Hornets cruise to quarterfinal playoff win

By Carol McIntire

Editor

Malvern Football Coach Matt Chiurco breathed a sigh of relief Friday after his Hornets posted a 42-14 win over Lowellville in the regional quarterfinals of the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) playoffs. 

“It’s a big relief,” Chiurco said, referring to the fact that the Hornets have not advanced past the second round of the playoffs since 2009 and have not advanced to the third round under his leadership.

“If you go back to 2020, we had that second-round game against Dalton. We just weren’t good enough. In 2021 against Lucas, we weren’t good enough. Last year against St. Paul, we were right there. We felt like we closed the gap on those top teams. This year, coming into the playoffs, we liked our second-round matchup probably more than we did our first-round matchup. We knew we just had to get over that Lucas hump. It’s such a relief.”

With 11 wins, the most since 2009 and a 7-0 record, Chiurco said the pressure is off.

“Now we just go play and have fun.”

The first-round matchup the coach referred was against the Lucas team that knocked the Hornets out of the playoffs last season. This year, there was no doubt the Hornets had closed the gap as they defeated Lucas 40-26 and earned a showdown with Lowellville in the second round Friday night. 

The Hornets were up for the challenge.

On the first drive of the game, the Hornets showed they were a force to be reckoned with. Julius Gore returned the opening kickoff to the 35-yard line where quarterback Jared Witherow the reins of the offense. Eight plays later the ball sat on the Lowellville 13-yard line. On a third and goal play, Witherow dropped back for a pass to the left corner of the end zone for junior Roy Simmons. A Rocket defender stepped in front of Simmons and intercepted the pass, returning the ball to the 7-yard line.

The miscue didn’t shake the confidence of Chiurco’s team. 

The defense gave up two first downs before forcing the Rockets into a fourth-and-six situation on the 41-yard line. Rather than punt, Lowellville dialed up a screen play that gained just two yards and Malvern took over on the plus side of the field. Five plays later Gore ran wide left and into the end zone for the first points of the game with 12 ticks left on the first quarter clock. The two-point conversion failed. 

The touchdown ignited a Malvern scoring frenzy led by the defense.

Darnell Jackson intercepted Rocket quarterback Ricky Willrich’s third down pass on Lowellville’s ensuing possession and returned it 43 yards to the 9-yard line. Drake Hutchison picked up two yards and the first-down carry and went the final seven yards up the middle for the score on second down. Simmons added the two-point conversion for a 14-0 Malvern lead.

Simmons intercepted a Willrich pass and returned it 53 yards for a score on Lowelville’s next possession. A Witherow pass to Josh Untch was good for the 2-point conversion and 22-0 lead. 

The defense wasn’t done yet.

Lowellville drove deep into Malvern territory on its next drive and had the ball first-and-goal on the 5-yard line. Willrich took the snap, Hutchison broke through the line to sack Willrich and forced a fumble.

Junior linebacker Clayton Abel swooped up the loose ball and ran untouched 85 yards for the score. The two-point conversion failed, but the Hornets were sitting comfortably on a 28-0 lead. 

“Last week it was our offense that carried us, this week it was our defense in the first half,” Chiurco said. “There was a stretch of about 12 minutes when I didn’t call a single play.”

The hosts added another score, a four-yard pass from Witherow to Simmons, and a Kaden Dennis extra point before time expired in the second quarter.

Lowellville put the only points of the third quarter on the board (under a continuous clock) with a nine-yard pass from Willrich to A.J. Boehlke with 4:20 on the clock. Willrich added the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 35-8.

Malvern added a score on the first play of the fourth period when Witherow connected with Rodney Smith from 12-yards out. Dennis added the extra point, and the clock began to wind again. 

The Rockets closed out the scoring with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Willrich to Nick LaRosa.

The game looked much closer on paper than it did in real time. Malvern held a 283-205 advantage in total yards, 199-150 edge in the passing game and completed 19 of 24 passes for 199 yards compared to 10 of 20 passes for 150 yards for the Rockets. 

Hutchison led the Malvern ground attack with 30 yards on 10 carries while Geno Perry picked up 61 yards on 29 carries for the Rockets. 

The trio of Smith, Simmons and Untch led the Hornet air attack. Smith pulled in six passes for 70 yards, Simmons five for 60 yards and Untch three for 25 yards.

Hutchison led the defense with nine tackles and the strip sack. Owen Ball was credited with seven tackles, Gore six and Abel five. 

 The Hornets travel to Massillon Perry High School Friday to face the 11-1 Hillsdale Falcons, who are ranked #2 in Region 25.

“They are kind of like us,” Chiurco said. “We are kind of mirror images of each other.  They have good athletes. At this point, every team team is good. We just have to go out, play our game and see what we can do.”