While his Maple Heights teammates charged the field in triumph, Arron Pipkins remained on both knees near the end zone. Right down to the last play, Pipkins had been playing defense, making a final tackle in the Mustangs' 27-17 victory against Lake Catholic on Friday night in a Division II state semifinal at Solon's Stewart Field.
While his Maple Heights teammates charged the field in triumph, Arron Pipkins remained on both knees near the end zone.
Right down to the last play, Pipkins had been playing defense, making a final tackle in the Mustangs' 27-17 victory against Lake Catholic on Friday night in a Division II state semifinal at Solon's Stewart Field.
Even when it was time to celebrate, the spent junior defensive tackle needed time to collect himself before getting into the good time.
"The defense stepped up," said Pipkins, whose team came in knowing it was going to have to contain Cougars' senior running back Richie Sanders. "We know he's a good runner. We tried to keep him going to the outside. He wasn't going to beat us up the middle."
An injured Sanders did not play in this game against Maple Heights a year ago, when the Mustangs won, 21-17. He came in averaging 8.6 yards per carry, totaling 2,049 yards and 29 touchdowns on the ground.
He got his 30th touchdown on a 39-yard run one minute into the fourth quarter to cut the Maple Heights lead to 20-17. But for the most part, he had to work for his 114 yards on 22 carries.
Senior Donovan Garner got the satisfaction of going both ways. The starting center picked up defensive tackle duties at the start of the playoffs.
"Coach [Todd Filtz] thought I'd be good on the defensive side," said Garner, who finished his night on offense when the Mustangs used a 20-play drive for their final touchdown. "After watching film, we knew [Sanders] could blow people off the ball or stay low. We just wanted to contain him."
Garner said his team's touchdown 14 seconds before halftime, cutting the Lake Catholic lead to 20-6, helped on the defensive side as well.
"It carried over to the defense," he said. "We wanted to get the ball back and let them score again."
Senior defensive end Claybourne Miller said getting the score before halftime was key to building momentum. Holding Sanders to 39 yards in the first half let him know the defense was on the right track.
"We wanted to force him outside," said Miller, whose defense allowed 181 yards rushing and 86 yards passing. "We had the guys on the outside to catch him. When we were down, we told ourselves to keep our heads up."
Defensive end Kennedy Linston echoed the sentiments of the rest of the team. The Mustangs were not interested in who their next opponent would be in the title game.
"We don't care," he said. "We just care we are 14-0. We deserved it. We played our hearts out."
It's been said before -- defense wins championships.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jmaxse@plaind.com, 216-999-5168