McDonald spoils Mineral Ridge’s perfect season
McDonald spoils Mineral Ridge's perfect season
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McDONALD -- After last week’s upset at the hands of Springfield, McDonald was determined to right the ship.
Getting a chance to do that against a rival, and potentially spoil their perfect season, made the opportunity all the sweeter.
After Mineral Ridge erased a three-score advantage to take the lead late in the game, McDonald clawed back and held on to beat the Rams, 25-20.
"That was exciting," Blue Devils coach Dan Williams said. "We tried to give it away a couple different times, and we knew they were going to make a charge there in the second half, we just had to withstand their run game and what have you. I give our kids a heck of a lot of credit. With five minutes left, we need to go 70 yards for a winning touchdown and we put together one of the best drives in my history of coaching.
"It was an unbelievable drive, and they dug in deep and executed when they had to, and it’s a great win for the program."
Joshua Krumpak got the Blue Devils on the board first, punching it in from 2 yards out.
They’d strike again quickly following a fumble recovery, with Preston VanMeter finding the end zone on a 39-yard scamper.
McDonald forced its second turnover of the contest, with Joey Krumpak intercepting a pass inside the end zone, stalling the Rams' drive at the 8-yard line.
No points came from the turnover, however, as the Mineral Ridge defense forced a fourth down just outside of its own 20-yard line.
The Blue Devils' offense kept chugging along, however.
Hit as he threw, Quinn Schmidt connected with Joey Krumpak on a 58-yard pass to extend the lead to 19-0.
McDonald’s defense held strong to close out the first half, keeping the Rams off the board.
Late in the third quarter, the Rams earned their first points of the game. Mineral Ridge sophomore Noah Aleshire required a second effort to shake the sea of Blue Devil defenders and shove his way into the end zone, scoring on an 8-yard run.
That score re-invigorated Mineral Ridge, as they forced a McDonald punt front inside its own 20.
After penalties on back-to-back plays that forced a third-and-33, quarterback Ethan Deley hit Nick Anderson Jr. on a deep pass to convert and set Mineral Ridge up at McDonald’s 31-yard line. Anderson had to win a hotly-contested ball and came down with it.
Immediately after, on fourth-and-7, the Rams converted once again, this time on a pass to Owen Sylak.
The drive set up a 3-yard scoring rush from junior Chandler Busse, cutting McDonald’s lead to 19-13 with 8:32 left in the game.
Two plays after stalling McDonald on a fourth-and-Inches, and two carries from Busse, the Rams tied, then took the lead after a Steven Gutierrez point-after attempt.
McDonald took to the ground on its ensuing possession, and was rewarded for it. Joshua Krumpak got the ball at the 9-yard line and scampered in to get the go-ahead score for the Blue Devils, giving them a 25-20 advantage after the failed two-point attempt.
With 54 seconds left, the Rams had one last opportunity to earn the win, but McDonald’s defense came up with two pass break-ups in the end zone to ice the game.
Both teams now await their seeding, but are expected to be near the top of their respective regions and will likely both earn bye weeks.
Suffering its first loss of the season, Mineral Ridge will lick its wounds, and come back for a postseason run.
"We showed a lot of character. We didn’t come out and play particularly well in the first half," Rams coach Andy Hake said. "In the second half, we found ourselves. You just can’t put yourself in a hole like that. It’s a bitter loss. ... We had opportunities to win that game, and when we took the lead, I knew they were going to have another opportunity, and they took advantage of it. Let it bleed tonight. Let him bleed tomorrow. Let him bleed on Sunday, and he gets back ready to go on Monday."