FeedsCity champs
Wayne edges out Glenn, 8-7
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Wayne Coach Craig Hnatuk hoists the City Championship trophy with his team after beating host John Glenn, 8-7, on Friday night.It wasn’t the state tournament finale, and the winner was not crowned regional, district or even the conference champs, but Friday night’s game was the biggest of the year for Wayne Memorial and John Glenn.
The two teams struggled all season but come Game 9—City Championship time—the Zebras and the Rockets rose to the occasion.
A late fourth-quarter touchdown and a surprise two-point conversion won the rivalry crown, 8-7, for visiting Wayne. The win was the Zebras’ third straight championship victory. It’s a three-peat that will rest in the history books since it’s the first time in Wayne Memorial history the Zebras have won that many consecutive crowns.
A pile of ice collected at his feet but Wayne Coach Craig Hnatuk didn’t seem to mind after his team doused him with the traditional big-win bucket of ice water. He smiled and hugged his players.
“I knew it could be a one-point game,” said Wayne Coach Craig Hnatuk, “and we’ll take it.
“Like I’ve said: there’s nothing easy here. We’re young, but we’ll battle you. I’m so proud of them.”
It certainly wasn’t easy and battle they did.
For more than 30 minutes the Zebras trailed the Rockets, 7-0.
At the 10:08 of the second quarter Glenn’s Charles Woodford broke loose for a 12-yard scoring run. Andrew Hein nailed the extra point for the lead. Woodford also snagged the interception that led to the coveted first score.
A dominant Rocket defense kept Wayne scoreless through the first half.
Wayne put together a 13-play drive in the third quarter that ate up most of the clock and was its only possession in the frame. However, the end result was a punt.
It wasn’t until 7:03 of the fourth that the momentum changed in the game. The Zebras secured a Glenn fumble at the Rockets’ 34. Seven plays later, from the 9, tailback Alan Freeman broke to the outside and dove into the end zone. The touchdown made it 7-6 and a decision had to be made: go for one point, or two?
The Zebras only kicker had a broken foot, so the decision was easy. Freeman’s twin brother and team quarterback, D.J., kept the ball and pushed up the middle for the eventual game-winning two-point conversion.
“We practiced two pointers all week,” Hnatuk said. “Our soccer kid broke his foot in a soccer game and we don’t do it very well anyway. If we tried to kick we probably would have been 7-6 so we didn’t think we had anything to lose.
We didn’t play a very good first half and they played a damned good half,” he added. “We brought our defense in the second half. This game is about toughness and mistakes. (Glenn) made a huge mistake and we capitalized on it.”
Those mistakes are what hampered Glenn all season, leading to a 3-6 record.
“We’ve had several of those heartbreakers this year,” said Glenn Coach Todd Deluca. “That, probably in a nutshell, describes our entire season. We had tremendous leadership but, I guess, it was just my fault. I don’t want to blame anyone else but me. When it came crunch time we didn’t crunch.”
All isn’t lost. Glenn will have a strong nucleus coming back when they try to recapture the City Championship next year.
“I think the juniors learned something from our seniors as far as leadership is concerned and we have to go back to work and get better at the things that caused us this problem—not making mental mistakes, not having those penalties and not making those turnovers,” Deluca said. “Our guys will get that done, I think.”
It was more than just hardware that Wayne won.
“This means a lot,” D.J. Freeman said of the championship. “It means bragging rights and its feels good to go out with a victory.”
The victory pushed Wayne to a winning 5-4 record for the first time in four years and was the last game the seniors would play.
“This is the last time I’ll play with the seniors,” said an emotional D.J. Freeman. “I played with a lot of the seniors for four years when I made junior varsity as a freshman and they took me in like a brother so it’s sad to see them go.”
Can Wayne win four in a row? Not if Glenn has anything to do about it.
“I can guarantee that we’ll go back to work,” Deluca said, “and make sure that we will be at our best in game nine next year to prevent it from happening.”
