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• Gallery: Wayne beats Ravenwood in Class AA quarterfinals

WAYNE -- One team ran for 400 yards. The other ran for 29.

It was not difficult to spot the key difference Saturday afternoon in Wayne's 27-0 victory over Ravenswood in the Class AA football quarterfinals. Corey Damron had 142 yards rushing to lead a balanced Pioneer ground game to the grind-it-out win, which put Wayne in the Class AA semifinals for the sixth consecutive season.

"Grind would be a good way to describe this game," Wayne coach Tom Harmon said. "The big thing we did was limit their ability to run the football and force them into throwing situations."

The Pioneer defense was outstanding, particularly in the second half. The Red Devils (9-3) were limited to just 28 yards and one first down after the break. Ravenswood finished with just 160 yards of total offense and ran just 20 plays after halftime, and quarterback Cole Starcher was just 2-12 for 13 yards in the final 24 minutes. Starcher, a 1,300-yard rusher, played despite a nagging hamstring injury suffered in the final regular season game two weeks ago.

"We were able to hurry (Starcher) up. I'm sure his hamstring had a little bit to do with that. I was pleased with our defensive effort," Harmon said.

Wayne (12-0) effectively took away the Red Devil ground game, which had only 29 yards on 20 attempts. Starting halfback Luke Corley, also a 1,000-yard rusher, had 11 carries for negative-four yards, and did not touch the ball after halftime.

"Our running game was affected tremendously by our quarterback not being able to run because of his leg problem," veteran Ravenswood coach Dick Sturm said. "I'm not making any excuses but we could not execute when we needed to."

After Chase Perry tipped a Ravenswood punt on the game's opening possession, which traveled just 16 yards, the Pioneer offense march 69 yards scoring at the 4:56 mark on Austin Mills' 17-yard sweep around left end.

Ravenswood mounted a drive midway through the second quarter, but for the second straight week, Mills made a big defensive play, intercepting Starcher at the 3-yard line. The interception came one week after Mills scored on a 97-yard return of an interception against Oak Glen.

Wayne went 95 yards in a hurry, with runs of 36 yards from Clyde Ferrell and 55 yards by Damron setting up quarterback Adam Frazier's 2-yard scoring run and a 14-0 Pioneer advantage at halftime.

Starcher threw for 110 yards before halftime and key adjustments helped Wayne lock down its opponent after the break.

"You can do your best you can do during the week in practice trying to simulate route combinations and where people are going to be," Harmon said. "Sometimes you have to get out there and see how the routes distribute so you know where you need to be defensively.

"Second half, we just had more of an idea of where we needed to be. Our coaches did a nice job mixing up pressure and coverage and keeping them off-balance."

A failed onside kick to begin the second half for Ravenswood set the tone. The Red Devils were buried in poor field position the entire half, and did not cross their own 40-yard line.

"We lost to a good Wayne football team. We just didn't play well at times and shot ourselves in the foot at others," Sturm said. "We just didn't execute when we had the opportunity."

Despite the 412 total yards, Harmon said Wayne was not as efficient as it could have been.

"We had a little bit of an off-night on offense, but if history is any indication we generally don't do that for too long," Harmon said.

The Pioneers will play host to Frankfort next weekend for a berth in the state championship game. Wayne has played the Falcons (11-1), from the Eastern Panhandle, three times in postseason play, winning 12-7 in 1993, 21-11 in 2000, and 22-6 in 2002.

"We know they play a high-quality of football up there. If they can have the record that they have, then they are a real good football team," Harmon said. "They're always well-coached and they'll come in here ready to play I'm sure. It's something where effort is going to be on both sides, it boils down to execution this time of year."

RAVENSWOOD 0 0 0 0 -- 0

WAYNE 7 7 0 13 -- 27

W -- Mills 17 run (Bryant kick)

W -- Frazier 2 run (Bryant kick)

W -- Barr 10 run (Bryant kick)

W -- Merritt 12 pass from Frazier (kick failed)

R W

First downs 8 22

Rushes-yards 20-29 65-400

Passing 13-31-1 1-7-1

Passing yards 131 12

Total offense 160 412

Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0

Penalties 8-56 8-55

Punts 5-33.6 2-30.0

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Ravenswood: Corley 11-(-4), Starcher 2-(-4), Lawrence 3-13, Small 4-24. Wayne: Damron 18-142, Ferrell 13-87, Frazier 11-35, Barr 8-48, Mills 4-36, Spurlock 5-34, Thompson 1-10, Carroll 3-6, Adkins 2-2.

PASSING -- Ravenswood: Starcher 10-27-1, 123 yards; Derito 2-4-0, 8 yards. Wayne: Frazier 1-7-1, 12 yards.

RECEIVING -- Ravenswood: Murray 4-85, Rymer 2-18, Casto 2-13, Corley 1-1, Jelich 2-12, Lawrence 1-2. Wayne: Merritt 1-12.

Chris Jackson/The Herald-Dispatch

Wayne took on Ravenswood in the Class AA quarterfinals on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009, at Pioneer Field.

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