St. Mary CC best in 8-man game

LEETONIA — St. Mary Central Catholic needed something. The Panthers were on the wrong end of trading scores with Chalker, but tied the game as the fourth quarter started. Bryan Gibson has been known for his offensive heroics all season for SMCC, but he intercepted a pass to jolt the Panthers early in the quarter. That seemed to catapult SMCC the rest of the way. Cullen Dillard and Gibson each scored on a touchdown on the ground, lifting SMCC to a 34-20 win over the Wildcats in the Northern 8 Conference championship game at Leetonia High School. The game was billed as a state championship game by the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association for the eight teams that play 8-man football. "I'm so happy for our kids," SMCC coach Toby Hammond said. "They've done everything we asked them to do, especially this senior group. They set the tone in the offseason, during two-a-days and in practice. I'm just so happy for those kids." The Panthers finished the season with a record of 11-1. SMCC was runner-up to Toledo Christian last season, but have a mark of 20-3 since the beginning of 2024. "They put the ball in my hands and I'm so blessed to have an opportunity," said Dillard, who was named game MVP. "We have a great line. I'm tremendously blessed to have the opportunity. "I'm going to be sore tomorrow, but it's a rough game. You have to be the hammer and not the nail." Chalker (9-2) went 65 yards in just four plays on its first drive of the second half. After the Panthers answered, the Wildcats got a 78-yard kickoff return touchdown from Ethan Bosch to keep its lead. With the game tied at 20, the Panthers stopped Vince Delvecchio for zero yards on three carries. Chalker wildly went for it on fourth down at its own 35, but Gibson intercepted Delvecchio's pass. That gave SMCC good field position and the Panthers worked more than four minutes off the clock. They converted on fourth-and-1 with a 2-yard keeper by Dillard. A few plays later, he exploded up the middle and was off to the races for a 26-yard touchdown. Dillard then hit Gibson for the 2-point conversion for a 28-20 lead with 7:16 to play. SMCC looked like it had an opportunity to put the game away earlier when Gabe Burch poked the ball from Delvecchio's hands and Josh Will recovered the fumble. The Panthers didn't cash in as they fumbled the ball right back to Chalker. SMCC used tough defense, though, to keep the Wildcats off the scoreboard in the fourth quarter. Chalker picked up a first down, but bad snaps haunted the Wildcats. The third one on the series sailed past Delvecchio and was recovered by Jackson Grimm, the game's defensive MVP. In frustration, Delvecchio took off his helmet and slammed it to the ground, giving SMCC 15 more yards on an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. It didn't take long for the Panthers to seize the opportunity. After a short run by Will, Gibson went around the outside and scored on a 17-yard run. The two-point conversion was no good, but SMCC was in control, up 34-20 with 2:40 left. The Panthers tackled Chalker inbounds on each play of the next drive as the clock ticked away the final seconds. "Defensively, I thought we played really well," Hammond said. "You have to give a lot of credit to (assistant) coach (Toby) Notestine since the beginning of two-a-days. He's been in the hospital this week with pneumonia, so we really didn't have him this week. Coach (Robert) Burch did a tremendous job getting the kids ready." Gibson tallied eight carries for 49 yards in the second half after being limited to six yards on five rushes in the first half. "Props to them," Gibson said. "I said this game was going to be won in the trenches and they came out in the first half and punched us in the mouth. We regrouped at halftime. Coach Burch drew up a great defensive plan and we knew what we were going to do." SMCC got on the board first. Chalker turned the ball over on downs after going for it on fourth down at its own 46. Dillard was on point early on. He had runs of six and 13 yards before scoring on a 28-yard run. The score remained 6-0 until the second quarter. SMCC fumbled a handoff on the final play of the first quarter nearing the Chalker red zone and the Wildcats capitalized. Chalker guzzled almost eight minutes off the clock as Tanner Kelson orchestrated the offense until leaving the game with an injury. Delvecchio entered at quarterback, running mostly out of a shotgun formation. He scored on a three-yard rumble and added the two-point conversion for an 8-6 lead. SMCC got inside the Wildcats' 10, but a holding penalty negated a touchdown run by Gibson. An incomplete pass turned the ball over on downs and maintained Chalker's lead at halftime. The Wildcats increased the lead on their first drive of the second half. Delvecchio went for 43 yards on the first play from scrimmage and later scored on a 23-yard sprint. The conversion failed, but Chalker was up 14-6 with 9:15 remaining in the third quarter. SMCC kept pace on its next drive. Gibson finally got a big run, going 20 yards for a first down. Later facing third down, Dillard hit Gibson on a wheel route for what became a 31-yard touchdown catch. The Panthers were within 14-12, but Bosch's return extended Chalker's lead back to eight points. SMCC answered with perhaps its biggest drive of the season. Dillard had consecutive runs of 16 yards before finding Will on a pass for 21 yards on third-and-11. Facing fourth down near the goal line, SMCC drew Chalker offsides to make it fourth-and-3. Then, Dillard found big man Gabe Burch for a five-yard score. Dillard added the conversion pass to Will to tie the game at 20 with 1:23 to go in the third quarter. "We have an amazing community," Gibson said. "Everybody has been here for most of our games. You even go to away games and it's still pretty packed. I really have to give them a lot of big props." Delvecchio finished with 20 rushes for 146 yards. Kelson was a nuisance to defend while he was in the game. "They're both good," said Hammond of the Chalker duo. "(Delvecchio) is a really good defensive player. That's where he hurt us the most. He was so quick that we couldn't get to him when we ran our traps and counters." Dillard tallied 20 carries for 193 yards and also was named SMCC's offensive MVP. "We had worked all week with motioning Gibson in and out of the formation," Hammond said. "We figured they'd need someone to bump with him and that would open some lanes for Cullen. He threw the ball well, but he was pretty good tonight." The game was the final outing in the career of seven SMCC seniors: Brian Serna, Grant Swain, Eian Etchill, Ben Jones, Gibson, Burch and Crew Trumpower. Those seniors were among a small group of Panthers that went 0-9 during their freshman season in 2022. Now, they leave as champions. "It really does mean a lot," Gibson said. "I remember my freshmen year having to start both ways and it not being fair being so small. We've put so much effort in. Everyone has put blood, sweat and tears in." SMCC 6 0 14 14 — 34Chalker 0 8 12 0 — 20 SMCC — Cullen Dillard 28 run (run failed)C — Vince Delvecchio 3 run (Delvecchio run)C — Delvecchio 23 run (run failed)SMCC — Bryan Gibson 31 pass from Dillard (run failed)C — Ethan Bosch 78 kickoff return (pass failed)SMCC — Gabe Burch 5 pass from Dillard (Josh Will pass from Dillard)SMCC — Dillard 26 run (Gibson pass from Dillard)SMCC — Gibson 17 run (run failed)