McDonald dominates Monroeville in third round

MCDONALD — The hosts looked the part. McDonald entered Friday's Division VII regional semifinal against No. 4 Monroeville with an unbeaten record and the No. 1 seed in Region 25. The Blue Devils entered the game averaging 35.5 points and allowing 13 points per contest. And those numbers are about what they did in Friday's 40-13 win at the McDonald Athletic Complex. The Eagles ended the season with a record of 9-3. The Devils (12-0) face Mogadore (11-1) for the regional championship next week. "Give them a lot of credit for the way they prepared and ran the ball," Monroeville head coach Tylor Nester said. "They dominated the line of scrimmage at times against us, and that's what put them over the top." The Blue Devils opened the game with a 60-yard drive that took nine plays and lasted 4:19 of the first quarter clock. Casey Miller carried four times for 24 yards, but it was Preston VanMeter who scored on a 2-yard run with 7:32 left in the quarter. Anthony Larson added the PAT for a 7-0 lead. But the Eagles came back with an even longer drive of their own. Monroeville used 6:48 of the first quarter with a 15-play, 69-yard scoring drive. Monroeville had a third down just once over the 15 plays, which came on third-and-goal from the 1 when Clark scored with ease with 44 seconds left in the quarter. Isaac Krueger's PAT tied the game at 7-7. Clark was 6-of-7 passing on the drive for 47 yards, with Ethan Pomerich catching three of those passes for 28 yards. But the Devils needed little time to regain the lead. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Joshua Krumpak broke two tackles and outran two more Monroeville defenders on a 73-yard TD run. The PAT failed, but McDonald had the 13-7 lead with just 14 seconds left in the first quarter. Monroeville's next drive was a turnover on downs. The Eagles got inside the McDonald 35 behind the strength of four straight runs from Connor Bores for 23 yards to start a drive that started at the Devils' 48 after a late hit penalty on the kick return. But on fourth-and-15 from the 33, Clark was hit and sacked on a blitz for a big loss and a turnover on downs. McDonald then drove 51 yards over six plays, with Drew Zajack scoring on a 32-yard run that also saw him break two tackles and outrun two more defenders. The PAT extended the lead to 20-7 with 6:4 left in the half. The Devils weren't done, however. After forcing a three-and-out — the only one of the half — they got the ball back at their own 44. Monroeville forced the hosts into a fourth-and-9 at the Eagles 23, but Kyle Puckett ran a play-action fake to perfection. He then found tight end Brady Shobel near the 10 for the catch, and he did the rest for a huge 23-yard TD pass and catch to push the lead to 27-7. The Eagles answered, however, after taking over at their own 42 with 1:26 left in the half. Clark ran for 12 yards, and the Devils were penalized 15 yards. On fourth-and-8 at the 16, Clark looked to his right, then found Colton Koch to his left for a 16-yard TD pass with just 14 seconds left in the first half. The PAT attempt by Isaac Krueger never got off the ground, but the Eagles had pulled within 27-13 at the break. Monroeville was unable to grab any momentum, however. The Eagles' first two possessions of the second half resulted in six plays for -6 yards. Though the Devils did not score on a drive that took 13 plays, they did use seven minutes of the third quarter. But on McDonald's second possession of the second half, they removed any lingering doubt. Puckett found Krumpak for a 24-yard TD pass on the first play of the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 34-13. After the Eagles turned it over on downs at midfield, McDonald then needed seven plays as Puckett finished it with a 10-yard TD pass to Jordan Perry with 5:44 left in the game to close out the scoring. "They are pretty balanced running to either side or running the boundary, and they hit you at inopportune times with play-action," Nester said of the Devils. "Our secondary did a pretty good job of keeping things in front of us, but their balance of running left or right really hurt. "They were stout defensively, but we couldn't hit some things we normally do, so just give them a lot of credit for taking those things away from us." For Monroeville, Clark was 12-of-22 passing for 105 yards with a TD and an interception. He ran 10 times for 35 yards and another score. Bores added 37 yards on 11 attempts, while Pomerich caught four passes for 37 yards and Koch had two catches for 39 yards. The Eagles won the Firelands Conference championship outright this season for the first time since 2002. They also won a home playoff game and reached the third round for the first time since the format was changed four years ago. "An awesome career for our seniors to go from where they were at the start to back-to-back conference champions," Nester said. "We were 0-10 in 2022 and won 26 games since then. They continued to work and get better, and that's the standard we want to set. "We want to continuously work no matter the situation, and our seniors did a heck of a job setting a standard for the underclassmen, he added. "They did a lot for our program and this community."