Blue Devils gain revenge, advance to regional final

[clecinosu]

Danville 35, Shadyside 7

DOVER -- The Danville Blue Devils gained revenge for last year's 32-28 loss to Shadyside in the Division VI Region 23 championship with a commanding 35-7 victory over the Tigers in this year's Region 23 semifinals Friday at Crater Stadium in Dover.

Danville (11-1) again used a strong running game and solid defense to earn the victory and a trip to the Region 23 championship game against Newark Catholic Friday night at Yellow Jacket Stadium in Mount Vernon.

Dustin Dawson kicked off the scoring just under four minutes in with a five-yard touchdown run, giving Danville a 7-0 lead. Ryan Colopy added to the lead early in the second quarter, popping off a 41-yard touchdown run, and Ron Wallace ran for the two-point conversion to put the Devils ahead 15-0.

Colopy added another touchdown, this time from three yards out, with just over five minutes left in the half. Danville's defense bent but did not break, allowing just one Shadyside score, a 24-yard pass from Erik Cwalinski to Nick Ongley with just under three minutes remaining in the half.

The Blue Devils scored again with 5:15 left in the third period when Kyle Doup carried 23 yards for the score to give Danville a 28-7 lead. Danville controlled the time of possession by nearly a 2-to-1 margin and held the ball for most of the fourth quarter, running off clock time and scoring the final touchdown with 54 seconds left when Kasey Doup plunged over from the one.

Shadyside had great success with its passing game, led by Cwalinski's 216 yards through the air on 14-of-32 passing, but scored just the one touchdown while being intercepted twice. Nick Ongley and Josh Pyles each had three receptions for 49 yards while Tom Keane added two for 46 and Derrek Sadlowski two for 21.

But the Tiger run attack was stopped all evening. Steve Kernik managed just 45 yards on 11 carries to lead the Tigers, and Dan Dunsmoor was the only other Tiger runner with more than four yards on the ground, carrying five times for 17 yards.

Colopy, meanwhile, carried 23 times for 140 yards to lead a stalwart Danville run game. Kyle Doup had 12 carries for 80 yards, Kasey Doup 12 carries for 53, Dawson seven for 33 and Dustin Bartok five for 26. The passing game wasn't needed much, as Kasey Doup completed just 3-of-7 passes for 44 yards, two of them to Colopy for 26.

The Newark Catholic game will begin Friday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mount Vernon, the site of the Devils' only other regional championship, that a 35-0 victory over league and Knox County rival East Knox in 1999.

Shadyside.....0.....7.....0.....0..........7
Danville.........7...14.....7.....7........35

FIRST QUARTER
D - Dustin Dawson 5 run (Ron Wallace kick), 8:05.
SECOND QUARTER
D - Ryan Colopy 41 run (Ron Wallace run), 10:03.
D - Ryan Colopy 3 run (kick blocked), 5:06.
S - Nick Ongley 24 pass from Erik Cwalinski (Jesse Irwin kick), 2:46.
THIRD QUARTER
D - Kyle Doup 23 run (Ron Wallace kick), 5:15.
FOURTH QUARTER
D - Kasey Doup 1 run (Ron Wallace kick), :54.

STATISTICS............SHADY........DAN
First Downs....................16..........17
Rushes-Yards............21-70....59-332
Passing Yards...............261..........44
Comp-Att-Int..........18-39-2......3-7-1
Total Offense...............331.........376
Punts-Avg................2-18.5.....3-21.7
Fumbles-lost................0-0..........0-0
Penalties-yards...........4-21........2-15
Possession Time.......16:27.......31:33

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
RUSHING: Shadyside - Steve Kernik 11-45; Danville - Ryan Colopy 23-140.

PASSING: Shadyside - Erik Cwalinski 14-32-2-216; Danville - Kasey Doup 3-7-1-44.

RECEIVING: Shadyside - Nick Ongley 3-49, Josh Pyles 3-49; Danville - Ryan Colopy 2-26.