Ravenna is a narrow winner; John Hay makes coach proud in football playoff debut
Matt Pawlikowski, Special to The Plain Dealer, November 04, 2012 12:04 a.m.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The final score read 13-12, but when John Hay’s players walked off the field following their Division III quarterfinal loss to Ravenna, there were no losers.
“The guys are champions, there is a lot of love on that team,” John Hay coach Rodney Decipeda said. “They have grown together, they have grown as a family and have bonded and that is what is special. There are always two components to the game, one on the inside and one on the scoreboard.
“I told my men we are champions. We won on the inside and while we aren’t on the scoreboard, I couldn’t be prouder. It was a special season.”
Special indeed as John Hay nearly took home the win, when Decipeda went for it all. With 2:15 left in the third quarter, Mylik Mitchell found Deon Colvin for a 31-yard score. It put the Hornets one point away from advancing. The conversion attempt just was out of reach.
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Ravens edge Cleveland John Hay to reach regional semifinals
By Colin Harris | Staff Writer
It wasn’t always pretty, but playoff football in Ohio is often about who is there at the end to make a play.
Ravenna senior quarterback Kyle Spellman had a rough evening under center, but he was there at the end to secure the win as Ravenna got a 13-12 victory over Cleveland John Hay in a Division III regional quarterfinal contest.
Spellman has had much better statistical performances, finishing just 6-of-16 for 102 yards passing while rushing for 27 yards. The Ravens senior had trouble securing the ball all evening, fumbling twice and getting picked off once.
But with two minutes left in the fourth quarter, it was Spellman who carried the ball four times — and picked up a first down that all but ended a timeout-less Hay’s hopes of a comeback — for 19 yards to seal the victory.
“A team like Kent Roosevelt is going to put the ball in (senior quarterback) Tra Chapman’s hands with the game on the line and we’re going to do that with Kyle Spellman,” Ravenna coach Jim Lunardi said. “Tonight didn’t go (well) for him, but he helped get us here and we trusted him at the end.”
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PTC Metro Football Report: This time around, Ravenna football coach Jim Lunardi chose to go for one
Legendary Nebraska head coach Tom Osborne is often remembered for one gutsy call that didn’t go his way.
Trailing Miami in the 1984 Orange Bowl, Osborne’s Huskers scored a late TD to cut the Hurricanes’ lead to 31-30. Rather than going for an extra point, however, Osborne elected to go for two points — and the win.
Nebraska QB Turner Gill’s pass attempt was tipped away in the end zone, however, giving Miami the win and the national championship.
The reason I mention this is that Ravenna head coach Jim Lunardi was faced with a similar dilemma in Friday night’s game against Kent Roosevelt.
After QB Kyle Spellman hooked up with Kyle Kornbau for a 16-yard touchdown in the first overtime, Lunardi elected to kick an extra point and send the game into the second OT, rather than go for two and end the game — win or lose — right then and there.
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Six area teams have eye on OHSAA football playoffs
Six area teams have unofficially qualified for the 2012 High School Football State Playoffs, while another was still awaiting its fate at press time Friday night.
Mogadore, Kent Roosevelt, Aurora and Streetsboro will host Regional Quarterfinal games next weekend, while Ravenna and Woodridge will open playoff action on the road.
The Wildcats (10-0) earned the top spot in Division VI, Region 21, and likely locked up their sixth Associated Press State Poll championship after defeating East Canton 33-12 on Friday to finish the regular season with a perfect 10-0 record. The Cats also captured AP poll crowns in 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985 and 2001.
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Kent Roosevelt 26, Ravenna 20: Tra’Von Chapman carries Rough Riders to double-overtime victory
By Ryan Lewis | Beacon Journal sports writer
KENT: The Big R Trophy is returning to Kent on the legs of Tra’Von Chapman.
Chapman ran for 162 yards and four touchdowns, two of them in overtime, as Kent Roosevelt took down rival Ravenna 26-20 in double overtime Friday night.
“It was a heart-racer,” said Chapman, who also passed for 82 yards. “My whole family is here and I think I gave them a couple of spooks. It was a great team win.”
After trailing 13-3 entering the fourth quarter, Ravenna (6-4, 5-2) fought back and forced overtime in the Portage Trail Conference Metro game on junior kicker Ben Morgan’s 24-yard field goal as time expired.
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Kent Roosevelt captures double-OT thriller over arch-rival Ravenna
By Colin Harris | Rccordpub.com Staff Writer
It’s appropriate that another game between Kent Roosevelt and Ravenna could not be resolved in regulation — or even after one overtime period.
It’s appropriate that seniors led the way for both of the Portage Trail Conference Metro Division’s historically power programs.
And it’s especially appropriate that, on the final play of the second overtime period, it was the most important senior on Roosevelt’s roster that clinched the victory.
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PTC Metro Football Report: Three teams already have ticket punched for postseason
More than one time this season I have said that I thought two Metro Division teams would qualify for the state playoffs. That’s just the way it’s historically been in the league.
Apparently past history is not always an indicator of future success, especially in the Metro Division.
Last Friday’s upset win by Streetsboro over Ravenna actually did little to change the playoff scenarios in the division. Roosevelt and Streetsboro are still locks — although the Rockets all-but locked up a home game — and Ravenna is still a sure bet for Week 11 as well.
Ravenna is currently third in Division III, Region 9 and controls its own destiny. What that means is if they win on Friday against Kent Roosevelt, they will secure a home playoff game.
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Hall of Fame coach Campana walked both sides of Kent Roosevelt-Ravenna football rivalry
By Colin Harris | Staff Writer
When Kent Roosevelt and Ravenna meet for the 92nd time this Friday, no one in the stands at Roosevelt Stadium will have had a bigger impact on the historic rivalry than Tom Campana.
The legendary Roosevelt head coach is best-known for his tenure with the Rough Riders, where he helped build one of the state’s premier programs during his career that lasted from 1959 through 1970.
But all of the success Campana experienced against countless opposing coaches and teams could take a backseat to his memories — on both sidelines — of Portage County’s premier rivalry.
“This rivalry between Kent and Ravenna has always been a classic,” Campana said. “It’s intense and has always been a game that not only players, coaches and administrators enjoy, but both towns look forward to as well.
“The way the kids perform and approach the game — it’s just a classic.”
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Ravenna 39, Norton 6: Kyle Spellman crowned homecoming king, leads Ravens past Panthers
Ravenna quarterback Kyle Spellman (left) runs for a first down past Norton’s Jake Fling during the second quarter of their game Friday at Ravenna Stadium. (Karen Schiely/Akron Beacon Journal)
RAVENNA: Kyle Spellman had a memorable Friday night.
At halftime, Spellman, a Ravenna senior, was named homecoming king after returning to play quarterback for the first time since the season opener.
Spellman ran for two touchdowns in the second half and threw for another as the Ravens defeated Norton 39-6 in a Portage Trail Conference Metro Division game on homecoming night at Gilcrest Field at Ravenna Stadium.
Spellman, who unofficially had 56 yards on eight carries and completed 8-of-14 passes for 74 yards, could not stop smiling after the victory and the coronation.
“It felt really nice and [I] had fun most of all. The line blocked well for me and the receivers caught it for me,” said Spellman, who broke the fourth metacarpal on his right hand earlier this season.
As for his ascension to royalty, Spellman said: “It felt real nice. I was real happy.”
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Spellman returns to QB Ravens to rout of Panthers
It was Ravenna’s Homecoming. Kyle Spellman was the king, and it was his first night at quarterback in six games because of a broken hand suffered in the Ravens’ season-opening victory over Tallmadge.
The night continued to be memorable, as the Ravens (6-2, 5-0 PTC Metro Division) dominated Norton (5-3, 3-2) for a 39-6 win Friday.
“I had fun out there tonight,” said Spellman. “My hand didn’t hurt at all.”
All Spellman did was run for 55 yards, score two touchdowns, and pass for 80 yards on a night that the Ravens didn’t need to pass much.
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