Make that 42-0 and three in a row.
It wasn’t easy, but Ithaca made it three straight state titles.
Logan Hessbrook came in and took over for injured quarterback Travis Smith, and the Yellowjackets were able to figure out a vitually unstoppable Constantine offense to post the 37-27 win over the Falcons in the Division 6 state championship game November 23.
Hessbrook, the seldom-used backup quarterback, came in during the first drive for Ithaca after Smith sustained a game-ending shoulder injury. Hessbrook, more of a running quarterback, led his team with 113 yards rushing on 23 attempts and two touchdowns. He held his own as a passer by going 7 of 13 for 104 yards.
“I might have been nervous at the beginning, but I settled down as the game went on,” Logan Hessbrook said. “My teammates kept picking me up and said ‘it’s all right; we’ve got you.’”
Hessbrook was put to the test early after Constantine opened the game with a 78-yard scoring drive, which included a fourth-down conversion in its own territory. Tommy Reed scored on a 3-yard run.
The Yellowjackets drove 75 yards on their first possession, in which Smith left the game. Hessbrook ran 48 yards for the game-tying touchdown.
The Falcons had a key fumble in the first half, but otherwise kept moving the ball with touchdown drives of 79 and 72 yards. Hessbrook passed 30 yards to Markes Gadlen and 22 yards to Jared Evers and it was tied 20-20 at the intermission.
Ithaca’s defense started making some stops in the second half.
The Yellowjackets stopped Ben Mallow on a fourth-down try at midfield, which led to a 49-yard Ithaca scoring drive and the Yellowjackets’ first lead of the game on Hessbrook’s 1-yard run.
Late in the quarter, Tyler Gibson blocked Nick West’s punt and recovered it at the Falcons’ 20. Ithaca settled for a field goal, a 33-yarder by Sage DeMull, early in the fourth quarter for a big two-possession lead.
Jared Evers’ 32-yard touchdown run gave Ithaca a 37-20 lead with 6:25 to play, and the Yellowjackets were able to overcome last-minute Falcon comeback efforts.
Evers caught two passes for 30 yards, including a touchdown, and also rushed for 77 yards.
“He’s so multi-dimensional and is such a mismatch in the passing game because he’s so big and strong,” coach Terry Hessbrook said. “Logan hit him on that one pass and he broke tackles and has great balance. He brings balance and power to the running game. It was a little burst of speed he showed there on that fourth down and one and he told me in the huddle ‘Coach, I’ll get it.’ Then he breaks off for a [32-yard touchdown run.] He’s a special football player. I’ve been saying that for a couple of years. We’re fortunate to have him at Ithaca.”
“It’s a great feeling. I knew I was going to give it everything I had,” Evers said. “Things worked out for me.”
In the first half, Constantine had 298 total yards and added 206 in the second half. But Hessbrook indicated the defense didn’t actually make any special adjustments to the Falcon’s Wing T offense, which thrives on disguising handoffs.
“To be honest with you, the changes we made had to do with making sure people were doing the right things, very similar to last year’s game,” Hessbrook said, referring to the 42-14 win over Constantine in the 2011 title bout. “I doubt if we did anything really outstanding. We ran our Falcon defense again. Coach [Brad] Showers does a fantastic job of making the adjustments. We didn’t really do anything. We talked to the defensive linemen about their assignments.
“When you play a team like that, you have to be so disciplined. Our whole scheme the whole week was to tackle everybody, because you have no idea who has the football. We practiced all week on defense without a football. We didn’t have a football when we went on defense. We were trying to prepare them for what it’s like out here. You get stuck looking for the ball. If you get one step looking for the ball, all of a sudden, that guard or tight end is on top of you and it’s tough to get off that block. They do a fantastic job. They ran for 5,600 yards coming into this game. Everyone knows they’re going to run the football.”
“It’s an offense I’m glad I don’t have to play again,” said senior Brad Martyn. “They’re great in what they do. They’re very disciplined. We have our assignments.”
In the second half, “we just wanted it more,” Martyn said. “It was our senior year. It was our state title to take.”
Constantine’s season ended at 11-3.
“When you’re playing a team with the ability of Ithaca and 41 straight wins and all the accolades they’ve had the last two years, you can’t put yourself behind the eightball with turnovers and missed plays,” said Constantine coach Shawn Griffin. “We had some penalties there early in the second half I thought hurt us. The big fourth down we went for and didn’t get…when you play a team of that quality, you have to take chances.
“But when you don’t convert against a team like that, you give them some extra possessions, you’ll be in trouble. I’m proud of my kids. We’ve gone through a little adversity ourselves. These guys played their butts off.”
He was referring to the loss of two key starters from the game for violation of the school’s athletic code.
“That’s a great football team,” Griffith said. “You don’t win 42 straight games because you’ve got one good player. You have to have a stable of them. He [Hessbrook] has them.”
Griffin noted that the blocked punt that led to the field goal was arguably the biggest backbreaker of the game against the Falcons.
The failure to convert on first down in the third quarter near midfield was also huge.
“We’ve had so few plays this season with negative yardage that fourth and one, it doesn’t seem like I’m gambling. They stepped up and put out a good blitz in the second half on the fourth down play and we didn’t convert,” Griffith said.
As for the blocked punt, “it was huge. If you watch it, we didn’t block on the edge,” Griffith added. “We haven’t punted a whole lot this year. We do it a lot in practice. That pushed them two scores ahead. Not only that, but it took the whole third quarter away from us. Now we have one quarter to try to play catch up. That was right in there with the first fumble we had…a miscomunication. You can’t make mistakes like that and beat quality football teams.”
“They were real big plays,” Martyn said of the blocked punt and field goal. “In the first half, they had the momentum. We took it away.”
But for Ithaca, 42 in a row is 42 in a row.