Chagrin Falls football coach Mark Iammarino felt if his team didn't have an answer for Orrville's running game, it was going to be a long night. It turned out the Tigers had an answer for everything the Red Riders threw at them and more in a 21-3 Division IV state semifinal game victory Friday night at Medina's Ken Dukes...
Chagrin Falls football coach Mark Iammarino felt if his team didn't have an answer for Orrville's running game, it was going to be a long night.
It turned out the Tigers had an answer for everything the Red Riders threw at them and more in a 21-3 Division IV state semifinal game victory Friday night at Medina's Ken Dukes Stadium.
Chagrin Falls (13-1), ranked No. 12 in both The Plain Dealer and state poll, will play unranked Columbus Bishop Hartley (12-2) for the championship 11 a.m. Friday at Massillon's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. Hartley edged defending champion and No. 8-ranked Kettering Alter, 29-28, to advance.
"You have to have a great defense in the postseason and we did a tremendous job tonight against a very talented team," said Iammarino. "That team has outstanding receivers, very good running backs, a strong offensive line and their quarterback threw for close to 2,000 yards.
"We wanted to make them throw in third-and-long situations and we were able to do that and for us to keep them out of the end zone, is just a tremendous accomplishment."
An understatement.
The Chagrin Valley Conference Chagrin Division co-champions held Orrville to 92 yards on the ground and 29 yards through the air. Senior tailback Tre Simpson accounted for 67 of those rushing yards while sophomore quarterback Kyle Lichti completed just 2 of 20 passes for a mere 29 yards and four interceptions.
"We watched a lot of film on them this week," said Tigers junior safety Everett Dishong, who accounted for two picks. "We noticed they motion with their motion, they always go to their A-back's side and we just read it perfectly with the flood routes."
All the scoring was done in the first half as Chagrin Falls dented the scoreboard on the game's first possession, going 68 yards in 13 plays and capped by Jack Hinman's 3-yard run and Ricky Vannelli's extra-point kick. The drive was keyed by quarterback Timmy Porter's third-down pass to Bradley Munday, good for 31 yards.
Chagrin Falls had the ball two plays later thanks to a Nathan Lelonis interception and a 14-0 lead two minutes later, going 23 yards in five plays with Jack Campbell scoring on a 3-yard scamper.
Orville cut its deficit to 14-3 with 7:56 left in the first half when Dylan Tanner kicked a 30-yard field goal before Chagrin added the game's final score on Munday's 33-yard touchdown run.
"We knew if we prepared and did the right things, we'd be the best team on the field," said senior defensive end Austin Garofolo, who had three tackles for loss, including one of his team's four sacks. "Since we started scoring early, we got them out of their offense. They like to run, pulling the tackle and the guard, but they couldn't do that because they had to pass once they got behind."
Getting the big lead only fired up the Tigers' defensive unit.
"It's more of motivational factor to get our offense back on the field so they can score more because our team is all about putting the pressure on," added Garofolo.
Porter completed 7 of 13 passes for 84 yards while Munday gained 106 of the Tigers' 181 yards on the ground.
"We just couldn't get anything going, offensively, but you have to give [Chagrin Falls] a lot of the credit," said Orrville coach Doug Davault. "They stuffed us and everytime we thought we had a little bit of something going, they'd take it away.
"You know they want to run their counter and sweep, and they want to throw it a little bit but they give it to everybody and that's what makes them so tough to defend."