Struthers runs past Girard, 21-16
In a heavyweight battle between two Northeast Eight rivals, Anthony Carter made the winning move for Struthers.
Carter’s 22-yard touchdown run helped the Wildcats top Girard 21-16 Friday night in Struthers in the opening round of the OHSAA Division IV, Region 13 playoffs.
“They knew they had one more on their home field,” Struthers head coach Jason Bayuk said. “Our kids came out motivated, fired up.”
Ahmad Curd-Stephens opened the scoring for Girard with a five-yard run before Devin Braham answered with a three-yard score.
Girard took another lead with a 25-yard field goal by Zachary Morris before Struthers ended the half when Jason Dukes hit Robert Carcelli for a touchdown.
Then Carter took over for Struthers.
He took a handoff through the middle, saw an opening and galloped for a touchdown to give the Wildcats a 21-10 lead.
Struthers running game was effective Friday night.
Carter ran the ball for 201 yards and a touchdown, while Braham added 71 yards and a touchdown and Jason Dukes added 34 yards.
Bayuk, other Struthers players and the public address announcer, who reads the starting offensive linemen names after each score, keep pointing to the offensive line to credit for the team’s success.
“We do what we do, man,” Bayuk said. “That’s what we do our offensive line practices Monday through Thursday, just like it’s a championship game, it doesn’t matter what we get. And that’s why we’re successful on the ground, because of our offensive line.”
“They really work hard every day to get the blocks they need to get the plays they need to run and you know, just doing that alone gets us where we are today,” Carter said.
Girard continued to fight after the touchdown.
Stephen Sims scored a 1-yard touchdown run to close the gap to 21-16, but the Indians’ two-point conversion and ensuing onside kick attempt weren’t successful and Struthers was able to wind out the clock.
GIrard finished the season at 5-6.
“We played as hard as we possibly could to the very last second,” Girard head coach Pat Pearson said. “Struthers is a really good team. I’m so proud of our kids. We battled through adversity all year and tonight. We might have come up short on the scoreboard, but these kids in life ... I’m proud of them and I wouldn’t want to coach anyone else.”
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This story was originally published October 28, 2023 at 6:31 AM.