Barberton football rallies from double-digit deficit to top Tallmadge

TALLMADGE — The Barberton football team looked disorganized and sloppy in a first quarter to forget Friday night at Bagnoli Stadium.

The final three quarters were a different story as the Magics rallied from a double-digit deficit to earn a 34-20 win over host Tallmadge in the Suburban League American Conference opener for each team.

Barberton (2-2) and Tallmadge (1-3) combined to score 54 points and accept 40 penalties in a game that lasted almost three hours.

Magics senior quarterback Dominic Wilson threw two touchdowns passes, ran for a TD and threw three interceptions.

"I have never seen a football game with that many penalties," Barberton coach Tony Gotto said after his team scored the final 27 points of the game. "We didn't have a whole lot of doubt. Dom didn't play well. I knew Dom would bounce back.

"I thought we were more physical than them. I thought we were more athletic than them. I told our players at halftime, 'We are down by seven, and we played the worst half of football that we have probably ever played since I have been here as head coach. Keep your composure.'"

Gotto's players followed his advice, but the yellow flags flew in the air and landed on the synthetic turf with regularity.

"I am proud of our guys," Gotto said. "They persevered through the penalties. We kept our composure."

Tallmadge built a 20-7 lead by the end of the first quarter with junior Ricky Maclean running for a 1-yard touchdown, junior Ryan Loveless connecting with junior Caleb Reifsnyder on a 38-yard TD pass and senior Mark Manzo returning an interception 15 yards for a TD.

Tallmadge senior Constantine Detorakis quelled Barberton's first drive with an interception to set up Maclean's TD run.

"I feel like the miscues we made were all mental errors," said Wilson, who completed 12 of 17 passes for 171 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

"We didn't really come out focused. All week in practice coach says, 'Focus, focus, focus.' We have a small group of guys on this team, so it is hard to get those great reps on the scout D or the scout O because there are not guys stepping up and actually running what the other team does correctly.

"I came out and got a little bit confused. ... The two picks at the start were rough. I literally gave up 14 points myself. If I don't give up those picks, I feel like we would have played way better."

Barberton showed some fight early when senior Noah Dehart returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown.

"There was a big difference from the first quarter to the final three quarters," Dehart said. "There was a lot of leadership that came out. Our quarterback had a bad first half, but he came in strong in the second half and showed out. Angelo played a heck of a game."

Wilson threw a 29-yard TD pass to senior Angelo Harper in the second quarter and ran for a 3-yard TD in the third quarter.

Senior Xzavier Macon contributed a 3-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to give Barberton its first lead, Wilson connected with Dehart on a 27-yard TD pass and senior Kamran Walton made his fourth extra point.

"We came back in the second half with more intensity," said Harper, who grabbed an interception in the fourth quarter. "We had mistakes all around in the first half, but in the second half we played with more intensity."

Macon only played in the second half and totaled 82 rushing yards on 19 carries.

"I wasn't supposed to play at all," said Macon, who was banged up a bit the first three weeks from injuries. "I feel like in the first half, we did not play well. As soon as it came to the second half, we knew what we needed to do. My teammates gave me the ball, and I did what I did."

When asked how he felt physically, Macon said: "I am good now."

Barberton senior Kenneth Larry, senior Robert Davis, sophomore Trent Dewitt and junior Mcyrin Miller each had a sack.

Reifnsyder recorded Tallmadge's third interception. Junior Noah Robinson had two sacks and junior Mike Sprouse added one sack.

"We have more injuries than I count right now," Tallmadge coach Mike Hay said. "I am proud of our kids' effort for coming out on fire and playing pretty well in the first quarter. We played with emotion and fire, but the toll of a lot of guys going both ways and a lot of guys hurt limited us.

"No excuses, but at some point we ran out of gas a little bit and didn't execute like we needed to."

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Dominic Wilson recovers from rough start to help Barberton win