McComb wins first state title in 35 years

CANTON — No. 6 McComb defeated Glouster Trimble 28-3 in the 2018 OHSAA Division VII football state championship Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. An effective running game and stout defense were the keys to McComb's 25-point victory and its first title in 35 years. Of the Panther's 238 total yards on offense, 216 came on the ground, while the defense held Trimble to 151 total yards and compiled 11 tackles for loss for minus-44 yards, three interceptions and seven pass breakups. The teams' combined yardage is the lowest in the seven-year history of the Division VII championship game. "These guys got it done," McComb coach Kris Alge said. "The defense played extremely well, and in the end, we kept them out of the end zone. That's what we preach all the time. Defense wins championships, and I'm so proud of this football team." Listed as a wide receiver, senior Tanner Schroeder was a weapon in all facets of the offense, just as he had been all season. Schroeder led the Panthers (14-1) in rushing with 107 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, completed two passes for 10 yards, had one reception for 12 yards and was successful on all four extra point attempts. He had TD runs of 40 yards in the first quarter and 8 yards in the second. He finished his senior campaign with 1,875 yards and 24 touchdowns rushing, 997 yards and 11 touchdowns passing, 398 yards and six touchdowns receiving, 77 of 81 on PATs and 10 of 13 on field goals. Additionally, he was named the Division VII first-team All-Ohio punter with a 43.5-yard average. Schroeder's 302 points this season is the eighth-most in OHSAA history. Supplementing Schroeder's two touchdowns were junior running back Jacob Dillon's 1-yard touchdown run and senior running back Kheaghan Loe's 4-yard touchdown run. Senior Brice Markel, a first-team All-Ohio linebacker, led the Panthers (13-2) with three tackles for loss for minus 16 yards, one sack and seven total tackles. Senior defensive back Tyler Durfey had two interceptions in the game. Trimble senior Same Ives was the game's leading tackler with 13, including two and half for loss. The Tomcats kept it close early, using Max Hooper's 25-yard field goal to cut McComb's lead to 7-3 with 1:16 left in the first quarter, but Trimble only reached the red zone one time after that. This is McComb's first football state championship since 1983 and second overall. Trimble had one previous trip to the state title game in 2013 when the Tomcats also finished as state runner-up. Orrville claims first football crown in 20 years CANTON — Behind a prolific rushing attack, the Orrville Red Riders defeated No. 4 Johnstown-Monroe 49-34 to win the 2018 OHSAA Division V football state championship at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on Saturday. In an unusually high-scoring game for two teams with run-heavy offenses, five different players rushed for at least 74 yards and at least one touchdown. The offenses combined for 710 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground, breaking the previous OHSAA football championship game record by 92 yards. In addition, the two teams tied OHSAA Division V state championship game records with 12 touchdowns and 83 points. In a game that featured 83 points, there was only one touchdown scored in the first quarter when second-team All-Ohio senior quarterback Caden Calhoun ran it in from 10 yards out to give Johnstown-Monroe a 7-0 lead with 1:13 left in the first quarter. Following Calhoun's touchdown run, Orrville (13-2) went on a 21-0 run with a trio of long touchdown runs by senior quarterback Logan Domer. Domer scored on a 36-yard run early in the second quarter, a 60-yard run midway through the second and a 61-yard run one minute into the second half. During an eight-minute stretch of the game that spanned from midway through the third quarter to early in the fourth, the two teams traded touchdowns on four consecutive drives. Johnstown-Monroe made it 21-14 with a nine-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by senior fullback Luke Myers. Orrville pushed the lead back to 14 with a 31-yard rushing touchdown by first-team All-Ohio sophomore running back Marquael Parks. Again, Johnstown-Monroe marched down the field for a touchdown. A 12-play, 88-yard drive was capped off by another 1-yard Myers run. In repetitive fashion, Parks gave the Red Raiders a 14-point lead with a 47-yard touchdown run. The 14-point lead grew to 21 with 4:45 left in the game when Domer ran in his fourth touchdown from 13 yards out. Johnstown-Monroe managed to score two more touchdowns but could not make it a one-score game because of a third Parks rushing touchdown, a 1-yard plunge with 2:07 to play. Those two Johnstown-Monroe scores came on Calhoun's 45-yard pass to Cole Workman at the 3:30 mark, and Bryce Barasch's 7-yard run with 1:36 to go. Domer's four rushing touchdowns tied an OHSAA Division V state championship game record. Domer and Parks combined to rush for 405 yards and seven touchdowns on 32 carries. "You couldn't just sit there and say I'm stopping that dude [Parks], which was going to be hard anyway. You couldn't do that and tonight what happened was Domer took advantage of every opportunity," Orrville coach Doug Davault said. "Truthfully every play we run has opportunity to it. What happened was every time they gave Domer an opportunity to make a play, he busted it. It was fun to watch." Parks finished his sophomore season with 2,799 yards rushing, 474 yards receiving and 56 total touchdowns. His 336 points on the season is the second most in OHSAA history. Calhoun accounted for 283 yards of offense and two touchdowns for Johnstown-Monroe in its first trip to the state championship game in school history. Orrville now has two state championships, the first coming in 1998. Cincinnati Wyoming caps perfect season with title CANTON — No. 1 Cincinnati Wyoming won its second state title by way of a 42-14 victory over Girard in the 2018 OHSAA Division IV state championship game on Saturday night at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. In a battle of first-team All-Ohio quarterbacks, the Wyoming Cowboys (15-0) and Division IV Offensive Player of the Year junior quarterback Evan Prater came out on top. Prater finished the game 6 for 11 passing for 149 yards and two touchdowns while adding 242 yards and three touchdowns rushing. Prater finished his junior season with 2,174 yards and 28 touchdowns passing, and 1,778 yards and 32 touchdowns rushing. Prater's favorite target in the game was first-team All-Ohio senior wide receiver Joey Edmonds. Edmonds had four catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Edmonds finished the season with 1,000 yards and 19 touchdowns receiving. Girard's first-team All-Ohio quarterback, senior Mark Waid, ended the game with 194 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions passing and 31 yards and one touchdown rushing. Wyoming finished the season with 632 points, which is tied for 24th in OHSAA history; while Girard (13-2) finished the season with 663 points, which is 18th all-time. This is Wyoming's second state title in three trips to the championship game. The Cowboys won the 1977 Class AA title and were Class AA runners-up in 1975. This was Girard's inaugural trip to the state championship game.