Local Sports

University schools Salem

SALEM -- Salem and University School spent more than a week wrapped up on the outskirts of dramatic court proceedings between the Ohio High School Athletic Association and two Glenville football players.

The drama followed them on Friday to Sebo Stadium.

Faced with a first and goal at the University 9 with 54 seconds left and down by four, fourth-seeded Salem could not get any closer to the end zone and the 12th seeded Preppers overcame two huge mistakes to steal a 14-10 win in the second round Div. III, Region 9 contest.

University improves to 7-4 and will play at No. 8 Youngstown Ursuline next Friday. Ursuline upset No. 1 seed Willoughby South 41-26. Salem (8-3) ended a once promising campaign having lost three out of its last four.

“They made one play in the second half,” Salem coach Ron Johnson said. “That was the difference in the game.”

University quarterback Nico Morelli hit Tylar Robinson on a 60-yard touchdown pass on the third play from scrimmage in the second half in what proved to be the winning score.

Each team had chances to grab momentum after but opportunities went wanting. University nearly gave the game away with two bad snaps. The first lost 30 yards and was recovered by Robinson at midfield. The second came a few seconds later on a punt attempt. Instead of kicking the ball out of the end zone or picking up the ball and falling down in the end zone for a safety, the punter picked up the ball and ran with it, finally booting a short punt that ended up at the University 25 with just under three minutes left in the game.

“I was thinking I’m a pretty bad coach,” University coach Ben Malbasa said. “I should probably make sure we snap the ball well. It was frustrating but I knew as long as we had space to defend, we were going to defend it.”

Salem’s hopes ended with an Adrian Gelonese incomplete pass with 35 seconds left in the game.

“I feel like we missed out on a couple of opportunities we could have capitalized on, but we didn’t make the most of what we could do,” Salem’s Bairon Exline said.

It was rough ending for a team that started the season 7-0, but there were factors that changed the trajectory of the season that Salem could overcome.

“(The injuries on the line) were huge,” Johnson said. “We were very, very young on the offensive line to start with. Of our five linemen and tight end we started four sophomores. They played really well and then we lose two linemen when we were already young to start with. We just have to be in a position to have more depth and to develop it and to coach it better. Injuries are part of the game. They still let us run 11 guys out there, so by doing that we should have had the opportunity to be successful.”

Salem set the tone on the opening drive by chewing up most of the first quarter clock with a 17-play, 65-yard drive which concluded in a 27-yard field goal by Ronin Sutter with 2:56 left in the first quarter.

The Quakers got the ball right back after University fumbled on the kick-off at their own 25. Five plays later Bairon Exline ran in from 7 out to make it 10-0 with :54 seconds left in the first quarter.

University found its rhythm in the second quarter with a 17-play, 80-yard drive which ended in a Tylar Robinson 10-yard touchdown run to make it 10-7 with 6:17 left in the first half.

The game got dicey for both teams at the end of the first half. Salem saw a drive stall out on the University 16 with 54 seconds to go then both teams traded fumbles to end the half.

Before the game, there were Cleveland TV stations buzzing about interviewing University School parents and students about the legal situation involving Glenville and OHSAA. There were also a reporter there that followed the entire courtroom saga.

It was the culmination of a week that had Salem and University School in the spotlight even when they might not wanted to have been highlighted the way they were.

“We wanted to focus all of our energy on the game,” Johnson said. “In the bye week we worked on fundamentals. By Thursday we knew we were playing University School. That’s where our focus was in planning, but it was such a huge distraction. You’re talking about 15, 16 and 17-year-old kids, parents, teachers and community and they’re watching things on TV. They all have an opinion on what they thought instead of focusing on the main thing which was getting better at playing football and attack University School. This hurts but it’s no excuse.”

Exline said the Quakers never thought they were going to play Glenville even though a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge briefly reinstated Glenville on Tuesday.

“We trusted our coach,” Exline said. “We trusted him and knew that’s who we were going to prepare for this whole week. I did hear stuff here and there but I wanted to stay locked in on what was ahead.”

Malbasa, who is a practicing attorney with a Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University School of Law, said he was never certain that the ruling would allow University and Salem to play after the Tarblooders were removed from the tournament.

“You know what, you never know in that situation,” Malbasa said. “Anyone who tells you that they know those things is generally wrong. I thought in general we were going to be playing (in Salem) this week but I didn’t know the path and I didn’t know how it would happen. I feel bad for the Glenville kids too. It’s tough. It’s not on the kids. That stinks when that happens for everybody.”

GAME NOTES

• Before the game, all University School players presented one flower each to a female member of the University School community recently diagnosed with cancer.

• Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was on hand to watch his grandson Hank Johnson, a sophomore tight end and linebacker, play for the Preppers.

• University School’s students stormed the field after the win.

• Exline recently committed to West Virginia University to play baseball for the Mountaineers.

“It happened in September when the recruiting process just started,” Exline said. “I went on my visit in early September and really loved it there.”

• University School is no stranger to Columbiana County. The Preppers have played Beaver Local three times -- 2002, 2005 and 2006 -- with Beaver Local winning all three.

U: 0-7-7-0--14

S: 10-0-0-0--10

SCORING

S--Ronin Sutter 27 field goal

S--Bairon Exline 7 run (Sutter kick)

U--Tylar Robinson 10 run (Sonny Siegler kick)

U--Robinson 60 pass from Nico Morelli (Siegler kick)

TEAM STATS

UNIVERSITY

First downs: 10; Total yards: 198; Rushes-yards: 24-59; Passing: 139; Comp-Att-Int. 9-22-2; Punts 1-38; Fumbles-Lost 2-2; Penalties-Yards 6-60.

SALEM

First downs: 11, Total yards 179, Rushes-yards 53-169, Passing 10; Comp-Att-Int. 2-8-1, Punts 2-21, Fumbles-Lost 1-1, Penalties-Yards 6-60.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING -- University, Tylar Robinson 7-9, Nico Morelli 10-33; Salem, Zander Kinsey 26-111, Bairon Exline 20-56.

PASSING -- University, Nico Morelli 9-22-139-2; Salem, Adrian Gelonese 2-7-10-1, Bairon Exline 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING -- University, Robinson 4-102; Salem, Owen Davidson 1-10.

INTERCEPTIONS -- University, Kato Harrington; Salem, Zavier Kinsey, Colton Blackburn.