Staff photo / Neel Madhavan. Ursuline quarterback DC Ferrell (0) finds some breathing room in the first half of a Division III regional semifinal against Aurora Friday at North Canton Hoover.

CANTON — Heading into the fourth quarter Friday, the Ursulines found themselves in an unfamiliar position.

The Irish trailed Aurora by just one point through three quarters. But in the playoffs, great moments come from great opportunities, and the Ursulines rose to the occasion.

The Irish finished the game by scoring three straight unanswered touchdowns in the final quarter to hold off the Greens 29-10 and advance to the Division III regional final for the second straight season.

“We found a few training items that we thought would help us, and our kids executed them” » declared Ursuline head coach Dan Reardon. “We had some turnovers, but you have to overcome those kinds of things in the playoffs. To have some turnovers and still find a way to win when our backs are against the wall and all those things, it showed a lot of heart. So I’m proud of it.

A 50-yard touchdown pass from DC Ferrell to Devonte Taylor early in the fourth quarter helped the Irish regain the lead.

But it was a crucial 12-play, 91-yard drive that changed the game on Ursuline’s next possession that proved the Irish’s mettle for the championship. That drive was capped by a 31-yard touchdown run by Joe Balog that gave Ursuline a two-possession lead with less than six minutes remaining, effectively helping put the game out of reach.

“That motivation showed a ton of heart, a ton of courage – everything football coaches hope to see in a football team,” » Reardon said. “It was a championship caliber race. If you can put together a campaign like that, when you know the season is on the line, all those things, the seniors might turn in their gear on Monday, if we don’t get a score there. It was just huge. At the end of the day, we’re moving forward, and that’s the goal of the playoffs.

The first half between the two teams was an ugly and error-filled affair.

Ursuline blocked an Aurora punt and Ray Javey returned a Ryan Dwyer (Green quarterback) interception 80 yards. Each time the Irish found themselves in the red zone, but each time they scored zero points.

“Offensively, we’re inside the 10-yard line several times and we don’t come away with points. This is not characteristic. » Reardon said. “You have to give (Aurora) credit there.”

Those two turnovers, along with a couple of fourth-down conversions by the Aurora offense put the Ursuline defense on its heels in precarious positions. But they still found a way to keep the Greens out of the end zone in the first half. Aurora made 37 plays in the first half, compared to just 22 for the Irish.

For the game, the Ursulines may have given up 317 total yards, but the Irish defense held the Greens to 10 points and forced three turnovers.

“Other than Game 1, we played really good defense this year,” » Reardon said. “When we force someone to drive down the field, I think our kids have a lot of confidence that at some point, someone is going to make a play — we’ve done that more often than not. We always tell our kids that if they get a first down, it’s no big deal, get a three-and-out on this new set of downs. …At the end of the day, it’s complementary football. Our defense gave up 10 points and it wasn’t perfect, but we played good defense against a team that has won a lot of football games this year. We just showed some courage in the fourth quarter and sealed it and put the game away.

The Ursulines led 6-0 at halftime thanks to Ferrell’s 21-yard Javey touchdown reception and got the ball back to start the second half. The Irish again drove down the field to the red zone, but Ferrell was spotted at the goal line.

Aurora then used that momentum to go down and score on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Dwyer to Ben Lukasik.

A long kickoff return by Jy’Quise Liason helped set up Anthony Tabak’s 20-yard field goal. But Aurora came down and responded with a basket of her own to regain the lead.

That set the stage for the Ursulines to explode in the fourth quarter.

Ferrell finished 12 of 21 for 147 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. On the ground, he added 125 rushing yards on 14 carries. He closed the game with a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown in the final minutes to put the exclamation point on the Ursulines’ victory.

The Irish will now face No. 2 seed Gates Mills Gilmour Academy in the regional final next week. The Lancers beat third-seeded Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy 35-28 Friday night to advance.

“I don’t know who won the other game, but whatever it is, it’s going to be a good football team,” » Reardon said. “It will be a team that expects to win and knows how to win. And so do we, but we have to execute.