CLEVELAND, Ohio — The lead changed hands four times Friday night at Gutbrod Field where Villa Angela-St. Joseph hosted Youngstown Ursuline in a rematch of last season’s Region 9 semifinal.
The Vikings struck first, but Joe Balog’s third TD of the night, with 3:19 to go in the fourth quarter, gave Ursuline the last laugh in a 24-17 dogfight that wasn’t decided until the Vikings were unable to get off a desperation pass on the final play of the game.
“Last year we had a tight game in the regular season, then we met again in the playoffs. And you know, it won’t surprise me at all if we meet them again in the playoffs, they’re really good football team,” Ursuline head coach Dan Reardon said. “We expect to be playing deep in the playoffs as well. And you know, if that happens, it’s two really good football teams going at it. Wouldn’t surprise me at all.”
With Ohio State running back commit Bo Jackson set to miss the remainder of the year, VASJ had what may have been its biggest test of the high school football season.
Two of the state’s top programs in Division III, Ursuline (6-1) had won each of the last three matchups with VASJ (5-1) coming into Friday’s showdown. That includes a 27-20 Ursuline win in the regional semifinals last season before falling to Chardon in the regional final.
The Fighting Irish last made the state championship in 2021 and are fourth in this week’s cleveland.com state rankings. The Vikings are seventh in the state and 13th in this week’s cleveland.com Top 25 for Northeast Ohio teams.
The Vikings will stay home for at least the remainder of the regular season, but could see the Fighting Irish again in the Region 9 playoffs. According to this week’s OHSAA playoff computer ratings, Ursuline was third in the region while VASJ ranked ninth.
Neither team could gain much of an advantage in the first quarter until T.J. Moore found a crease and broke a 57-yard run to put the Vikings deep in Irish territory.
That brought the first quarter to a close, and on the opening play of the second Moore found the end zone for the only touchdown of the first half.
A defensive masterclass followed until halftime.
The Vikings recovered a fumble from Irish quarterback D.C. Ferrell, but a tipped receiver screen pass on the next play gave the ball right back to the Irish.
Ferrell found Jy’Quise Liason on a field-flipping 50-yard completion, putting the Irish in Viking territory for the first time on the night, but Jerry Black rose up from his linebacker spot and intercepted Ferrell’s pass to kill the Irish drive.
“Our defense played the best game of the year. No question, OK. We hit. How many turnovers did we force? Two or three,” Vikings head coach Jeff Rotsky said.
The score stayed put at 7-0 until halftime after the Vikings were forced to punt. A quick three-and-out on their first possession of the second half forced the Vikings to punt again.
An errant snap on that punt set the Irish up at the VASJ 10-yard line. Two Joe Balog carries later they tied the score, and momentum was on their side.
Johnny Vuraich threw an interception on the ensuing Viking possession, and the Irish were right back at the doorstep after another deep ball to Liason. Balog had his second TD of the night two plays later, giving the Irish a 14-7 lead with 4:32 left in the third quarter.
The Vikings went straight to work when they got the ball back as Vuraich found Christian Chase on a 43-yard TD pass to tie the game at 14.
Moore flipped the field with another long run and the Vikings took a 17-14 lead with a 32-yard field goal at the end of the third quarter. But the Irish wouldn’t go away, tying the game at 17 with a 35-yarder of their own.
The Vikings answered back with a deep ball to Savion Lewis, but were unable to put points on the board after an offensive pass interference pushed them back and a 33-yard FG attempt hooked wide left.
Ferrell found Devonte Taylor for back-to-back chunk plays on the following Irish possession and Balog capped the drive with his third TD of the night, giving the Irish a 24-17 lead with 3:19 left to play.
“We were down at halftime, didn’t play our best football on the first half. Came out, you know, we got a three and out right away, played inspired defense to start the second half, but then capitalizing on those turnovers is huge,” Reardon said. “But you know, I think it says a lot about the type of kids we have in our program. We have a lot of great kids, and you know, they expect to win.”
The Vikings were marching back the other way to try and even up the score, but Vuraich was stripped with just over a minute remaining and the Irish recovered it.
The Vikings got the ball back with a chance for a deep ball, but Vuriach was unable to get a pass off.
“Our kids played hard. But that’s not enough. I don’t want that to be enough for them. I want them to see the total fruits of their labor period,” Rotsky said. “We made some plays on both sides of the ball, but we let other plays up. And at the end of the day, they made a few more than us, especially in the passing game, in the vertical passing game.”
VASJ will host St. Vincent-St. Mary (1-6) next week, while Ursuline will face Youngstown Chaney (2-4).
