Dover falls at Fawcett Stadium in Regional Final
Two very opposite teams clashed in the Division III Regional final match-up between Dover and Marlington, Saturday, Nov. 20, in front of a crowd of 15,000 rabid fans at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, but in the end it was the biggest statistical difference between the two teams – five turnovers to none – that was the biggest deciding factor in the outcome, as the Dukes (13-0) beat the Tornadoes (10-3) 35-23.Playing in their third-straight Regional title game against a team that had never won a single playoff game prior to this season, 16th year head coach Dan Ifft and the Tornadoes went with the same script they had been using all season long – no-huddle offense, out of the shotgun, with an empty backfield – relying on the arm of senior quarterback Derik Swinderman (2,595 yards and 23 TDs) to pick up big chunks of yardage and put points on the board.
Fourth year head coach Ed Miley and the Dukes countered with their triple-option offense, featuring sophomore running back Dymonte Thomas, along with junior running back and DIII Offensive Player of the Year Alden Hill, who rode into the Regional final game with a school record 2,081 rushing yards and 31 touchdowns on the season, having already set Marlington's career rushing record as well, with 3,336 yards on the ground.
But Miley added a little twist to the game plan against Dover by allowing junior quarterback Jesse Carpenter to put the ball in the air, finishing 9-16 for 177 yards, and tossing two touchdown passes to junior wideout Alex Williamson.
The triple-threat offense got going immediately in the opening quarter after Dover junior punter Logan Maholm pinned the Dukes back at their own seven-yard-line, as Carpenter picked up 51 yards on third-and-seven when he was chased out of the pocket to the right, reversed field all the way back to the left, and unleashed a pass to senior receiver Dakota Hoffman standing all alone on the sideline just past midfield, leading to first-and-10 from the Dover 25.
Seven straight running plays alternating between Thomas, Hill and Carpenter setup fourth and goal from the three, where Hill punched it through up the gut to cap a 12-play, 93-yard drive and put Marlington up 7-0 with 3:49 left to play in quarter number one.
Nineteen seconds later it was all tied up as Swinderman – the state's 10th leading passer coming in – found Maholm down the right sideline and threw up a jump ball that the six-foot receiver went up and grabbed, turning and faking his way past Williamson and streaking into the end zone for a one-play, 67-yard scoring strike.
A missed 27-yard field goal attempt by Dukes freshman kicker Sean Kirk early in the second quarter left the score tied midway through the period when Dover committed its second turnover, off of a fumbled punt by senior returner Eric Aubihl, setting Marlington back up with first-and-ten at the Tornadoes 24.
An 18-yard pass from Carpenter to Williamson, a QB keeper, and a seven-yard jaunt up the middle from Thomas put Marlington back in front 14-7 with just over five minutes to play before the half.
But the top-ranked team in DIII wasn't done yet as the Dukes defense forced Dover to go three-and-out on its next possession, setting up an eight-play, 71-yard scoring drive that featured a 20-yard pass from Carpenter to Williamson, an 11-yard hookup between Carpenter and senior receiver Brandon McDonald, and a 17-yard TD pass from Carpenter to Williamson, standing all alone in the left hand corner of the end zone.
Swinderman still had 1:05 left on the clock to cut into the Dukes 21-7 lead, however, which he promptly did by hitting senior receiver Ian Murphy with a 37-yard pass down to the Marlington nine, setting up a 26-yard Zach Rafter field goal and sending the teams into the locker room with the Dukes up 21-10.
Having watched Carpenter throw for 140 yards in the opening half and seen Thomas (80 yards) and Hill (43) combine for over 120 yards on the ground, Miley said afterward it was the most balanced his offense had been since a 62-20 Week 1 win over St. Thomas Aquinas. "All along, our offense has dictated what the other team does and we're confident," said the Marlington head coach. "We know Jesse can throw the football and when we call plays the ball is really in his hand and it's his job to make the defense wrong."
Dover's defense was right on Marlington's opening possession of the second-half, forcing the Dukes to punt. But after moving the ball 18 yards to their own 26, the Tornadoes committed another turnover when Swinderman coughed up the ball while being sandwiched between two Dukes tacklers after a 15-yard QB keeper, setting up Marlington inside Dover territory at the 41.
Three runs from Hill, two from Thomas and a 29-yard bullet from Carpenter to Williamson in the middle of the end zone extended the Marlington lead to 28-10 with only 3:49 left to play in the third quarter.
"When you have some of those weapons it opens some things up," said Ifft after the game. "But they weren't very complicated routes, we just didn't cover them. I think the kids were a little too geared up on the run."
Marlington's D was obviously geared up on the pass as Swinderman's third interception put the ball back in Carpenter's hands, but the Dover defense stiffened and forced the Dukes to punt, giving Aubihl a chance to make up for his earlier miscue.
Aubihl's big return set Swinderman and company up inside the red zone when a personal foul penalty against the Marlington D was tacked on at the end and Swinderman capitalized on the field position with a 15-yard scoring pass to Maholm on second-and-11, as the Tornadoes sliced the Marlington lead to 28-17 with only 37-seconds left to go in the third.
With the Tornadoes defense unsure what to gear up on at that point, the triple-option really started to frustrate Ifft's squad.
On second-and-eight during the Dukes next possession, Hill ran a ball to the right sideline, found no openings and cut all the way back across the field for a 24-yard gain.
Two plays later Thomas took a swing pass on the right but didn't see anything he liked, so he headed all the way back left for a gain of 14.
Those two plays were backbreakers against Dover as Marlington drove 69 yards in 11 plays, capping their scoring drive with a one-yard sprint around the right corner from Hill to go up 35-17 with only 6:49 left in regulation.
Swinderman was picked off again on the Tornadoes next possession but the Dover D once again stiffened to force the Dukes to punt, setting up the final scoring drive of the game and of the season for Dover, encompassing 77-yards over eight plays and finished off by an eight-yard TD pass over the middle, tipped by Williamson right into the hands of Tornadoes leading receiver Colton Zahner at the 2:04 mark.
Talking about holding Swinderman and company to its third-lowest scoring output of the season, Miley said, "We put a little couple wrinkles in, but we've seen empty all season. We had a team set a national record throwing 87 times against us. Our defensive game plan really went through Dymonte [Thomas]."
Ifft agreed, explaining, "They covered real well obviously and did a lot of good things. We had time all night, pressure wasn't a big deal. It looked like a pretty simple scheme but when you've got number one [Thomas] out there, he takes away some of the things you want to do.
"He's [Thomas] very talented on both sides of the ball," added Ifft. "The kid never comes off the field. He's the best I've seen."
And Ifft has seen some pretty good ones on his side of the field as well, including some of his key departing seniors like Zahner, Murphy, Aubihl, Keith Johnson, Rafter, and his own son, Christian Ifft – a group that couldn't quite make it over the Regional final hump in three straight tries.
"They're a great group of kids," said the elder Ifft. "These kids carried us a long way and in the end they never gave up."
And never giving up is what eventually leads teams to pay dirt, including teams like the Dukes, who after winning their first three playoff games in school history, will return to Fawcett Stadium, Saturday, Nov. 27 to take on Akron Buchtel in one of two State semifinal games.
To view a photo gallery from the game, click on http://www.tuscbargainhunter.com/section/tbh10/