Spartans Teed off on Warriors

JASON TIROTTA
Star Beacon

October 11, 2008 04:13 am

— CONNEAUT — On a night when the home team’s marching band’s halftime show paid tribute to Batman, it was Conneaut senior Joe Teed who donned the super hero cape against rival Edgewood on Friday night.
Teed, one of 12 Spartan seniors playing at Municipal Stadium for the final time, led the way, rushing for almost 200 yards and a pair of scores in a 20-6 Northeastern Conference victory. The victory guarantees the Spartans (3-5, 1-1) their best season since at least 2003 and keeps their chances for a .500 year alive.
“Joey has the ability to cut in or out and he made some really good cuts tonight,” Spartans coach Ken Parise said. “The whole team, our offensive line, our defensive line, everybody played really well tonight.
“When you beat your archrival and then post a winning record at home for the year, we just accomplished two goals in one night. That’s a big thing for our football program.”
Conneaut certainly played well at the offset. The Spartans scored on their opening two possessions, getting touchdown runs of nine yards from Cody Blood to cap a 12-play opening drive and a 16-yard run by Teed for a 12-0 lead after an 81-yard trek.
But their next two possessions yielded no points. Edgewood (0-8, 0-2) meanwhile, could get very little going on offense.
The Warriors managed just 20 yards rushing and 70 total in the first two quarters, allowing Conneaut to take that 12-point edge into halftime.
Teed came to the rescue of the stagnant offenses, emerging from the locker room to power the Spartans’ opening drive of the second half and put them in firm control of the contest.
“Coming out to start the second half, it was very huge because we knew coming out that if we made a few minor adjustments we could do big things,” Parise said. “That was a huge drive.”
After rushing for 92 yards in the first half, Teed carried the ball four times for 64 yards, including 28 yards on the first play of the third quarter and 21 yards for a touchdown on the seventh play of the drive. His two-point conversion run gave Conneaut a 20-0 edge.
“(That drive) was big,” Teed said. “Every game at halftime, we look at it as 0-0, and the second half is a whole new game.”
The second half was a new game for Edgewood as well. The Warriors snapped out of their funk, totaling more yards in their first drive of the third quarter than they did in the entire first half. Marc Bartone’s one-yard plunge capped off a 12-play, 80-yard drive in just over five minutes to get the Warriors on the board.
Conneaut looked to repeat their start to the game, moving to the Edgewood one on their second drive, with Teed doing most of the damage. But, the Spartans were turned away at the goal line.
The momentum look like it might be swinging in Edgewood’s favor. The backfield duo of Devon Anderson and Stefan Dobriansky was grinding out yards and the Warriors were moving the ball. But, a 9:05 drive stalled at the Conneaut 34 and left coach Joe Kearney’s squad behind by a pair of scores.
Teed finished with 198 yards on 25 carries. He credited his memorable final night at Municipal Stadium to the offensive line, which opened holes in the middle of the Edgewood defense and sealed off several big Teed runs to the outside.
“The line did a great job up front for me,” Teed said. “They open up some big holes, and you can score touchdowns just following their blocks.”
And like many popular super heroes, he had help. His classmate Blood ran 14 times for 52 yards and caught two passes for 37 out of the backfield. Sophomore quarterback Jake Simek was an efficient 4-of-7 passing for 71 yards and ran for 22 more. In all, the Spartans ran for 282 yards on the ground and had 353 total.
“We knew they had to stop our running game,” Parise said. “Our quarterback’s management of the game for a sophomore is getting better week-by-week — I think it’s the third straight week without an interception. For a sophomore, that’s tremendous.
“We wanted to throw a lot more tonight, but they were giving us certain things so didn’t have to tonight,” he said. “Our receivers are unselfish. That’s why we have a good football team. Everybody sticks together.”
Bartone completed three passes for 59 yards — all to Ricky Kaydo — and also rushed for 27 yards to lead Edgewood. Dobriansky carried 11 times for 45 yards. Edgewood totaled 189 yards in the contest.

Tirotta is a freelance writer from Ashtabula.

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