NEW PHILADELPHIA — Warren JFK has made a habit of collecting Division VII, Region 25 championship trophies. But it’s hard to imagine the Eagles have traveled a more improbable path to the presentation ceremony.
On Saturday night, Coach Dom Prologo’s squad collected its third consecutive crown by nipping Danville 22-21 in a wild, back-and-forth affair at cold, wind-swept New Philadelphia Quaker Stadium.
“Our kids just put so much effort into this, they have so much invested in this,” Prologo said to YSNLive. “I’m really excited they got it done.”
For the longest time it looked like underdog Danville would be hoisting that trophy. But the Blue Devils came up just short in the final minute — a reversal of their playoff fortune from that past few weeks.
“This is life, you can’t win them all,” Danville coach Matt Blum said. “Only seven teams in the entire state finish the season with a win and we’re not going to be one of them.
“But I’m proud of our kids, proud of our community. It’s been a blessing to be their head coach this year.”
Top-seeded JFK (12-1) moved on top late in the first quarter when junior Caleb Hadley bulled nine yards off right tackle and dragged a number of Blue Devils into the end zone. Saroth Sheth’s PAT made it 7-0 with 2:02 remaining in the first period.
But third-seeded Danville (11-3) bounced back, as it would do repeatedly.
Junior Walker Weckesser pounced on an Eagles’ fumble in the end zone just eight seconds into the second period and the ensuing PAT knotted the affair at 7-7. That’s the way it stayed into halftime.
Blum’s bunch grabbed the lead for the first time with 6:39 showing in the third period when Max Payne knifed in from 7 yards to open a 13-7 edge. But the PAT was blocked and the score remained that way heading to the final 12 minutes.
“He’s done it all for us,” Blum said of Payne. “He’s a generational player.”
An interception set JFK up deep in Danville territory, and Hadley again took advantage with a TD dash on the first play of the fourth quarter. A successful conversion made it 14-13 Eagles with 11:49 remaining.
But Payne led his squad on a 10-play drive and capped it with a 16-yard pass to Kaidan Colopy. Caleb Lucas hauled in the two-point conversion pass with 5:51 remaining to make it 21-14.
It looked like finally, that just might be enough.
But JFK would not be denied.
“(Danville) played lights out, they were great,” Hadley said.
The Eagles’ responded for the final time by driving deep into Danville territory, and faced a third-and-22. A 12-yard completion set up a 4th-and-10. That’s when Hadley drifted to pass, avoided a couple of tacklers and finally rifled a 13-yard TD pass to Aidan Rossi with 39 seconds remaining. Hadley’s two-point conversion run proved to be the game-winning points.
“Things didn’t go our way tonight but they did what I asked them to do,” Blum said. “They competed their tails off. They gave everything that they had so that’s something to be proud of.”
JFK moves on to next week’s Final Four against Newark Catholic at Orrville.
