BAYLOR 28, FATHER RYAN 21Star: Nick Tiano had 239 of Baylor's 318 yards of offense and three of the Red Raiders' four touchdowns.Up next: Baylor (7-4) goes to Christian Brothers. Father Ryan ends its season 5-6.
In a rematch from the regular-season finale, Baylor and Father Ryan sparred like old foes.
The back-and-forth tradeoffs ranged from subtle to blatant. But the finality of Baylor's 28-21 win in the first round of the Division II-AA football playoffs was apparent to all.
"The last game is never easy," Father Ryan coach Bruce Lussier said as his players fought back tears and emotions on the Heywood Stadium turf. "And there's only one team that gets to celebrate."
Baylor (7-4) still gets to chase its dream by dominating the first half everywhere except the scoreboard.
The Red Raiders ran twice as many offensive plays -- 36 to 18 -- and had almost 200 more yards of offense in the first two quarters. The offensive avalanche led to two short Nick Tiano scores and Adrian Harris' 43-yard touchdown run.
Still, it was a one-score lead at halftime because JoeJuan Williams recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for Father Ryan (5-6) and Jack Shoulders returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown.
"The defense played awesome. Awesome," Baylor coach Phillip Massey said after his team held the Irish to 133 yards and eight first downs on 43 plays.
"We have to tighten some things up, especially on special teams, but now we get to go to Memphis."
Baylor will play at Christian Brothers next Friday, and Tiano and the rest of the Red Raiders seniors get at least one more week of practice.
"I'm a little sore," Tiano said with a smile after running for 121 yards and three scores on 28 bone-numbing carries. "We knew this was our last game on this field and possibly our last one period, so we got together before the game and talked about playing for each other."
The Baylor defense put an exclamation on the Red Raiders' travel plans and the Irish's season.
"I'd say that was our best game (as a defense)," junior linebacker Ryan Parker said after recovering a fumble and causing another that Luke Hutchins recovered inside the Baylor 10 to stop an Irish second-half scoring drive. "When you have your back against the wall ... I think the pressure helped us."
That pressure -- and Parker, Tiano and the rest of the Red Raiders -- will be back next week.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com