Boardman High School’s Spartans closed out their 73-year reign at Boardman Stadium with a beat down 21-13 victory over an uncharacteristic 3-6 Canton McKinley Bulldogs last Friday night before a sparse crowd. It was the second straight home win for the Spartans, who moved to 2-7 on the season under second-year head coach Joe Ignazio.
      Boardman entered the game with a goal of holding the Pups 1000-yard rusher, Eric Glover-Williams, to less than 100 yards on the night and the Spartans defense exceeded that goal, limiting the McKinley team to less than 100 yards on the ground. The Bulldogs managed just 85 yards over the turf in the game, and Glover-Williams was held to just 44 yards on 13 tries.
      While the Spartans defense sparkled, including three fumble recoveries, so did their offense, piling-up 335 yards rushing, led by Mario Graziani, who peppered the Bulldogs for 192 yards and three touchdowns. Boardman’s fullback, Benji Roberts, also came up big, particularly on the Spartans final scoring thrust. He finished with 96 yards on the ground.
      McKinley drove into Boardman territory and reached the 39 yard line in the first quarter before coming to an abrupt halt when Graziani recovered a Pup fumble on a hit on Bulldogs quarterback Lee Hurst II by Alex Birchfield.
      Aided by a face mask penalty and a 25 yard Graziani run, the Spartans reached the Canton 36 yard line as time expired in the first period.
      The drive stalled and the Spartans punted on fourth and 7. Evan Croutch’s kick was downed on the 5 yard line.
      McKinley’s next possession ended three plays later when Erick Ritz came up with a fumble recovery on a hit by Alex Birchfield, and Boardman took over on the Pups 31 yard line with 9:02 left in the first half. A second down holding penalty against the Spartans pushed the ball back to the 33 yard line and Boardman faced a fourth and four at the 24 yard line. Graziani tried to run for the yardage, but was stopped by linebacker Zack Mayle and McKinley took over at the 22 yard line.
      Two plays later, Hurst II hit a wide open Bryce Short over the middle and at the 6:14 mark of the quarter, the Pups took a 7-0 lead on a PAT boot off the toe of Tyler Bliss.
      Graziani’s kickoff return gave the Spartans excellent field position at the 40 yard line and Boardman began to drive, reaching the 28 yard line in five plays. Behind a big block from Doug Kephart, Graziani ran down the right side of the field for a touchdown and the Spartans tied things up with 2:57 on the clock.
      McKinley’s next possession ended when their third fumble of the first half was gobbled-up by Alex Birchfield.
      Boardman had the first possession of the third quarter and went three and out.
      McKinley ran off a dozen plays covering 69 yards and took the lead when Hurst took a third and three run into the end zone. The PAT boot failed, but the Pups took the lead, 13-7, at the 5:26 mark of the third stanza.
      On the ensuing possession, the Spartans faced a third and 9 and went to Graziani who again went down the right side of the field, burning defensive back Tymeon Ollison for a second time, this one a 78 yard jaunt and the Spartans faced first and goal on the 8 yard line.
      Three plays later, Graziani broke the goal line from a yard out and Adam Deeley’s kick gave Boardman a 14-13 lead with 2:51 still left in the third frame.
      McKinley went three and out in the ensuing series, as Graziani sacked Hurst on second down to set up a third and 14; and on that play, a Hurst pass was no good, as the quarterback came under heavy pressure from Ritz. The Pups punted the ball away and Boardman took over on their own 20 yard line.
      Aided by a face mask penalty, Boardman moved to the 32 yard line. Roberts broke a 30 yard run to move the ball to the McKinley 38 yard line and two plays later, Roberts busted a 31 yard scamper to the Pups 7 yard line, behind big blocks from Kephart and Vince Valentini.
      Two plays later, Graziani dipped underneath would-be tacklers and his touchdown and another Deeley kick gave the Spartans a 21-13 lead with 9:18 remaining in the game.
      Hurst exited the game with an apparent hand injury as senior Chance Young led the Bulldogs the rest of the way, showing a strong passing arm.
      However, a big sack by Graziani forced McKinley into a second and 19. A Young pass completion lost two yards and a third down pass was intercepted by Matt Filipovich and Boardman got the ball back with 5:29 left in the game.
      The Spartans ran the clock down to less than two minutes, but were forced to punt and McKinley had one more chance, 54 yards from paydirt with 1:47 remaining.
      Young completed a first down pass and on the next play a completion moved the ball to the Boardman 47 yard line. Graziani and Devon Washington pressured Young on a third down pass that went incomplete and a fourth down pass sailed over the head of the receiver.
      Boardman took over with 57 seconds left in the game, and quarterback Sean Birchfled took a knee on two plays and the Spartans had a win in the final game ever at Boardman Stadium.
      The Spartans close out their season this Friday night with an away game against 4-5 Uniontown Lake Blue Streaks.