CANAL FULTON: The 2016 East football team met the end of the road Saturday on a crisp evening at Northwest High School.
East and New Philadelphia battled back and forth in a Division III regional semifinal game, and ultimately the final difference was slim, the Quakers leaving with a 27-20 win.
With the score tied 20-20, New Philadelphia senior Kyle Perkins snagged an interception with 31 seconds to go in the fourth quarter on East’s 45-yard line. Two plays later, Perkins caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from freshman Baron May and senior Logan Morehead converted his third extra-point kick with 17 seconds left.
East (8-4) was unable to mount a drive with such little time, and New Philadelphia (10-2) advanced to play Archbishop Hoban at a site to be determined next week. Hoban beat rival St. Vincent-St. Mary 21-7 at the University of Akron’s InfoCision Stadium.
“My kids left it all out on the field,” East coach Marques Hayes said. “We had a blown coverage at the end that led to a touchdown reception. That’s a tough way to go out when you battle 48 minutes like that and it ends that way.
“We felt we belonged here and that we could compete at this level. I told our guys, ‘We will have to take a couple of days because this is tough.’ We wanted to keep on dancing out here. That’s the whole point. You want to go for that ultimate goal and put yourself in a position where it’s a one-game elimination week in and week out. Tonight, it wasn’t our night. We’ve got to tip our hat to the other team. They made the plays at the end.”
Junior Devanier Floyd gave East a 6-0 lead on a 52-yard touchdown run with 10:02 to go in the first quarter. Senior Jaleel Ervin set up the drive with a fumble recovery.
May tossed an 82-yard touchdown pass to senior Lukas Kimble at 10:11 in the second quarter and Morehead’s kick made it 7-6 in favor of the Quakers.
Morehead kicked a 29-yard field goal with 3:08 remaining in the second quarter to give New Philadelphia a 10-6 lead, but East responded quickly when senior Jemarulin Suggs sprinted 80 yards for a touchdown at 2:55 in the second quarter. Floyd rushed for a 2-point conversion and the Dragons took a 14-10 halftime lead.
Quakers senior Blake Bollon stepped into a pass for an interception and dashed 22 yards for a touchdown. Morehead’s kick made it 17-14 with 5:22 left in the third quarter. The Dragons bounced back when sophomore quarterback Ryan Collins tossed an 80-yard touchdown pass to junior Daishawn Brimage to make it 20-17 with 4:11 to go in the third quarter.
Morehead kicked a 43-yard field goal with 10:10 remaining in the fourth quarter to tie it, and then May’s touchdown pass to Perkins propelled the Quakers over the top.
Suggs rushed for 181 yards on 30 carries, and Collins completed 8-of-17 passes for 170 yards. Junior Jayshawn Robinson also grabbed an interception for East.
Quaker coach Matt Dennison called on May to play because of injuries that sidelined senior Logan Bitikofer (Bucknell recruit, broken collarbone) and junior Cameron Alberts (concussion), and the freshman finished with 13 carries for 63 yards and completed 6-of-14 passes for 137 yards. Junior Kye Crowthers totaled 17 carries for 148 yards.
The loss ends the East football careers for three UA recruits — Suggs, De’Andre Brimage and Marquess Callaway, who did not play Saturday due to a concussion.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the #ABJVarsity high school blog at www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.