You are welcome gentlemen, and I use that term very loosely when applied to you Scipio!
I have been working on something but I do want to say one thing about the 1988 Mooney-Fitch game before moving on to 1989.
I probably should just let it go but I want to address "the story I heard" comment. I mean no disrespect here but obviously that means that the individual that posted it did not actually see the game, they were only told about it. I am willing to bet they were never told the following about the game.
Here is the problem with
"the story I heard." That story
NEVER includes the fact that the same thing happened to Mooney on the last play of the 1st half. Mooney led 14-7 and they were attempting a FG on 2nd down with about 10 seconds left. Fitch blocked the attempt which Mooney recovered and actually advanced a few yards with 3 seconds left on the clock. Mooney also should have been given another play but time was allowed to expire instead of granting the TO. If Fitch was cheated on that last play of the game Mooney was also cheated on the last play of the 1st half. Coach Bucci talked about it in the post game interview.
The story also never includes the fact that Fitch ran 7 plays in Mooney's red zone in the waning minutes of the game and didn't score. Mooney stopped them on downs on the 12-yard line with about 1:00 left and then fumbled it back to Fitch two plays later on the 10 yard line. There were 44 seconds on the clock. Mooney sacked Mr. Fletcher on first down at about the 16-yard line. He then completed a pass to the 4-yard line on second down setting up the last play.
IMO the story should also include that the last play Fitch ran was at least questionable given the situation. There were 5 seconds left when Fitch snapped the ball. That pass HAS to go into the end zone, again IMO. Instead it was thrown to a receiver out of the backfield at the 2 yard line.
I completely agree that Fitch should have had one more play, no question in my mind about that. I looked at the clock after I saw the Fitch receiver trap the ball and there were 2 seconds left. When the time ran off I wondered if the officials had called it a completed pass because the closest official to the play was blocked by the receiver going to the ground to try to catch the ball. I never saw a signal as I immediately looked at the clock. I thought they would put time back on the clock but they didn't. They messed up on both of those plays IMO. Who knows what would have happened had both teams been given one more play like they should have been. There are a myriad of possibilities.
Anyway, moving on to 1989 the Falcons won the outright SVC title with a 3-0 league mark. Unfortunately for the Falcons, just like in 1988, a loss to WWR kept them out of the playoffs. IIRC WWR's Hank Powell rushed for about 250 yards in that game. WWR finished undefeated at 8-0, they missed two games due to a teacher's strike. They qualified for the playoffs and drew defending D1 champions Cleveland St. Ignatius in round one. The Wildcats were on a 25-game winning streak coming into the game. I attended that game at Baldwin-Wallace and the Raiders played the champs tough, they physically pounded Ignatius QB Joe Pickens, before losing 16-7. Of course Ignatius went on to repeat as D1 champions. That was the last game WWR ever played as the school closed the following spring.
While I was watching Fitch kick Mooney's backside, 23-0 in 1989, I missed seeing Ursuline RB Kevin Ellerbe's SVC record 379-yard rushing performance against Boardman that same night. He also rushed for 5 TDs. I did see films of the performance which broke Ted Bell's SVC record 360 yards vs. Fitch in 1973.
For the first time in school history Mooney finished last in the SVC with an 0-3 record but qualified for the D3 playoffs with a 5-4 record thanks to wins over Stow, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary and Canton McKinley. Ursuline also qualified in D3 with a 9-1 record, the loss to Fitch, 13-10. However, Campbell Memorial knocked off both of them in rounds one & two respectively and advanced all the way to the D3 title game where they lost to Ironton. Warren JFK & McDonald also made the finals in D4 & D5 but unfortunately like the Red Devils both lost in the title game. Berlin Center Western Reserve qualified for the playoffs for the 1st time and defeated Mingo Junction in round one before losing to McDonald, a team they had defeated in the regular season, in the regional final.
| 1989 FITCH | | |
| | | |
CHANEY W 44-13 | | | |
MENTOR W 22-13 | | | |
EAST W 40-0 | | | |
CLEVELAND GLENVILLE W 46-12 | | | |
Massillon L 13-24 | | | |
SOUTH W 44-6 | | | |
URSULINE W 13-10 | | | |
MOONEY W 23-0 | | | |
WARREN WESTERN RESERVE L 14-19 | | | |
BOARDMAN W 30-0 | | | |
| | | |
8-2 | | 3-0 SVC | |
College players I know of:
The SVC only published a first team in 1989 in the Vindicator. I did see a few picks for 2nd team including Fitch's Chuck Wesson and Boardman's Jamie Frommelt in other places but the rest of the 2nd team was not published in the Vindy, at least I never saw it if it was. Mr. Frommelt was named to the D1 1st team All-State team as an OL but only the 2nd team All-SVC. Mooney's Sean Flynn was named D3 2nd team All-State at OE.
Offense:
End - Deollo Anderson - Ursuline - Jr. (Parade All-American the next season) - Michigan
OL - Matt DeVicchio - Ursuline (D3 2nd team All-State) - YSU
OL - Sam Mosca - Ursuline - YSU
QB - Lance Ferkula - Ursuline (led the SVC in Passing Efficiency) - Ga. Tech
RB - Jason Sutton - Boardman - Army
RB - Kevin Ellerbe - Ursuline (led the SVC in rushing, All-Purpose running, scoring and punt return avg. D3 1st team All-State) - (Miami (O))
PK - Jeff Wilkins - Fitch - YSU (Member of two YSU National Championship teams, his clutch FG to beat Villanova in round one of the 1991 playoffs keyed the Guins to that first Championship) - 14-year NFL career with the Eagles, 49ers and Rams. Won a Super Bowl with the Rams in 1999 and led the NFL in scoring in 2003.
Defense:
DL - Bill Aaron - Mooney (led the SVC in QB sacks, D3 2nd team All-State) - YSU
LB - Jeff Powers - Fitch (D1 1st team All-State) - YSU
LB - Blair Detelich - Ursuline - Kansas St. & YSU
DB - Ramon Amil - Mooney - YSU