Nate Schneider
Sports Scene
Ithaca football coach Terry Hessbrook became emotional in the post-game press conference following last week’s loss to Jackson Lumen Christi in the Division 6 state championship game at Ford Field..
Hessbrook watched his team try valiantly, and ultimately unsuccessfully to climb out of a 21-point fourth quarter deficit.
But not before the Yellowjackets put quite a fear in the Titans, making it a 40-34 deficit with 2:27 left. It was not until a failed onside kick and a Lumen Christi fourth down conversion that it officially tamed the most prestigious program in state history over the last eight years.
“All I can say is that when you coach a team all you can ask for is them to play as hard as they can,” Hessbrook said through tears. “My kids do that. They do that for me and for my coaching staff. I told them at halftime that Lumen Christi has seen no team like Ithaca High School because we have no quit in us.”
The Titans (12-1), who rushed for 514 yards and held the ball for 36:05 of a possible 48 minutes, got on the board first via a Nick Thomas 72-yard TD run. Ithaca responded with a Devin Barnes 47-yard TD pass in the second quarter, while a Joey Bentley 51-yard TD run with 3:40 left in the first half gave the Yellowjackets (13-1) a 13-8 advantage going into halftime.
But Lumen Christi racked up the game’s next 24 points and flipped it completely to its advantage.
Bentley hit Culp for a 19-yard score early in the fourth quarter before the Titans answered quickly via a Sebastian Toland 82-yard TD run with 6:48 left to make it 40:20. Toland rushed for 244 yards and the TD on 33 carries in the contest.
“Their offensive line was pretty big compared to us,” All-State senior linebacker Zach Hessbrook said. “We were stopping them every now and then, but we weren’t consistently stopping them.”
The Yellowjackets went to work in a rally attempt as Bentley threw TD passes to Colton Campbell and again to Culp, but ultimately the comeback fell a drive short.
For the game, Bentley threw for 240 yards and four TDs while rushing for 89 yards and another score. Culp made five catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns. Seth Davis had three receptions for 86. Barnes caught two passes for 55 yards and a score.
Ethan McCormick paced the Ithaca defense with 15 tackles and half a sack, while Nathan Bellinger had 11 stops. Zach Hessbrook made 10 tackles. Trey Chapin added nine tackles and 1.5 sacks.
Ithaca was making its seventh D6 state title appearance since 2010 and has won five of them.
Hessbrook has nothing but pride for the merits of his outgoing student-athletes, even if the ultimate goal was not realized the last two years.
“Our seniors are a special group,” Hessbrook said. “After we got beat in the regional finals last year, our kids dedicated themselves to getting back here to Ford Field. I know this isn’t the way they wanted it to end, but that’s football. We’re a 13-1 football team and a lot of teams would trade places with us. There’s no doubt about that. In the end, if the worst thing that happens to us is we lose a high school football game then we’re going to live a great life.”