MINERVA, Ohio – Who says the number 13 is unlucky?
Certainly not Kirtland, who with a 41-7 win over Galion Northmor on Friday night in the Division VI state semifinals, reached its 13th state championship game in program history and has yet to lose a state semifinal game. It’s also the eighth straight season Kirtland has advanced to the final weekend of the season.
“It’s the whole community, from youth coaches to the middle school coaches to all my high school coaches,” Kirtland head coach Tiger LaVerde said. “These kids work hard, and there are. no shortcuts. If you want to be good at something, you have to put in the time. These kids put in a lot of time, football wise, and it pays off here.”
The next stop for Kirtland (15-0) will be Canton’s Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 10:30 a.m., where the Hornets face Coldwater (14-1) in an attempt to win their second straight state championship and eighth overall.
On Friday night, Kirtland won the game by dominating up front on offense and making timely plays on defense.
On offense, the Tigers ran for 465 yards, led by senior running back Danny Alfieri, who backed up his 202-yard, four-touchdown performance in the regional final by running for 159 yards and a pair of scores against Northmor, and junior quarterback Jake LaVerde, who ran for 146 yards and three touchdowns.
“Our O-line blocked tremendously tonight,” Alfieri said. “Our line’s the best in the state.”
Defensively, the Hornets held a team that averaged 38.1 points per game this season to just seven, and gave up only 236 yards of offense against a Knights team that came into Friday night averaging 347 yards per game.
“Our scout team gave us a great look this week,” said Alfieri, who also plays linebacker. “We knew they wanted to pass the ball, but the weather didn’t help them that much.”
Kirtland started the scoring on its second drive of the game, going 67 yards in 13 plays and taking up 6:25 off the clock. The drive ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by LaVerde.
Northmor (14-1) answered its next drive, when quarterback AJ Bower threw a ball short over the middle to Cowin Becker, who turned up the field and went 57 yards for a touchdown to tie the game with 8:54 left in the second quarter.
But the Hornets scored on their next two drives to take control of the game and never looked back.
LaVerde capped the next drive with a 13-yard touchdown run where he leapt over a fallen defender before finding his way into the end zone with 5:20 left in the second quarter. It was the eighth play of a drive that covered 63 yards and took 3:28 off the clock.
The quarterback decided to jump over the defender because he can’t use his left arm after breaking it earlier this year and returning just last week.
“It’s hard not being able to use my left arm,” LaVerde said. “I can’t really juke or make any stiff arms or anything like that. I just try to do whatever I can. And that’s what it was in that moment.”
On the ensuing Northmor possession, Kirtland safety Jack Lessick came over from the middle of the field and intercepted a pass by Bower. After a personal foul call on Northmor, the Hornets started at the Northmor 44.
It looked like Kirtland scored on the first play of the drive on a run by John Silvestro, but a holding call brought the ball back to the Northmor 39. Six plays later, Alfieri scored from seven yards out to give the Hornets a 20-7 lead at the half.
Northmor tried to surprise the Hornets with an onside kick to start the second half, but Ty Bledsoe grabbed it for Kirtland at the Northmor 49. Seven plays later, Alfieri scored from seven yards out and also scored the 2-point conversion to make it 28-7 with 8:14 left in the third.
The Kirtland defense forced a turnover on downs on each of the next two Northmor drives and the offense paid them both off as LaVerde scored form 20 yards out for his third touchdown of the game and Lessick took the ball 42 yards for a touchdown to make it 41-7 after three quarters and initiate the running clock.
Despite winning eight straight years in the state semifinals, there is no complacency within the Kirtland program and that starts at the top with its head coach.
“All these kids on the team, this is a great opportunity for them,” Tiger LaVerde said. “Even though we’ve done it before, these kids, a lot of them have never been in this situation. So, to see them excel and get that little spark in their eye, it’s special.”