Cuyahoga Heights’ option offense to challenge Irish

Redskins’ quarterback Zach D’Orazio is the triggerman. He’s got a full ride to Akron waiting for the 2010 season.

By JOHN BASSETTI

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — The only other time Ursuline and Cuyahoga Heights met in football wasn’t that long ago — like 2008.

Last Nov. 1, the top-seeded Irish defeated the No. 8 Redskins, 27-7, in a first-round playoff game at Stambaugh Stadium.

The Irish went on to finish 15-0 and win the Division V state title.

Now it’s No. 1-seeded Cuyahoga Heights that’s unbeaten (12-0), while No. 3 Ursuline is 8-3 as the teams prepare for Friday’s Div. V Region 17 championship game.

To advance, Ursuline eliminated Crestview, 48-14, while the Redskins ousted Gates Mills Hawken, 35-20, last Friday.

Cuyahoga Heights has been in the playoffs 12 of the last 13 years, not appearing in 2007, when the Redskins finished tied with Kirtland as the 8th seed after 10 games. However, Cuyahoga Heights succumbed to a second-level tiebreaker.

The Redskins are 12-11 overall in the playoffs, reaching the state Div. VI semifinals in 1998, a year after coach Al Martin arrived.

Cuyahoga Heights’ first postseason appearance was 1994.

The Redskins made the regional finals three straight years: 2000, 2001, 2002.

Martin said Cuyahoga Heights’ top-three-grades’ enrollment of 125 boys is the lowest of any Div. V team.

“It’s one boy above the cutoff [for Div. VI],” said Martin, a native of Chicago, who graduated from Notre Dame in 1988.

However, Martin worked in the world of finance and banking for five years, then moved to Ohio where he received his teaching certification and got into teaching.

Cuyahoga Heights graduated seven or eight players from the 2008 team, but younger players on that squad have since acquired a decent amount of experience.

The Redskins run a spread option offense, like Air Force, Navy or Georgia Tech.

“For anyone who saw us last year, we’re basically the same in terms of formation and things like that,” Martin said. “We run the triple-option and have a quarterback [Zach D’Orazio] who can run and throw.”

D’Orazio has a full ride to Akron.

“That’s the first Division I scholarship we’ve had in probably 30 years,” Martin said.

D’Orazio has gained 1,195 yards on 107 attempts on the ground and has completed 56 of 89 passes for 1,049 yards. D’Orazio has 13 touchdowns through the air and he has thrown four interceptions.

Fullback Alec Torgerson is the top rusher with 922 yards on 146 carries. Nick Simon has 29 catches for 540 yards, and Zach Noernberg has 12 for 314 yards.

Approximately seven players go both ways full-time, while some linemen see double duty via rotation.

Defensively, D’Orazio plays strong safety and is the team’s tackling leader with 25 solos and second-best 40 assists. Torgerson has a second-best 21 solo tackles. Troy Janashek has 18 solos and a team-high 47 assists.

“We’re a little small but we run around pretty good and we’re pretty aggressive,” Martin said.

The coach said the Redskins are considered undersized against Ursuline.

“They have a 300-pound noseguard who can move,” Martin said of Tony Brown. “Anytime you’ve got guys in the 220s, at our level, those are big kids. Compared to our guys they’ll be big.”

Martin said that Jamel Turner, Dale Peterman and Dominique Cole were “very special athletes” during last season’s matchup.

Minus those players, a similarly athletic and fast version still exists.

“The guys who replaced those guys [Turner, Peterman, Cole] are faster than anybody we’ve got on our team, besides our quarterback.”

Ball control in Cuyahoga Heights’ favor would be a main factor toward success on Friday.

“We certainly can’t turn it over,” Martin said. “We turned it over a lot of times last year, when we were tied, 7-7, at the half. Then we gave up a punt return for a touchdown and then it was 14-7 after three quarters.”

The challenge still remains, Martin said.

“If we don’t move the ball and get some first downs, eventually their speed and athleticism and the size is going to wear you down. We need to be able to move the ball, so our defense doesn’t have to be on the field all night,” he said.

D’Orazio is also the punter.

“Although his average [48.6 yards] doesn’t indicate it because we’ve had some short kicks in skill-position situations, he can boom it,” said Martin, who also declared that his kicker may have to aim away from Ursuline’s returners.

D’Orazio is also 36 of 38 on PATs and 2-4 on field goals.

Ursuline’s Dan Reardon said the Redskins are similar to 2008 in both scheme and personnel.

“A lot of the same faces are back,” Ursuline’s coach said. “Last year, after playing all 15 games, we had a postseason staff meeting and the one consensus on our coaching staff was how hard their kids played. That’s a tribute to them. They play the game how it’s supposed to be played.”

Reardon said the Irish haven’t seen many teams with the spread option.

“They do a real good job of running that option-based attack. The quarterback does a real good job with ball fakes. They force you to play very, very fundamental defense and they limit what you can do as far as blitzing because you want to make sure you cover all the different phases of the option.”

Last year, D’Orazio had the longest play from scrimmage against Ursuline — a 62-yard TD run on the game’s opening drive.

“We had a fast defense last year, so he definitely has our kids’ attention,” said Reardon. “He wouldn’t be a scholarship player to Akron if he wasn’t good.”

bassetti@vindy.com

XVindicator sports reporter Joe Scalzo contributed to this story.