid quickly gathered his offense for another touchdown, and Perry could not answer from that point.
The Indians advance to next week’s regional final at a site to be announced Sunday by the OHSAA against Hubbard, which took down Steubenville with a 34-16 upset.
Contact sports reporter Matt Goul on Twitter (@mgoul) or email ([email protected]). Or log in and leave a message below in the comments section.
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