11/29/2008
STATE CHAMPIONS!
Jays come away with Ulm-timate victory
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BY KIRK DOUGAL
Times Bulletin Editor
kdougal@timesbulletin.com
MASSILLON - It was hard to tell which emotion was more prevalent on coach Todd Schulte's face, elation or vindication, but his grin really said all anyone needed to know after his St. John's Blue Jays team had manhandled the heavily-favored Hopewell-Loudon Chieftains, 34-14, in the Division VI state final football game at Paul Brown Stadium in Massillon.
The powerful Chieftains offense took the field first and immediately went to their five-wide package. It did them little good, however, and a quick three-and-out brought out the punt team and the Jays' first chance to score.
After a wobbly kick, quarterback Wes Ulm went up under center for the first time from the 50-yard line and sent the offense into motion. Ulm kept the ball on an option play around right end for eight yards and then handed it off to running back Jordan Leininger for 11 more. On only the third play from scrimmage, Ulm went for the quick strike, lofting a pass for wide receiver Jay Leininger - who had broken free on a post pattern - but the ball dropped just out of range of his fingertips.
Before the St. John's fans could worry that a score got away, however, Ulm broke free on another option play for 22 yards down to the 9-yard line for a first and goal. Seconds later Jordan Leininger took a pitch to the right, cut back into the middle of the field and went untouched into the end zone for a 7-0 Jays lead only a little more than two minutes into the game.
"I told the guys after that first drive that if they were going to let Wes (Ulm) keep the ball for yards, then we were going to keep going to it for the whole game," Schulte said.
But Hopewell-Loudon did not go undefeated and score 560 points (40 points/game) without being able to respond offensively. Senior QB Tyler Brown settled in quickly with a bubble screen to WR Jay Yost for 16 yards and the Chieftains were off to the races. RB Aaron Kapelka chipped in with two runs for 10 yards before Brown went back to Yost, this time for a leaping 30-yard reception over the top of the St. John's defender. Then it was Kapelka again for 10 yards and the score was knotted at 7-7 after a 2:04 answering drive.
The St. John's offense bogged down on the next series. Schulte was forced to go for a fourth and one but the running play was stuffed for no gain and the Chieftains took over at their own 49-yard line.
It was the Jays defense's turn to stiffen and force Hopewell-Loudon into a fourth and eight. But Brown found Yost on an 11-yard pass and then went back to him moments later on a beautifully timed 12-yard dig route for another touchdown with only 33 seconds left to go in the first quarter.
Again the Jays tried to answer but Ulm was shaken up on a hard hit and was forced to leave the game for a play. On the first snap after he returned, he attempted a roll out pass to the right and was intercepted by Hopewell-Loudon defensive back Zach Ickes.
The Chieftains could not move the ball against the St. John's defense - which was gaining confidence with every snap. A fourth and two, where Hopewell-Loudon coach Brian Colatruglio said after the game they were only trying to draw the Jays offsides, went awry when the ball was snapped into an unsuspecting Brown's hands. He was taken down for a loss on the play and St. John's took over at its own 42-yard line.
Again it was a quick strike score for Delphos where the big plays were a 20-yard gain by senior fullback Matt Brinkman and a 26-yard keeper, also on the option, by Ulm to tie the game at 14-14.
The Midwest Athletic Conference reputation for hitting was confirmed when Brad Hoffman laid a serious hit on a Chieftain wide receiver to break up a third down pass. The Jays had to punt the ball back but then they held Hopewell-Loudon again, causing what may have been the key turning point of the game.
With only 1:21 left on the clock until halftime, the Chieftain punter shanked the ball off the side of his foot for only an 11-yard punt. Schulte went for the jugular on the short field, first with a 5-yard keeper by Ulm and then a 26-yard scoring strike to Jay Leininger after he spun the defensive back around. The momentum shifted for good with the Jays going into halftime leading 21-14.
The first drive of the second half sealed the game and showed how the Jays had marched through the playoffs. Beginning at their own 23-yard line, they marched 77 yards in 8:55 for another touchdown. Along the way they picked up five first downs on third down, including one third and 10 where Ulm went completely across the field and broke three tackles, and then punched it across on a fourth and goal from the six. Schulte had sent Ulm to the line with two different plays and the junior quarterback checked to the right one, sending Jordan Leininger on a pitch into the line and a 27-14 lead.
Hopewell-Loudon only touched the ball three times in the entire second half and each ended badly. Brown was intercepted twice and Yost lost a fumble after an 11-yard pickup. The last Jays score came on a 53-yard swing pass from Ulm to Jordan Leininger in the fourth quarter. After a Chieftain fumble at the 7:03 mark left in the game, another masterful display of clock control by St. John's had the Blue Jays hold onto the ball the rest of the way - aided at one point by a 25-yard fake punt run by Ulm.
After the game coach Colatruglio could only shrug his shoulders about what had happened on the field.
"All week long we talked about the three keys - special teams, turnovers and third downs," he said. "We got handled in all three of them. We got in position to make plays but then they would slip away. We just couldn't get them off the field. The biggest difference in the second half was that we didn't have the ball. What did we have, 10 offensive plays in the second half?"
Schulte quickly acknowledged that keeping the Chieftain offense on the sideline was key for them but so was pumping away with their option game when Hopewell-Loudon had trouble making adjustments.
"If you want to talk offense, we had a pretty solid option game today," he said. "We made good adjustments and the defense made good adjustments to stop them, too."
"It gave us a lot of confidence," Brinkman said. "When we come out of the huddle and knew every time that we were going to make positive yards."
Ulm, who seemingly never made the wrong option read the entire tournament trip, attributed his success to a game earlier this year.
"It was the St. Henry game when everything started to slow down for me," the junior quarterback said. "I was able to see everything and then it just felt like it all slowed down even more as we kept going."
Hopewell-Loudon quarterback Tyler Brown was 14-for-27 passing for 182 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Aaron Kapelka led the Chieftain running attack with 58 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown while Jay Yost led all receivers with eight catches for 105 yards and the final score.
Jays' quarterback Wes Ulm was 3-for-8 passing for 90 yards with two touchdowns and one pick. It was with his legs that he did the most damage going for 198 yards on 24 carries and one touchdown. Jordan Leininger had two touchdowns on 18 carries and 61 yards while adding two catches for a third touchdown and 64 yards. Jay Leininger had the only other Blue Jays reception for 26 yards and one touchdown.
The state football championship is the Jays' fifth in five tries.
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