Harding handles John Hay in opening round of DII playoffs

Staff photo / Neel Madhavan Warren G. Harding QB Chaz Coleman stiff arms a John Hay defender during a 49-yard carry near the end of the second quarter on Friday night at Mollenkopf Stadium.
WARREN — It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but it was more than enough for Warren G. Harding to get the job done.
Leaning on their stout defense, the Raiders shut down Cleveland John Hay 37-0 on Friday night at Mollenkopf Stadium in the first round of the Division II, Region 5 playoffs.
“A win is a win. It’s survive and advance,” Harding head coach Matt Richardson said. “You’re going to see every team’s best look, whatever round it is. So we’re really just about improving ourselves and going on from there.”
On the very first offensive play of the game, John Hay’s snap was low and went behind Hornets quarterback Deysean Rosser towards the goal line. To prevent a touchdown, Rosser was forced to kick the ball out of the back of the end zone for a Harding safety.
It only went from bad to worse the rest of the way for the Hornets, who struggled to move the ball against the Raiders’ battle-tested defense.
John Hay turned the ball over twice, averaged just 1.2 yards per play and tallied a mere 43 total yards of offense against Harding.
“From the beginning of the year, we just hang our hat on running and hitting — just running to the football and hitting,” Richardson said of the defense. “So we’ve just gotta continue to improve on that.”
After the safety, Harding added to its lead just minutes later with a 12-yard touchdown run from Stephen Sims.
Sims, who has been banged up at times throughout the course of the season, was the Raiders’ primary running back for most of the evening. He finished with 17 carries for 96 yards and the touchdown.
“We’re just showing different looks. We did it multiple times earlier in the year, but he’d been a little nicked up. So we decided to show it again — give teams something else to prepare for,” Richardson said. “He’s dangerous with the football in his hands, whether he’s catching it, running it, he can throw it, whatever.”
An interception on a deep pass by quarterback Chaz Coleman in the first quarter put the Raiders’ offense behind the 8-ball a little bit, but he’d shake off the early turnover and bounce back to throw three touchdown passes the rest of the way.
The first came at the tail end of the opening quarter, as he found Marcus Crum Jr. alone over the top of the Hornets’ secondary for a 21-yard strike.
In the second quarter, Matthew Richardson intercepted Rosser on a deep ball. That turnover set up Coleman’s second touchdown pass of the game on the ensuing drive — a 32-yarder to Devon Morgan with just under six minutes left until halftime.
Leading 23-0 at the break, the Raiders got the ball to open the second half and wasted no time hitting the 30-point threshold to trigger the running clock, as Coleman connected with Crum again for a 35-yard touchdown.
Harding’s second unit then came in and picked up right where the first team offense left off. De’Andre Thomas came in and ran all over John Hay’s defense over the last quarter and a half. He had seven carries for 61 yards, including a 12-yard run for the Raiders’ final score of the game.
The win sets up a rematch with rival and No. 4 seed Austintown Fitch in the regional quarterfinal next week. The Raiders defeated the Falcons 35-21 in the final game of the regular season last week.
“Austintown is a quality opponent, Mahoning Valley rival,” Richardson said. “I expect to see their best. Their coaches do a great job. I know their coaches will have them ready to roll. We better be ready.”