Walsh Jesuit intercepted Hoban quarterback Major Cribbs four times and got two touchdowns from Dom Courtad on Friday night, beating its archrival 20-7 in a Division II, Region 5 quarterfinal at Conway Memorial Stadium in Cuyahoga Falls — and flipping a 30-0 regular-season loss into a playoff elimination. The Akron Beacon Journal and Kee On Sports both reported the 20-7 final, corroborated by The Columbus Dispatch’s statewide scoreboard.
Six weeks ago, this matchup was a rout the other way. Hoban won the Week 6 meeting 30-0 on Sept. 25, a game in which Walsh committed six turnovers, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. On Friday the Warriors (8-2) won the turnover battle decisively — the exact formula Courtad described to the Akron Beacon Journal afterward: “Coach told us if we win the turnover battle, we win the game. We flipped the script on them. Our defense was unreal. Big props to them.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Walsh struck twice in the second. Courtad scored from 2 yards out with 10:38 left in the half, one play after freshman quarterback Kinzy Shea hit Cam Brunson for 39 yards, and Courtad added a short touchdown run with 2:09 left in the half to cap a 61-yard drive and make it 14-0, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. Drew Wollschleger’s second-quarter interception set up the second touchdown drive, and Ben Biel’s late interception set up Oliver Nonno’s 44-yard field goal as the half expired for a 17-0 lead.
Courtad finished with 99 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries. Shea was 8-of-11 passing for 111 yards, and Brunson caught five passes for 82 yards, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Nonno added a 28-yard field goal in the third quarter — after Caden Mariola stuffed Hoban’s Kahlil Diming on fourth-and-1 from the 14 — to push the lead to 20-0.
The interceptions kept coming. Nathan Allen picked off Cribbs in the third quarter, and Xavier Steele intercepted him with about three minutes left in the fourth, sealing the win after Hoban had recovered a Walsh fumble, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. Cribbs finished 10-of-26 for 130 yards with one touchdown and the four interceptions, plus 52 rushing yards.
Hoban (4-7) avoided the shutout when Cribbs hit John Johnson on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 5:55 left, cutting it to 20-7 — as reported by both the Akron Beacon Journal and Kee On Sports — but the Knights never got closer. Diming carried 12 times for 45 yards for Hoban.
For the second year in a row, and the third time in four seasons, Walsh Jesuit and Hoban split their two meetings — and for the second straight season the Warriors knocked the Knights out of the playoffs, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Safety Ben Biel told the Akron Beacon Journal, “It means everything. That’s our rival. It’s Hoban. It’s always good to beat them. This is a big momentum swing that can carry us in the playoffs.”
The rivalry’s recent history made Friday’s flip even sharper. Hoban and Walsh Jesuit have now met in the postseason four times in five years, according to Kee On Sports, and the programs entered Friday having split their season series in three of the last four years. Hoban’s September shutout win came at home; Friday’s answer came on Walsh’s field, in front of a home crowd, with the season on the line — the setting, several Warriors noted afterward, that made the revenge complete.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What we know: Walsh Jesuit (8-2) hosts No. 3 Nordonia (10-1) in the Region 5 semifinal on Friday, Nov. 13 — Nordonia advanced with a 37-21 win over Eastlake North — and the other semifinal sends Mayfield (11-0) to Highland (10-1), according to the Akron Beacon Journal. What we’re still waiting on: whether Walsh’s defense can repeat a four-interception night against a Nordonia offense averaging far more than Hoban managed Friday. The Warriors won last year’s second-round meeting with Nordonia 49-18 and are 15-1 all time in the series, the Beacon Journal noted.
Northeast Ohio’s semifinal picture is stacked — catch up on Avon’s 38-8 rout of Rhodes and Mentor’s 45-14 revenge win over Strongsville from Friday night.
What happens next is a home semifinal against Nordonia on Nov. 13, with the Region 5 final on Nov. 20 awaiting the winner. Biel’s marching orders, told to the Akron Beacon Journal, were simple: “We have to do our thing. We have to play good defense and the defense has to play solid.”
Photo: Minh Nguyen, CC BY-SA 4.0