OLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Maria Stein Marion Local had its run of four straight state titles end last season when it couldn’t hold a 13-point halftime lead and lost 22-20 to Kirtland.
The Flyers were up by 18 in the second half Friday and had to hold on for a 21-17 victory over Cuyahoga Heights in the Division VI state football final at Ohio Stadium.
“It just feels great, especially after losing last year,” Marion Local center/defensive tackle Luke Moorman said. “It was hard losing last year. It just feels good to be back on top.”
Quarterback Duane Leugers ran for 113 yards and two scores and passed for 114 yards for the Flyers (14-1), who won their fifth title in six seasons and their ninth since 2000.
Cuyahoga Heights (14-1), playing for its first championship, took a 3-0 lead but could not stop Marion Local the first three times it had the ball to trail 21-3 at the half.
“They had the ball three times and scored three times,” Cuyahoga Heights coach Al Martin said. “But we were right there on a number of occasions. Sometimes it was their kids making better plays. Sometimes we didn’t do what we were capable of doing.”
Nate Moeller gave the Flyers a 7-3 lead with a 1-yard run at 8:59 of the first quarter and Leugers had rushing scores of 1 and 22 yards in the second. The first TD finished a 99-yard, 19-play drive.
The Flyers’ drive started ominously with false start penalty but Leugers wasn’t rattled and eventually scored on a fourth-down run.
“The first two plays didn’t go that well, and I was just kind of thinking, ‘Wow, this could get ugly real fast,’” he said. “The next thing you know, we’re going down the field and put it in the end zone. It was a big score.”
The Redskins rallied and got a 2-yard TD run by quarterback Brett Lowther at 4:38 of third and a 1-yarder by Lucas D’Orazio with 11:44 left in the game to make it 21-17 after Chad McDaniel blocked and recovered a Marion Local punt the previous play.
Cuyahoga Heights drove to the Marion Local 35-yard line in the last minute but was stopped on downs with 7 seconds left. The key play was a first-down sack of Lowther by Jack Homan that resulted in a fumble and a 12-yard loss.
