KIRTLAND — State football finals game experience littered the field Friday night at Kirtland High School.
Hillsdale has reached back-to-back Division VII state title tilts, while the Hornets have claimed two of the past three Division VI state crowns.
Kirtland needed every bit of its championship mettle to withstand five turnovers and a strong challenge from the Falcons. In the end, coach Tiger Leverde’s squad overcame a 13-point third-quarter deficit to dismiss Hillsdale 36-27 in a Division VI, Region 21 semifinal.
Kirtland broke on top 7-0 in the first quarter on Tommy Caimi’s 11-yard sweep around right end with 6:42 blinking.
The Falcons then stunned the home crowd by ripping off 20 consecutive points.
It started with quarterback Kael Lewis tossing a 65-yard screen pass that Ayden Salyer took all the way for a touchdown, but the PAT failed to leave the score at 7-6.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Hornets fumbled and Hillsdale pounced again. Lewis took full advantage, rolling in from 6 yards to forge a 13-7 first-quarter lead.
Kirtland missed field goals from 29 and 36 yards before Lewis struck again, this time on a 3-yard plunge to spot the Falcons to a 20-7 bulge with 5:03 showing in the half.
The Hornets battled back on Zander Perko’s 13-yard blast to slice the margin to 20-14 at halftime.
The Falcons expanded the gap in the third quarter to 27-14 when Lewis fired an 8-yard TD strike to junior Davis Radcliffe with 7:14 showing in the period.
That turned out to be the final touchdown pass of the senior standout’s brilliant high school career.
Again Kirtland responded, in just two plays. The second was Caimi’s 39-yard scoring dash at the 6:42 mark of the third quarter to slice the advantage to 27-21.
The Hornets took the lead for good when Caimi capped a long march with a 2-yard TD dive to push Laverde’s squad on top 28-27 with 24 seconds to play in the third period.
Caimi put the game away by busting a fourth-and-inches carry for a 63-yard touchdown romp, his fourth score of the night. Caimi’s ensuing two-point conversion run made it 36-27 with 6:48 remaining in the game.
Neither team scored again.
Lewis finished with 150 yards passing and two touchdowns, with 43 yards rushing and two more scores. Salyer had 96 yards receiving to top the Falcons.
Caimi exploded for 273 yards rushing to pace Kirtland. The hosts dominated statistically, owning the edge in first downs (20-12), rushing yardage (407-101) and total yards (407-252).
This marked the most points the Hornets have surrendered since their lone loss of the season, a 31-10 defeat at Perry on Sept. 4.
Kirtland is now 11-1, while Hillsdale finished the season 10-2.
The Hornets advance to next week’s regional championship game at a neutral site where they will challenge No. 2-seed Canfield South Range, a 56-7 winner over sixth-seeded Hanoverton United.
