11/15/2008 1:01:00 AM
St. John's defense comes up big against Bulldogs
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BY KIRK DOUGAL
Times Bulletin Editor
kdougal@timesbulletin.com
FINDLAY - "We're going to the state semis," said a grinning Delphos St. John's coach Todd Schulte. "That's a good place for us to be."
The Blue Jays are indeed moving on in their quest for a fifth state football championship after defeating a high-powered Ada Bulldog squad, 38-28, at Findlay's Donnell Stadium. Schulte's team won it the old-fashioned way, too, with hard-nosed defense and by taking advantage of Ada miscues.
Ada took the opening kick off and immediately began picking up first downs on a bubble screen and a couple of quarterback keepers by Mitchell Faine. However, when Faine looked to go down field, his receiver never turned to catch the pass and the ball, which nearly hit the Ada player in the back of the helmet, nestled into Jays senior defensive back Brad Hoffman's arms for the first turnover of the game.
Starting from its own 44-yard line, St. John's tried to take advantage of the short field and nearly did when quarterback Wes Ulm threw a 27-yard touchdown pass that was called back for an illegal pick. With the loss of down and penalty yardage tacked on, St. John's was forced to punt the ball and they had a beautiful 64-yarder that just rolled into the end zone.
Ada then showed how they had scored over 400 points during the regular season.
The Bulldogs moved the ball steadily down the field, picking up one first down on a hard count to draw the Jays offsides Faine used WR Heath Jackson on couple of short passes and junior Matt McBride chipped in with two big catches of 15 and 16 yards on the drive. But the Bulldogs capped the 4:11, 80 yard-drive the way so many have ended in the last four years: a fade route to All-State WR Kyle Baker for a 16-yard touchdown reception when he climbed the ladder and took it away from the defensive back. Ada had the extra point blocked for only a 6-0 lead.
But Schulte's Jays stood up and proved they belonged in the regional finals games as well. St. John's pounded the ball at the Bulldogs with Ulm slipping tackles on Quarterback keepers and big RB Jordan Leininger picking up tough yards inside. But with 2:18 left on the clock in the first quarter, it was not the run the Jays turned to but the pass. When Leininger slid to the outside on an out and up, Ulm hit him in stride for a 31-yard touchdown pass and a Jays 7-6 lead.
Again Ada went to work and they seemed poised to make another big drive down the field after Faine hit Jackson on a short pass that the speedy receiver turned into a 21-yard gain. But a holding penalty followed by a loss of 13 yards on a sack forced the only punt on the night by Ada.
St. John's again returned to pounding the ball, using Matt Brinkman along with Leininger to move the ball over midfield as the second quarter began. But it was another pass to Leininger who went untouched into the end zone after the Ada defensive back mistimed his leap, this one a 23-yard score, and the Jays were on top 14-6.
The Bulldogs started off badly on their next series when they jumped offsides on their first play but it got better in a hurry. After taking a chance deep on a Faine to Jackson attempt and just missing long, they began slowly picking at the Jays defense with short, controlled passes. Faine finished the drive on a keeper around the right side from three yards out but they missed the two-point conversion, leaving the score 14-12 St. John's.
Before Ada could even breath a sigh of relief, Evan Burgei picked up the following kick off and promptly picked his way down the left sideline, breaking two arm tackles, before cutting it back into the middle of the field and an 81-yard touchdown return.
And again Ada answered, leaving people in the press booth wondering if the last team to touch the ball was going to be the winner. Jackson also had a great return this one to the 49 yard line. Baker picked up eight on a pass, Jackson picked up three, seven and five, and Faine took an 11-yard keeper for one first down. Then, on third and goal, from the seven, Faine hit Jackson on a bubble screen to the right. The Jays defended it well and seemingly had him trapped against the sideline for no gain before Jackson completely reversed his field, giving ground on the action, and went all the way across, beating the defenders to the corner for a 21-20 game. With only 1:51 on the clock, St. Johns, marched down the field until Jordan Rode was able to kick a 30-yard field goal with only six seconds to go until halftime.
After the calculators had time to cool down over the intermission, both teams came back out fired up. But it was the Jays turn to strike first. Jordan Leininger took the ball on the first play, a toss intended to go right, cut back to his left, and burst through the line for a 59-yard romp to the end zone and a 31-20 Delphos lead.
The pressure was squarely on Ada. Having only stopped the Blue Jays on defense once the entire first half, they needed a score to stay on the game. A 14-yard pass to Alex Weber and a 39-yard rush up the gut by Luke Irwin started the drive right and a five-yard pass to Jackson gave the Bulldogs a first and goal from the eight. Two plays later it was third and inches to close the score but the Jays stuffed Faine on a quarterback sneak and then he dropped the exchange from center on fourth down. The Bulldogs turned the ball back on downs without scoring.
The defenses of both teams made big stops in the next couple of series as the Jays punted and then forced Ada to turn the ball over on downs again. Delphos' Brinkman fumbled but Ada's Faine gave it back on an interception by A.J. Klausing. But during all this action, the clock was running down and becoming more and more the Blue Jays friend.
As the game turned to the fourth quarter, the Jays' Ulm bulldozed his way around the corner for a 12-yard touchdown score and a 38-20 lead. Ada marched down the field and once again Faine hit Baker on a fade route for a touchdown and it began to look like the Bulldogs might make one final run at a win.
But after another Jays' punt, Faine was intercepted for the third time and Delphos St. John's Blue Jays were moving on to a Semi-State contest.
"There are a lot of key points in a game like this," said Ada Coach Mike Fell when asked about not scoring inside the one yard line. "We gave a kick off return touchdown. We fumbled on the goal line down ten. The first play on the second half we miss the tackle on the cutback. But give St. John's all the credit, they made plays tonight."
Delphos Coach Todd Schulte had high praise for quarterback Wes Ulm after the game.
"(Ulm) played one heck of a game all night. We open up with the touchdown that is called back and then to hit Jordan (Leininger) on the sideline, he had everything going tonight. A big game like this, those are the kind of guys you expect to step up and make plays."
"I thought we were able to get some pressure on the quarterback (Faine)," he continued. "We weren't there every time but he was still moving around and not able to set still. We did a good job on the lines. Our two goals were to get to the quarterback and if then if they do complete it to make some tackles."
But when all the dissection of the game was over, Schulte finally allowed himself to show his joy.
"We're not supposed to be here," he said, the smiling growing again. "I keep hearing that but I hope we answered some questions here. We're going home with a victory."
Ada's Mitchell Faine was 35 for 52 passing the ball for 318 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. He also added 46 yards rushing and one more score. Heath Jackson had 14 catches for 116 yards and one touchdown while Kyle Baker added seven receptions for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Luke Irwin also had a nice all-around game with 48 yards rushing and 52 yards receiving.
The Jays' Ulm was six for nine passing for 119 yards and two touchdowns. He used his legs for another 88 yards and a score as well. Sophomore Jordan Leininger had a monster game with 20 rushes for 134 yards and a score to go with four catches, 70 yards and two receiving touchdowns. Evan Burgei accounted for the other St. John's touchdown with the 81yard kick off return.
Delphos will play next weekend against an opponent yet to be determined at press time.
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