Fawcett Stadium, Canton, OH
Two-point conversion gives Davidson D-I title
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Jake Trubiano's two-point conversion with 1:04 left was the difference as Hilliard Davidson captured the Division I state championship with a wild 16-15 victory over Cleveland Glenville Saturday at Canton Fawcett Stadium.
Trailing 15-8 with under five minutes left, Hilliard Davidson (13-1) drove 77 yards for a touchdown, most of the damage coming on Trubiano's 74-yard run to the Glenville three-yard line. Spencer Delande punched it in the endzone three plays later, cutting the Glenville lead to 15-14.
It was then Hilliard Davidson head coach Brian White made his gutsy call to go for two. Instead of kicking the extra point and playing for overtime, White sent his offense back on the field and they delivered. Using an off-balance formation, Trubiano dove in around left end, sending the Wildcats' faithful into a frenzy.
The finish was eerily similar to the 2006 state championship where White made a similar call, electing to go for two in overtime at the east endzone of Fawcett Stadium. That decision also was successful, as Davidson captured the '06 championship with a one point win over Mentor.
Glenville had one final chance in the final seconds, but quarterback Cardale Jones' last-ditch hail mary attempt was intercepted by Delande.
All the scoring occurred in the dramatic second half, as neither team was able to put points on the scoreboard in the first 24 minutes. But both certainly had their opportunities.
Davidson had a golden scoring chance early in the second quarter, using 23 and 21 yard runs by Trubiano to move the ball inside the Glenville two-yard line. But on second down, Glenville's massive interior defensive linemen threw up a roadblock on Davidson's Jimmy Curtis, who tried to sneak in up the middle. The ball squirted loose and was recovered by Christian Bryant at the three.
Glenville appeared to have taken the lead late in the second, but a 98-yard touchdown strike from Cardale Jones to Shane Wynn was negated by a personal foul on a Glenville offensive lineman. The uneccessary roughness call was committed after the catch while Wynn was streaking toward the end zone, making it even tougher to swallow for head coach Ted Ginn, Sr.
That Tarblooders were able to regroup, driving downfield in the final seconds to set up a 32-yard field goal attempt by Bryant. The kick sailed right, however, keeping the scoreboard empty at intermission.
Davidson engineered the first scoring drive of the night with a nine-play, 67-yard drive spanning over five minutes of the third quarter. On fourth and 1 from the Glenville 24, Davidson running back Rico Butler took advantage of an overzealous Tarblooder defense that had 10 men packed near the line of scrimmage.
Butler found a hole off left tackle and waltzed in with no Glenville defenders in the vicinity, giving the Wildcats a 6-0 lead. Davidson then caught the Tarblooders sleeping on the extra point attempt with Keith Heitzman running in the two-point conversion up the middle out of the swinging gate formation. Davidson led 8-0 with 4:30 remaining in the third.
The Tarblooders wasted little time returning the favor, covering 72 yards in just six plays over three minutes. Jones fired a 29-yard completion to Nicholas Davis and got some help from Latwan Anderson on a leaping 26-yard catch along the left sideline. Jones finished off the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run and tied the game at 8-8 on a successful two-point conversion pass to Shane Wynn.
Davidson coughed up the ball on their first play of the ensuing drive, recovered by defensive back Devonte Morgan at the Wildcats' 20-yard line.
The Tarblooders got the go-ahead touchdown as a result, but it was hardly conventional.
Jones completed a swing pass to Christian Bryant in the left flat, but as he reached the ball out over the goal line, it was fumbled away. Luckily Nicholas Davis was Johnny-on-the-spot, scooping the ball off the turf at the two-yard line and stepping into the endzone. Bryant booted the extra point to give the Tarblooders their first lead of the game at 15-8.
Glenville looked like they had the game-clinching touchdown, but it slipped through their hands - literally. On fourth down from the Davidson 24 with five minutes remaining, Jones fired a bullet to Christian Bryant, who was dragging across the field at the three-yard line. The ball slipped through Bryant's fingers, however, setting up Davidson's game-winning drive.
On the evening Davidson quarterback Jake Trubiano rushed 18 times for 196 yards. Rico Butler added 59 yards and a touchdown. The Wildcats did not complete a single pass.
The victory for Davidson was particularly sweet due to a tragic set of circumstances that occurred less than 24 hours before. Davidson sophomore wide receiver Art Lane was killed in an auto crash near Columbus on Friday night and the team took the field with heavy hearts.
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