Mistakes cost Truckers in playoffs

ASHLAND — Take your pick. There were about 10 disastrous plays that can be argued were the most detrimental to the Norwalk football team in Friday's Division III Region 10 playoff game at Ashland. And then there was the porous weather conditions. The teams sat through a delay of two-plus hours as lightning and heavy rain blew through — and the rain never stopped throughout the contest after it resumed at 9:35 p.m. It all added up to a 21-7 loss in a regional quarterfinal at Community Stadium, ending the Truckers' hopes of advancing further in the state playoffs. The No. 2-seeded Arrows (7-1) will host No. 6 Parma Hts. Holy Name (6-1) in a regional semifinal next Friday. Norwalk (4-4) will host Mansfield Senior (3-6) at 7 p.m. Friday at Contractors Stadium at the Warren C. Whitney Complex. The game was originally scheduled for Aug. 30 in Week 1 before the coronavirus pandemic shortened the season from 10 to six-plus games. "To be in the ballgame making the kind of mistakes we did — we beat ourselves over and over in this game," Norwalk coach Todd Fox said. "There are really no answers for that. Certain things happen for a reason, and it's not for a lack of effort or preparation, we just got in our own way." In the first half alone, the following happened to the Truckers: — Fumbled away the opening kickoff; — Fumbled on their opening drive, which the Arrows returned for a TD; — Had a 39-yard punt return touchdown called back by penalty — Were stopped at the goal line on fourth-and-goal at the Ashland 1 — Had a 68-yard interception return TD called back by penalty — Missed a field goal; threw an incomplete pass on a fake punt; threw an INT And yet at halftime, when it was already 10:26 p.m., the Truckers trailed just 14-7, as they held the Arrows to just 52 yards of offense — 36 of which came on the opening drive of the game before the weather delay. "Our defense played lights out again," Fox said. "They've had a nice two weeks in a row after a tough game at Tiffin (48-20 loss on Oct. 2), but we just could not get in a groove on the offensive side of the ball. You can't do that in games like this, but our defense played great." The game started with a heavy downpour while lightning flashed in the background all around the vicinity. But kickoff went off as scheduled, and unfortunately for the Truckers, it was an ominous start when they fumbled it away at their own 36-yard line. The Arrows then moved seven plays to the Norwalk 2, where they were faced with fourth-and-goal. Quarterback Declan Rohr kept the snap and went behind his blockers to cover that distance, and the first of three Bryant Hosse extra points gave the Arrows a 7-0 lead at the 8:22 mark of the first quarter. After Norwalk's Daniel Traczek was stopped for no gain at the 34 on Norwalk's first possession, the game was finally delayed at 7:11 p.m. The two teams did not return to the field to stretch again until 9:24 p.m., as Ashland officials did not want to resume the game on Saturday. When it did resume, the Truckers quickly picked up 23 yards to the Ashland 43. However, as Traczek was being tackled, the ball popped out, and Kadin Schmitz returned it right up the middle with ease for a 59-yard fumble return TD. The PAT made it 14-0 at the 7:17 mark of the first quarter. The Truckers punted on their next possession, as a 55-yard punt by Garrison Smith put Ashland at its own 1-yard line. The Arrows were then forced to punt from their own end zone, allowing Norwalk senior Ethan Phillips to return the kick from the Ashland 39. He weaved his way through the middle of the field and eventually found the end zone for an apparent touchdown, but a holding penalty on the return pushed Norwalk back to the Ashland 31. Nine plays later, the Truckers were faced with fourth-and-goal from the Ashland 1, but quarterback Garrett Chapin was denied on the sneak up the middle, and the Truckers had no points to show for themselves. But another strong three-and-out by the defense again forced Ashland to punt from its own end zone, and the Truckers got the ball at the Ashland 24. Six plays later, Chapin made several reads, looked to his right and found Oliver Maloney standing all alone for a 10-yard TD pass. Smith's 86th consecutive extra point cut the deficit to 14-7 with 9:23 left in the first half. Three plays into the next Ashland drive, Rohr saw his pass tipped and intercepted by Phillips, who again appeared to have a TD return as he took it back 68 yards for another apparent score. However, an illegal block in the back wiped that out, pushing Norwalk all the way back to its own 35. That drive also came up empty as Smith didn't cleanly kick the football on a 42-yard field goal attempt that was no good with 5:15 left in the half. The two teams then traded possessions, and then traded turnovers, with Chapin ending the half with a 34-yard pass to Traczek that went to the Ashland 16 — but the Truckers were out of time as the half ended on the play. Fox said it was almost hard to believe it was a one-score game at halftime, given how the first two quarters transpired. "It's been a theme many times it seems for us this year and it reared its head tonight against a good team," he said. "And we've seen that all year with our schedule. When you make those kind of mistakes against great teams, it will show. You just can't do that, and it beat us again tonight." The Arrows were stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-1 at the Norwalk 32 on the opening drive of the third quarter. Again, Smith punted 46 yards to pin the Arrows at their own 6 after Norwalk couldn't advance past midfield. Norwalk's defense again held serve in three plays, and once again the Arrows punted from their own end zone, giving the Truckers the ball at the Ashland 37. But yet again, the Arrows didn't allow Norwalk past the 32, forcing the Truckers to again punt, and Smith again put Ashland deep, this time at its own 4. Then the game ultimately swung one last time. Ethan Hartley ran 13 yards on the first play to finally get the Arrows out of their own end zone. Rohr then dropped back and went for the home run pass — and got it. Landon McFrederick hauled in the pass near midfield up the left sideline and outran two Norwalk defenders for the back-breaking 83-yard TD pass and catch, putting Ashland ahead 21-7 with 2:46 left in the third. Norwalk turned it over on downs at the Ashland 32 with 11:41 left in the game, then got to the Ashland 25 as time ran out in the fourth quarter. The Truckers were held to just 70 yards of offense in the second half before picking up 56 yards on the final drive of the game. "They made some adjustments defensively, and then we'd get in our own way again on top of it," Fox said. "A wrong route here, a drop here, a penalty here … we had two scores called back tonight, then the fumble return TD for them. "Some of those things you can't overcome in big games like this, and now we have to pay the price." For Norwalk, Chapin was 15-of-38 passing for 194 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Phillips caught nine passes for 97 yards, while Traczek ran 12 times for 63 yards. Chapin's 14-yard pass to Phillips on the first play after the game was resumed gave him an even 5,000 career passing yards in 34 games at Norwalk. He had surpassed Jake Fetherolf's (2010-12) program record of 4,659 yards earlier this season. "With Garrett, it's the things you don't see that make him the person he is," Fox said. "He is a leader on and off the field. He was a little off rhythm at times tonight, but you'd never know it because he's steady. He is steady mentally and keeps our guys going. "What he has done for our program, the minor part is throwing for over 5,000 yards, but the major part is leading us to playoff wins in all three seasons with a league and regional championship," he added. "We're excited with a couple games here to hopefully send him and his senior class out on top." Norwalk 0 7 0 0 — 7 Ashland 14 0 7 0 — 21 Scoring ASH — Declan Rohr 2 run (Bryant Hosse kick) ASH — Kadin Schmitz 59 fumble return (Hosse kick) NOR — Oliver Maloney 10 pass from Garrett Chapin (Garrison Smith kick) ASH — Landon McFrederick 83 pass from Rohr (Hosse kick)