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Saturday, December 5, 2009
Ax symbolizes struggle for Alter
CANTON - The battle ax almost didn’t make it.
All season, the 3-foot-long, two-sided weapon mock-up had been a symbol for the Alter High School football team. As the team sat in the hotel on Friday, Dec. 4, in preparation for the Division IV state championship game in Canton, players slowly realized that someone had left the mojo-driving symbol back in Kettering.
“They left the doggone thing,” said Alter coach Ed Domsitz. “You don’t just send a coach to pick that up.”
Chris Hart, the Alter athletic director, served as transport. On Saturday, she delivered the ax to the locker room about three minutes before the title game, and the Knights proceeded to win the school’s second consecutive title with a 37-7 victory against Chagrin Falls, both defending the season-long No. 1 ranking and completing an undefeated season.
Running back Cody Taulbee explained that each Alter team chooses a symbol for its season. Last year, it was a hammer, because the goal was to “finish the job” and win the school’s first title. This season, it was the ax.
“We feel like the battle ax symbolizes us fighting every single week,” Taulbee said.
Alter finished that struggle with another championship.
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TweetAlter wins second straight D-IV football title
CANTON — The Alter High School football team won its second consecutive Division IV state football championship with a 37-7 victory against previously undefeated Chagrin Falls on Saturday, Dec. 5, at Canton’s Fawcett Stadium.
The Knights completed an undefeated regular season at 15-0 and defended the state’s top ranking they held all season. The team’s seniors also set a school record for wins by a three-year varsity class, with 41.
“With that bullseye, every team wanted us even more than other teams they played,” said senior linebacker Chris Bockrath. “I felt like there might’ve been a little more pressure, but it motivated us more to work hard, and we just worked hard all week.”
Alter also increased the program’s winning streak to 28 consecutive games. (Or, as some consider, 30 straight on the field. The Knights forfeited the first two games last season for using an ineligible player late in blowout victories.)
The defense was the leader, allowing just 144 total yards and forcing five turnovers, including three interceptions, and made three stops on fourth down, against a speedy offense. For the game, the defense changed schemes to allow for more blitzing of mobile Chagrin Falls quarterback Chris Trinetti.
“I knew once we unleashed ‘em, they would just get after it,” said Alter defensive coordinator Tom Alig.
Alter coach Ed Domsitz agreed.
“I’ve never been part of a faster defense,” Domsitz said. “It’s a couple things beyond just the quickness and the speed of the defense They’re good tacklers, they’re intense, they get to the football and the player and bring them down.”
The offense overcame five turnovers, including four fumbles, to rush for 301 yards, led by Cody Taulbee’s 126 yards and three touchdowns of 1, 22 and 31 yards.
Last season’s title was Alter’s first in school history, and the Knights have talked this season about creating their own identity separate from last year’s title squad.
Some Alter seniors said afterward that the Saturday’s title, with their class in the lead, was a little more meaningful.
“I think it does for us seniors,” said John Doncaster, a senior defensive lineman. “After last season there were a lot of doubters, but we stuck it out, worked really hard and got where we wanted to be. We won a state championship.”
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TweetSecond Half: Alter increases commanding title game lead
4th quarter, 4:31 left: Alter’s David Satterfield rushed for a 29-yard touchdown as the Knights increased their already commanding lead to 37-7 and look certain to win their second consecutive Division IV state championship.
4th quarter, 8:31 left: Cody Taulbee scored his third touchdown of the game, this one on a 31-yard run, to increase Alter’s lead to 30-7 against Chagrin Falls. Taulbee has 129 yards rushing to lead the Knights.
The Alter defense used its third fourth-down stop of the game on a sack by Thomas Armstrong to set up the three-play, 50-yard drive.
End of 3rd quarter: With 1:19 left in the quarter, Alter fumbled on a handoff exchange, its fourth lost fumble and fifth turnover of the game. Chagrin Falls took over on its own 49-yard line and will set up on a third-and-4 on the Alter 45 as the fourth quarter opens.
3rd quarter, 4:26 left: Three plays after increasing its lead, Alter got a 29-yard interception return for a touchdown by Thomas Armstrong to go up 23-7.
Chagrin Falls quarterback Chris Trinetti was hit as he threw the pass by Dylan Ames, and Armstrong ran under the ball, cradled it and ran down the right sideline for the score.
3rd quarter, 5:15 left: Following Chagrin Falls’ first score of the game, Alter drove 80 yards in 10 plays on a drive closed by a 22-yard Cody Taulbee touchdown run as the Knights increased their lead to 16-7.
On the drive, Alter converted on two key third-down plays — with 2 to do at its own 28 and with 6 to go at its own 43 — with option pitches.
3rd quarter, 9:48 left: Chagrin Falls running back Chris Gorman scored from 5 yards to close Alter’s lead in the Division IV state final to 9-7.
The score was set up by an Alter fumble at the Knights’ own 16-yard line. Chagrin’s David Powers burst through the line, made contact as quarterback Zane Pitzer was attempting to hand off to running back Nolan Wilson, and Chagrin’s Jared Peizer recovered.
Chagrin scored five plays later (in part helped by an Alter encroachment penalty that turned a third-and-8 at the 14 into third-and-3 at the 9, which was converted).
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TweetFirst Half: Alter maintains state final lead at halftime
Halftime stats: Alter gained 108 yards and held Chagrin Falls to 43 in the first half. Of those Chagrin yards, 12 came on a scramble by quarterback Chris Trinetti as the first half ended.
Cody Taulbee leads the Knights with 42 yards rushing and the lone touchdown, a 1-yard score with 11:57 left in the second quarter.
Alter has also stopped Chagrin on two fourth-down plays, and the closest Chagrin has been to the Knights’ end zone is the 23-yard line, where receiver Marc Geraci was stopped on a fourth-and-12 play, 2 yards short of the first down with 8:59 left in the first half.
Halftime: The Alter defense has held Chagrin Falls to two first downs (including one as time expired in the first half) but the Knights have turned the ball over three times as they lead the Division IV state final 9-0.
After punting with 4:28 left, the Knights got an interception by Cody Byers on a trick play pass thrown by Chagrin receiver Cameron Turner. But, Alter fumbled three plays later, and the defense again stopped Chagrin on fourth down, this time on a backfield tackle by John Doncaster on a fourth-and-1 play.
Byers, in at quarterback with time winding down, threw an interception on a long pass (Alter’s third turnover of the half) with 10 seconds left, and Chagrin quarterback Chris Trinetti scrambled for a first down as the half ended.
2nd quarter, 4:28: Alter has punted after a three-and-out, but Knights fans have a reason to be optimistic about the defense. Chagrin Falls has gained one first down, on its first drive, and has since gained a total of 7 yards on four drives. Alter continues to lead the D-IV state final 9-0.
2nd quarter, 8:59 left: After touching a punt and creating a fumble that was recovered by Chagrin Falls at the Alter 31-yard line, the Knights stopped Chagrin on a fourth-and-12 play with an open-field tackle by Nolan Plate that kept Chagrin 2 yards short of the first down. Alter has a first down at its own 23-yard line with a 9-0 lead.
2nd quarter, 11:57: Alter’s Cody Taulbee scored from 1 yard on the first play of the second quarter, but the extra point was blocked as the Knights increased their lead to 9-0 against Chagrin Falls.
End 1st quarter: The Alter defense held Chagrin Falls to a three-and-out on its second possession before driving 58 yards in 11 plays and has a third-and-goal from the 1-yard line as the first quarter ends.
The Knights began the drive on their own 41-yard line after the Chagrin punt with 5:58 left in the first quarter and drained that time with an effective wishbone offense that twice converted third down plays on option pitches to keep the drive going.
1st quarter, 8:00: After recovering an early Chagrin Falls fumble at the 14-yard line, Alter gained 1 yard in three plays and got a 30-yard field goal from Andrew DiMario to take an early 3-0 lead.
The fumble, by Chagrin’s Marc Geraci, came in the open field on a screen and was recovered by Alter’s Jack Bolek.
Pregame, 9:55 a.m.: It’s a little surreal to be inside a football stadium close to 10 in the morning and see the lights on.
It’s a cold and dreary beginning to the day that Alter will play for its second consecutive Division IV state football title. Good football weather. A few Knights are wandering the field at Canton’s Fawcett Stadium in preparation for the 11 a.m. kickoff against Chagrin Falls.
Here’s what we know. Alter (14-0) has held the top D-IV ranking in the state all season after winning last season’s title, the school’s first, and continuing in a string of lopsided wins. In the playoffs, Alter has allowed 0, 0, 7 and 6 points in four games while scoring a combined 146. It has been a so-far dominating run to the title game, and many are wondering just how Alter will respond if put into a tight situation late in the fourth quarter.
Chagrin Falls (14-0) is having the best season in school history, as the Tigers had never before advanced to the semifinal level. The Tigers average 33.8 points per game and allow only 11.2.
For Alter, Cody Taulbee (1,008), Zane Pitzer (934), Justin Winters (811) and Nolan Wilson (711) have all rushed for at least 700 yards and scored a combined 53 touchdowns.
For Chagrin Falls, RB Chris Gorman has gained 1,776 yards, and QB Chris Trintti has rushed for 644 yards and thrown for 1,642 more, with 35 combined touchdowns.
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TweetOnly Trotwood was close to Winton Woods
Last night, the Winton Woods football team won the Division II state title with a 42-12 victory against Maple Heights. It was the fourth time in the postseason that Winton Woods had scored at least 40 points.
The only time it didn’t? In the regional final against Trotwood-Madison.
Trotwood came on strong in the playoffs in advancing to the D-II, Region 8 final. Unfortunately, the Rams played a very powerful rushing team in Winton Woods and lost 28-7.
But, that’s not so bad when one considers what Winton Woods has done to its other playoff opponents. Here are the scores: 59-7 (Ross), 40-7 (Tecumseh), 28-7 (Trotwood), 69-35 (Columbus Marion-Franklin) and 42-12 (Maple Heights).
To be fair, Winton Woods clearly controlled the regional final behind quarterback Dominique Brown and running back Jeremiah Goins (who combined for 327 yards last night). But in D-II, Trotwood put up a better fight than anyone.
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