Paint Valley marches ahead in football playoffs

BAINBRIDGE — The Tuscarawas Central Catholic Saints marched into Bainbridge Saturday night to kickoff the 2014 OHSAA Division VII Playoffs, and the Paint Valley Bearcats sent them marching back home with a loss.

The band was playing, and the celebration was 11 years in the making. With a defense that forced six turnovers, along with an offense that scored over 30 points to force a running clock in the fourth quarter, Paint Valley defeated the visiting Saints, 38-7 at PVHS, allowing the Bearcats to march ahead to another week of football.

PV set the tone early in their first playoff win since the 2003 season by scoring on their first offensive drive of the game in front of a jam-packed home crowd in the regional quarterfinal match.

"Our kids really rose to the occasion," PV head coach Pete Hollon said.

Their first touchdown drive took four plays and went for 75 yards, but it was the first play of the drive that set up the eventual score.

That play … a 75-yard run by junior running back Teagan McFadden, showing why he was the Scioto Valley Conference Offensive Back of the Year. The standout play was a 72-yard rush from the PV 25-yard line all the way to the TCC 7-yard line.

After McFadden out-rushed nearly every player on the field, three plays later, he was standing in the end zone, flipping the ball to the official after scoring six points on a 4-yard run with 7:00 left in the first quarter.

McFadden finished the night with 153 yards rushing with two touchdowns on 17 attempts.

The Bearcats' offense finished with 380 total yards.

The score stayed at 6-0 (PV's PAT attempt was blocked) until there was 34.7 left in the first quarter when the Saints scored on an option play as QB Hunter Striker tossed the ball to Cade Cummings, who walked into the end zone. The converted PAT by the Saints made it a 7-6 lead.

From there the only numbers that went on the scoreboard went in favor of the hat Bearcats.

"We have talked since the Piketon game (a PV 36-23 loss in Week 9) that giving up a touchdown isn't the end of the world," Hollon said. "We knew they were going to score. We told our kids it was a matter of how they were going to respond to that.

"Once we answered, I felt that deflated them (TCC) an awful lot."

After an interception by Chris Fellenstein (the first of five PV interceptions), PV chipped away at the Saints (8-3) for the next 36 yards with no gain of over eight yards on the drive.

Nine plays later, it was Anthony McFadden who reached the right corner of the end zone, diving to the pylon while surrounded by Saints for the touchdown. The two-point conversion was rushed by Caleb Johnson for a 14-7 Bearcat advantage.

On the ground, McFadden rushed for 41 yards and two touchdowns, but in the air, he was 7-of-13 for 117 yards and one TD pass.

"Teagan played a good game, but everyone doesn't see the blockers up front," Hollon said. "Mason McCloy was devastating for us up front, especially on the perimeter for us. He was huge for us."

That score remained all the way to halftime, then after the break, PV really turned up their level of play.

It took just four plays into the third quarter for PV to really show their "Small town, big dreams" slogan at their home field was more than just that … as they had one half luck, one half great awareness on their side when Tony Hatfield caught a deflected pass and went 65 yards straight to pay dirt with 10:37 left in the quarter.

"We talked since summer that Tony is a special weapon," Hollon said. "Any time and every time he touches the football, there is a chance he can do what he did.

"That play coming out of the half … that's just a heads-up play from a kid who never quit on the play. With his speed, when he gets behind coverage, nobody is going to catch him."

With the two-point conversion failing, it left PV in front, 20-7.

The ensuing drive saw the Saints work their way downfield with a mix of the run and pass, but the Bearcat defense made their presence felt yet again, with Josh Krech recovering a fumble for the home team on a second-and-12 play with 6:59 left in the third.

PV took advantage of the TCC misfortunes, because three plays later, they were celebrating in the end zone, with Hatfield making another big-time play. This time Hatfield, a junior, raced 43 yards for the touchdown with 6:24 remaining in the third.

The 26-7 advantage forced TCC to throw the ball even more than they already were, and waiting for the ball was Anthony McFadden, who is also a defensive back. McFadden intercepted the ball and took it to the TCC 36-yard line.

For the game, McFadden had four interceptions.

"We talked all week about getting pressure on their QB, and he wasn't 100-percent," Hollon said. "Once we saw that, the defense was like sharks coming to the surface.

"Hats off to the defensive staff. Coach (Brian) Cooper called a great game."

Though PV didn't score on the ensuing drive, McFadden was there again for another interception when the Saints regained possession of the football. This time, the PV junior intercepted the ball with 1:49 left in the third, and to make matters worse for the visitors, they had a personal foul called on them.

That INT by McFadden was set up the previous two plays with Mason McCloy batting down two consecutive passes by the Saints on first and second down.

This time, PV took advantage of the turnover, as it was Anthony McFadden showing his offensive skill, scoring six points on second-and-goal with 50.7 remaining in the third for a 32-7 Bearcat advantage.

It was seemed like the Bearcats were hitting the rewind button, as nearly the same sequence occurred again.

On second down from the TCC 23-yard line, Anthony McFadden intercepted the pass and returned it to the 8-yard line with 15 seconds left in the third. Then, on second-and-goal, it was Teagan McFadden rushing eight yards for the score with 11:54 remaining in the quarter for a 38-7 PV lead.

Hollon spoke about the overall tone his team played with on Saturday night.

"You never expect a running clock in a playoff game, but we talked about if we got a pass rush, we felt that would pay huge dividends for us," he said.

The Bearcats have had their eye not just set on making the playoffs, but getting to Week 12. That they've accomplished.

"We've talked about this since the time we've left Lehman Catholic last year, that we did not want to go through that again (last year PV lost in the playoff to Lehman Catholic 44-9). We wanted to get back and atone ourselves for Week 11.

"We are tickled to death to get to practice for another week. We don't care who or where we play … we just want to keep playing football right now."

Paint Valley will face Shadyside (10-0) on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at a TBA neutral location. Shadyside, a No. 1 seed, defeated No. 8 Danville (6-5) by a 27-24 score Saturday night.