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Kirksey-Ivery scores one touchdown, sets up another to lead Hoban to victory
By Jim Isabella
Special to the Beacon Journal
POSTED: 11:34 p.m. EST, Nov 06, 2009
Xavier Kirksey-Ivery rarely gets a chance to return kickoffs.
After watching what he did to Parma Padua, it is easy to see why teams rarely kick to him.
The Archbishop Hoban junior had two big kickoff returns, one for a touchdown, and the Knights defeated the Bruins 14-11 in a Division III regional quarterfinal at Dowed Field.
The victory sends the Knights (8-3) into the Division III regional semifinal against Poland Seminary, a 38-14 winner over St. Vincent-St. Mary.
The rematch of the Knights' 10-6 win a few weeks ago in a North Coast League showdown was the same kind of defensive battle with neither team able to sustain drives.
''Our special teams and our defense with one exception played extremely well,'' said Hoban coach Ralph Orsini said.
Without the kick returns, Hoban's season might have been over. The offense was anemic with 124 yards and five first downs.
Kirksey-Ivery's first kick return of 92 yards came after Padua had taken a 3-0 lead on a field by Padua's Zach Paul from 28 yards with 7:08 to play in the second quarter.
The Knights' wide receiver came up the middle, cut to his right and set sail before being brought down at the Padua 4-yard line.
The touchdown came two plays later when the Knights surprised the Bruins by coming out of the shotgun at the 5-yard line with junior quarterback Dan Hinton hitting a wide open LaTroy Lewis, who had lined up as a tight end and no one picked him up.
Zach Christensen's point after gave Hoban a 7-3 lead with 6:01 left in the fist half.
It was Kirksey-Ivery's second kickoff return to start the second half that gave the Knights some breathing room.
This time the junior grabbed the ball at the 5 and raced through a gaping hole, then used a down-field block by senior Ben Coudriet to cut back and just crossed the goal line as he was being tackled, giving Hoban a 14-3 lead.
''Coach [Paul] Yappel changed up the kick return. I just hit the hole and my teammates did the rest,'' Kirksey-Ivery said.
Padua's offense was also struggling against the Hoban defense, rushing for 78 yards on 30 carries.
The desperate Bruins finally sustained a drive after stopping Hoban when a fourth-and-1 gamble backfired and quarterback David Bott was sacked at the Hoban 38.
Going with a no-huddle offense, the Bruins marched 62 yards in nine plays, with senior quarterback James Flowers hitting Nick Kaszei with a 20-yard touchdown pass with 6:55 to go.
The two hooked up on the 2-point conversion pass to cut the deficit to 14-11.
The Knights' defense rose up and snuffed out Padua's last chance when junior Evan Luse intercepted a Flowers pass at the Hoban 24 with 1:55 to go.
Bott, who came in relief of a banged up Hinton, then had three runs of 5 yards to get a crucial first down and run out the clock.
''Dan had been in a car accident on Sunday and was struggling. We probably should have made the change earlier,'' Orsini said. ''If we want to win next week, we have to get our offense going.''
Xavier Kirksey-Ivery rarely gets a chance to return kickoffs.
After watching what he did to Parma Padua, it is easy to see why teams rarely kick to him.
The Archbishop Hoban junior had two big kickoff returns, one for a touchdown, and the Knights defeated the Bruins 14-11 in a Division III regional quarterfinal at Dowed Field.
The victory sends the Knights (8-3) into the Division III regional semifinal against Poland Seminary, a 38-14 winner over St. Vincent-St. Mary.
The rematch of the Knights' 10-6 win a few weeks ago in a North Coast League showdown was the same kind of defensive battle with neither team able to sustain drives.
''Our special teams and our defense with one exception played extremely well,'' said Hoban coach Ralph Orsini said.
Without the kick returns, Hoban's season might have been over. The offense was anemic with 124 yards and five first downs.
Kirksey-Ivery's first kick return of 92 yards came after Padua had taken a 3-0 lead on a field by Padua's Zach Paul from 28 yards with 7:08 to play in the second quarter.
The Knights' wide receiver came up the middle, cut to his right and set sail before being brought down at the Padua 4-yard line.
The touchdown came two plays later when the Knights surprised the Bruins by coming out of the shotgun at the 5-yard line with junior quarterback Dan Hinton hitting a wide open LaTroy Lewis, who had lined up as a tight end and no one picked him up.
Zach Christensen's point after gave Hoban a 7-3 lead with 6:01 left in the fist half.
It was Kirksey-Ivery's second kickoff return to start the second half that gave the Knights some breathing room.
This time the junior grabbed the ball at the 5 and raced through a gaping hole, then used a down-field block by senior Ben Coudriet to cut back and just crossed the goal line as he was being tackled, giving Hoban a 14-3 lead.
''Coach [Paul] Yappel changed up the kick return. I just hit the hole and my teammates did the rest,'' Kirksey-Ivery said.
Padua's offense was also struggling against the Hoban defense, rushing for 78 yards on 30 carries.
The desperate Bruins finally sustained a drive after stopping Hoban when a fourth-and-1 gamble backfired and quarterback David Bott was sacked at the Hoban 38.
Going with a no-huddle offense, the Bruins marched 62 yards in nine plays, with senior quarterback James Flowers hitting Nick Kaszei with a 20-yard touchdown pass with 6:55 to go.
The two hooked up on the 2-point conversion pass to cut the deficit to 14-11.
The Knights' defense rose up and snuffed out Padua's last chance when junior Evan Luse intercepted a Flowers pass at the Hoban 24 with 1:55 to go.
Bott, who came in relief of a banged up Hinton, then had three runs of 5 yards to get a crucial first down and run out the clock.
''Dan had been in a car accident on Sunday and was struggling. We probably should have made the change earlier,'' Orsini said. ''If we want to win next week, we have to get our offense going.''
Comments
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Canton, OH
Posted 07:44 AM, 11/07/2009
SWEET. . .The gold shoes are sweet. . .
