Storied small schools meet with championship at stake
Friday, December 2, 2005 [FONT=Verdana, Times New Roman, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]By Jim Thomas Repository Sports Writer[/FONT]
CANTON - One team lost three of its last five regular season games. The other finished third in its conference.
But Delphos St. John’s and Steubenville Catholic Central don’t need to apologize for appearing in Saturday’s Division VI state championship game at 3 p.m. at Massillon’s Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. This is the first meeting between the schools that have a combined four state championships.
The 12-2 Blue Jays from Delphos are proud to bring their third-place finish in the Midwest Athletic Conference into play. They finished behind unbeaten Coldwater (which is playing for the Division IV title earlier in the day) and Versailles (a Division V playoff qualifier) and defeated last year’s Division V champion, St. Henry.
“We talked about our opportunities with our kids,” Delphos head coach Todd Schulte said. “We made it through a good schedule ... we just capitalized on our opportunities.”
Especially when it counted. The Blue Jays, three-time Division V champions from 1997-1999 (the first two under current Northwest coach Vic Whiting), won close playoff games over league rival Maria Stein Marion Local and last year’s Division VI champions, unbeaten Dola Hardin Northern, to get back to Stark County.
They average 30 points a game from a pro I-formation ground attack fueled by All-Ohio tailback Andrew DeWitt (1,823 yards, 24 touchdowns) and quarterback Nick Johnson (1,327, 16).
Catholic Central is the second Steubenville school to play for a state title this weekend. The Division III Big Red played in its final this morning.
“It’s great for the town, our area,” Catholic Central head coach Gregg Bahen said. “Our area is facing problems economically. High school football is very important to us.”
Like Delphos, Steubenville is run oriented. “... We both consider us dinosaurs,” Bahen said of the teams’ two-back sets.
Like the Jays’ DeWitt, Catholic Central tailback Zac Hawrot (1,962 yards, 20 TDs) is a first-team All-Ohioan. Unlike Delphos, QB J.J. Kuczynski is a passer first, having thrown for almost 1,500 yards, 17 scores and nine interceptions.
Steubenville’s offense has nearly doubled its output in the playoffs, from 24.3 points in the regular season to 43.7. Hawrot ran for 202 yards and two scores in the Crusaders’ 36-35 state semifinal win over Newark Catholic.
Reach Repository sports writer Jim Thomas at (330) 580-8336
or e-mail
[email protected]
Delphos St. John’s
Nickname Blue Jays
Head coach Todd Schulte, 76-16, seventh season
League Midwest Athletic
Boys enrollment 129
2005 record 12-2
Playoff history Tenth appearance, fourth in state finals, 28-6 overall. State champion in 1997, ’98, ’99.
Average points scored 31.1
Average points allowed 9.4
Steubenville Catholic Central
Nickname Crusaders
Head coach Gregg Bahen, 72-32, ninth season
League Ohio Valley
Boys enrollment 118
2005 record 11-3
Playoff history Eighth appearance, 11-6 overall, second in state finals. State champion in 1993. Average points scored 29.9 Average points allowed 20.8
