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TORONTO – The Toronto football team was able to exercise a demon against Strasburg.
The Red Knights have created big plays in all three phases of the game throughout the season, and the boys from the Gem City made a trio of big plays on offense resulting in three touchdowns, while forcing four turnovers and a turnover on downs on defense as third-seeded Toronto held on to defeat sixth-seeded Strasburg 20-13 in an Ohio Division VII Region 27 Quarterfinal on a chilly Friday night at Clarke Hinkle Field.
“We are happy to get the win,” Toronto (10-1) head coach Jaret Aubiel said. “We have a lot of things to clean up. The game was ugly in every sense of the word. We were able to do what we have done all year and that is when a close game. We’re happy we were able to come away with the win.”
The win was a big one for the Red Knights as Toronto lost in the regional quarterfinals in each of the last two seasons by one point. West Jefferson defeated Toronto, 21-20, in a Division VI, Region 23 game last season when the Roughriders stopped a 2-point conversion attempt by the Red Knights late in the ballgame. Two years ago, Toronto led Springfield, 28-21, late in the fourth quarter on the road, however, the Tigers scored a late touchdown and then picked up the 2-point conversion to rally for a 29-28 victory at home.
Friday night, things went Toronto’s way late in the game against Strasburg.
“We got the monkey off our back,” Aubiel said. “Now, it’s on to Week 13. You know all too well we lost by a point in the last two years in Week 12. We’re happy we ended up on the winning side tonight.”
With the win, Toronto will face No. 2 seed Danville in the regional semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday night on the road at Tough Street Stadium. Danville advanced to the semifinals by defeating No. 10 seed Lucas, 34-0, in the quarterfinals at home.
“I think Danville is one of the best teams in the state,” Aubiel said. “They are going to be a big challenge for us. We are going to go into the office tomorrow morning, and we are going to start getting prepared to play Danville.”
Toronto struck first in the first quarter when senior standout running back Drake Bouscher broke through the Strasburg defense before weaving his way past some Tiger defenders on his way to a 42-yard touchdown to put the boys in red on the scoreboard. DJ Manley came on and kicked the extra point to put Toronto out in front, 7-0, with 7:30 remaining in the first quarter.
The visitors from Tuscarawas County countered with a touchdown of their own on their next drive to level the score at 7.
Quarterback Brody Baughman hooked up with wide receiver Ryan Becker for a 23-yard completion down to the Toronto 32, and the duo hooked up again on a 22-yard pass down to the Red Knights 2. From there, Baughman hooked up with Tanner Tucker for a 1-yard score, and Braxton Goehring split the uprights on his extra point to knot the score at 7 with 4:39 left to play in the first.
The hosts were forced to punt on their next drive, and the boys in white took over at their own 28. An 18-yard reception by Becker moved the ball down to the Toronto 41. Later in the drive, Baughman ran for 21 yards on third down to move the ball to the Red Knight 17. The Tigers faced a fourth down at the 10, and Strasburg elected to go for it, however, Jackson Gibson batted down a pass resulting in a turnover on downs giving the ball back to Toronto.
On the ensuing play, Toronto quarterback Max Rebich hooked up with Kenny Jett for a 27-yard gain out to the 37. On the next play, Rebich carried out a ball fake, kept the ball and ran down the sideline for an apparent 63-yard touchdown, but it was not to be as the Red Knights were called for holding on the play taking the six points off the scoreboard. Toronto ended up punting the ball back to Strasburg.
The Orange-and-Black took over at their own 33, however, three plays resulted in the loss of 3 yards and the Tigers faced a fourth down. Strasburg got into punting formations, however, the Tigers faked the punt and attempted a pass, but it fell incomplete giving the ball to the hosts at the visitors’ 30.
The victors lost a yard on the ensuing play, however, on the next play, Bouscher once again broke through the Strasburg defense on his way to his second touchdown of the night – this one coming from 31 yards out – to regain the lead for the Red Knights. Manley came on and kicked the extra point to put the locals up 14-7 with 2:22 left to play in the second.
The game got sloppy at that point as the two teams combined to turn the ball over on three-straight possessions before Toronto ended up running out the clock to send the game to halftime.
Gibson and Colt Joynson each intercepted a pass for Toronto, while Strasburg recovered a fumble.
The Red Knights had a promising drive to start the third quarter as Toronto chewed up a bunch of clock, however, penalties doomed the drive as the home team drove down to the Strasburg 36 before having to punt the ball from their own 49.
Following the punt, Strasburg took over at their own 26, and a run by Keizer Thomas moved the ball out to near midfield, however, the Red Knights were able to knock the ball loose, and Gibson fell on the ball at midfield giving the ball back to Toronto.
A run lost Toronto a yard, however, a 15-yard pass interference penalty moved the ball down to the Strasburg 36. From there, Rebich hooked up with Johnson for a 36-yard scoring strike to extend Toronto’s advantage out to 20-7. Unfortunately, the extra point was off target, however, the Red Knights led by two scores with 3:10 remaining to be played in the third.
“We had a good gameplan going into the game,” Aubiel said. “Things were just going against us.”
Toronto’s defense forced Strasburg to punt on the ensuing drive from its own 3. The Red Knights nearly recorded a safety on the series. Baughman ended up having to leave the game due to an injury on the play.
The Red Knights took over at the Tigers’ 41 following the punt, however, they were unable to take advantage of the good field position as a fumble gave the ball back to Strasburg at its 22.
The Red Knights forced the Tigers to punt, and Toronto took over at its own 29. Disaster struck on third down as Logan Harper intercepted a pass and returned it down to the 13. The Tigers were able to cap the drive off with their second touchdown of the night as backup quarterback Lucas Neidenthal, who is a freshman, hooked up with Tucker for his second touchdown of the night to pull Strasburg to within seven points at 20-13. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the extra point was short keeping the Red Knights ahead by seven points with 7:58 left to play in the ballgame.
Jett returned the ensuing kickoff 20 yards enabling Toronto to start its next drive at the Strasburg 45. Rebich hooked up with tight end Brody Close for a 15-yard completion down to the Strasburg 20. Rebich took a shot following the pass and had to leave the game. Following a 15-yard penalty against Toronto, the Red Knights fumbled the ball and the Tigers took over at their own 36.
Goehring broke loose for a 12-yard run down to the Toronto 49, however, Matthew Radvansky intercepted a pass enabling Toronto to take over at its own 42.
“Our defense played really well,” Aubiel said. “Our defense got the job done. They have played well all season. We are movong on to next week because of them.”
Facing a fourth down at the Strasburg 40, Jett ran around the end for a 19-yard run moving the ball down to the Tigers 21. An errant snap on the next play resulted in a 12-yard loss back to the 33, however, Bouscher took the next snap and kneeled down to run out the clock ending the game.