PAC Game of the Year - 2009 | CVCA (7-2, 5-1 PAC) at Manchester (8-1, 6-0 PAC) | Week 10 | October 30, 2009
This is the eleventh in an ongoing series, highlighting the PAC Game of the Year in each season, from 1999 through 2023, which will lead up to the start of the 2024 high school football season. For a look back at prior summaries, click here for
1999,
2000,
2001,
2002,
2003,
2004,
2005,
2006,
2007 and
2008.
__________________________________________
This series has chronicled the dominance of the Manchester Panthers over the first 16 years of PAC play. But after that 2004 season, the bloom was a bit off the rose in Panther-land. Sure, Manchester had a 9-1 season in 2005, but they lost the PAC championship that year in a head-to-head matchup with Tusky Valley. After that, consecutive seasons of 7-3, 5-5 and 7-3 followed. The 2007 and 2008 teams finished fifth and fourth, respectively, in conference play. So when 2009 rolled around, not a single Panther player had won a conference title. And there was no postseason experience either. The Panthers had missed the playoffs in three straight seasons.
The Panthers season began at home with a 34-21 win at home against Division 5 Smithville. But they tripped up the next week at Coshocton in a 21-13 loss. It turns out the Redskins were pretty good, as they went on to be state semifinalists in Division 4. Week 3 saw the Panthers bounce back with a big 48-7 win at home against Black River. And with the nonconference schedule out of the way, the Panthers dispatched of Triway 34-20 at home in Week 4. The Titans were coming off an 8-2 regular season and were one point away from a perfect spot after a narrow 28-27 opening night loss to West Holmes. So, with four weeks in the books, it appeared the 2009 Panthers were on to something.
The season played out and pointed toward a culmination in Week 10 at James R. France Stadium. CVCA had won a share of the PAC title in 2008 and entered the 2009 season with a 26-4 record over the prior three regular seasons. The first true dominating era of CVCA football was entering its fourth season and Alex Utley was carrying the rock for the Royals. But the season's first half didn't exactly go according to plan. Ray Carroscia's crew eked out a 19-18 road win in the opener against East Canton, but followed that up with a 34-24 loss at home to a pedestrian Norwayne team that would go on to go just 5-5 in Week 2. After an unusual 6-2 victory over a mediocre LaBrae team in Week 3, the Royals entered conference play at 2-1, but with much room for improvement. They righted the ship against Tusky Valley in Week 4 by a score of 35-14, but got stomped 27-6 by Triway in Week 5. Halfway through the season, playing for a conference championship by season's end seemed like a far-off thought. But the scheduled softened in the second half. The Royals emerged victorious in two overtimes against Tuslaw, and put together a four-game winning streak with wins against Fairless, Timken, Indian Valley.
Remember that win by the Panthers in Week 4? Turns out it was the last game Manchester would play against a team with a winning record as well, until Week 10. Triway kept winning and suddenly Week 10 arrived and if the Royals could defeat Manchester for the fourth year in a row, with Triway playing lowly Timken in Week 10, there was the potential for a three-way tie for the conference championship.
The day dawned with a crisp feel in the air. The morning temps were in the mid-40's, but the mercury kept rising. Despite a couple back-to-back days with seasonable temps in the 50's, this Friday before Halloween saw the gametime temperature rise to 70°, and it stayed there througout the contest.
CVCA was playing for their playoff lives. Coming it at #7 in Division 4 Region 13, it was a win-an-in scenario, and the Royals struck first when Nathan Rosenberger was on the receiving end of a 29-yard toss from quarterback Antonio Carroscia. But Manchester senior Craig Dougherty got the Panthers even with a two yard plunge in the second quarter, and the teams went to the half tied at 7-7.
We didn't want to share the PAC [title]," Dougherty said, "We had to win the PAC outright. If we lost, we shared it with two other teams. We didn't want that.", Dougherty told Jonas Fortune of The Akron Beacon Journal after the game.
No, the Panthers would not be sharing the title, and they used a dominating second half to resume their traditional place atop the PAC standings. Dougherty had been held to just 48 first half yards by the Royals defense. He finished the game with 212 yards and three touchdowns.
"The second half, our offensive line kind of dominated them," said Coach France.
Senior Brit Hunter put the Panthers up for the first time on a one-yard dive into the endzone in the third quarter, and then Manchester surprised CVCA on the next possession when they attempted and completed their only pass play of the second half (after being 2 for 8 for 28 yards through the air in the first 24 minutes). Senior tight end John Reinart hauled in a 33-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Steve King to put the Panthers up two scores late in the third.
The Royals wouldn't go without a fight as junior Alex Utley rumbled 59 yards to the end zone to make it 21-14 Panthers entering the fourth quarter. But that's where Dougherty put his imprint on his final regular season game on the famed field at James R. France Stadium.
Just four plays after the Utley score, on the first play of the final stanza, King handed off to Dougherty, who ran to the left boundary. Jonas Fortune tells the story of what came next.
Dougherty electrified the crowd ... First he ran to the left before cutting back across the field, pancaking a CVCA defender in the process, before shooting up the right sideline for a 65-yard touchdown run to make the score 28-14.
"That was the most tiring play I think I have ever run," Dougherty said.
The Panthers led 28-14 and the Royals would get no closer as Dougherty closed out the scoring with another 10-yard touchdown run.
After five years, the Panthers were finally back on top as champions of the PAC. It was the 18th conference title for the storied Manchester program. And Craig Dougherty added his name to the long list of players that led Manchester to the top when
he was named PAC Player of the Year after the conclusion of the season. And if you want to check him out, here's a link to
some grainy YouTube highlights of the Manchester star from 2009.
The Postscript
Manchester's PAC championship season earned them a home playoff game as the 4-seed in Division 4 Region 13, but the season ended a week after the CVCA win when the Lakeview Bulldogs out of Trumbull County upset the Panthers 24-13.
Despite the Week 10 loss, the math worked out for CVCA, who snuck into the playoffs as the 7-seed. But it was one-and-done for the Royals, who bowed out in a 42-7 loss to Girard.
Triway's 8-2 regular season earned them the 4-seed in Division 4 Region 14, but the home game didn't help, as they suffered a 28-14 loss to Ottawa-Glandorf in Week 11.
Here is the game story from the ABJ, for reference.
