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Late touchdown puts Tigers in state final
(by Steve Novak - December 02, 2009)
Late touchdown puts Tigers in state final
By STEVE NOVAK
For most Chagrin Falls football players, it will be their first trip to Canton's Fawcett Stadium this weekend.
Players who have been there before know that you only have to go once to come home with a state championship. That's the Tigers' game plan when they go up against Kettering Alter on Saturday.
For the first time in Chagrin Falls football history, the team will be playing for a state title. The Tigers made it to the state finals with a 20-14 defeat of Ottawa Glandorf in the Division IV state semifinal last Saturday night at Freemont Ross.
The Ottawa game was the 14th win in a row for Coach Mark Iammarino's 2009 team. It has been a season marked by a constant determination and belief by the players that there would be a week 15 on their schedule.
That determination was evident last Saturday in the attitude of quarterback Chris Trinetti as he led the fourth-quarter scoring drive with the Tigers and Ottawa tied at 14 points apiece.
"We knew we'd been in this situation before. We just had to settle down and do what we do best," Trinetti said. "Basically, we didn't want to go home with just 13 wins."
For Trinetti and the other 21 seniors, the number 15 was something they've focused on all season. He said that, during summer practice, the team chose to run up Grove Hill in Chagrin Falls 15 times, with one lap for each game they would play this season.
This Saturday, the Tigers will face a Kettering Archbishop Alter team which matches the Chagrin Falls' record of 14-0. During Alter's four playoff games this season, the team allowed an average of less than four points per game. Alter held two of its opponents scoreless in playoff games.
During the regular season, Alter had two other shutouts and held three other opponents to just one touchdown each.
Kettering Alter's winning streak extends beyond this season's 14 games. Last season, Alter won the Division IV state championship with a 21-6 victory over Steubenville. The Knights finished the 2008 season with a 13-2 record.
"They played out of a triple-I formation, sort of a wishbone," Iammarino said of Alter. "They are traveling on a big winning streak's momentum. They've definitely been playing very, very well. We're going to have to be at our best."
In the Ottawa game last week, Chagrin took the first lead of the contest when Chris Gorman scored on a 25-yard run in the first quarter. Ottawa drove into the Tigers' red zone in the second quarter and scored on a three-yard run. The teams left the field at halftime with a 7-7 tie.
Each team added one more touchdown in the third period. Ottawa scored on another running play, and Chagrin's came on a 31-yard pass from Trinetti to Pat Nadeau.
With less than five minutes left to play in the fourth period, Chagrin had driven inside the Ottawa red zone. Then, with the ball on the one-yard line, Trinetti said, he called a "belly" play, where halfback Bobby Winkelman takes a handoff behind center and follows the blocking hole the interior linemen have created.
With 3:52 showing on the clock, Winkelman crossed the end line to give his team the 20-14 lead. Ottawa engineered its own final drive that progressed into Chagrin Falls territory. But the Knights failed to convert on a fourth-down play, giving the ball back to the Tigers with less than one minute to go.
Chagrin Falls receiver Marc Geraci said the players ran toward each other and hugged as soon as the scoreboard clock ticked to the decisive 0:00 mark. He said he even noticed a change in "Coach I" when the game was over. "I ran out onto the field and hugged the first kid I could find. We were going crazy, we were so excited," he said. "I don't think I ever saw Coach I that happy."
Iammarino, a 27-year veteran of coaching, conceded that the moments after the game could have been among his most pleasing.
"You know what it was, though? It was looking up and seeing a good portion of Chagrin Falls there" in the stands, he said. "I'm just proud of the kids and that they could meet the challenge. They were able to find enough resolve to meet a new challenge each week. They've got one challenge more this week."
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