Archbishop Hoban knocks out St. Ignatius; Hudson, East, Nordonia, STVM, Walsh Jesuit win

FOOTBALL

Archbishop Hoban 28, Cleveland St. Ignatius 7

It's not every day an NFL coach attends a high school football game to observe a star player out of enjoyment and appreciation for the sport.

But with an eye on Hoban senior Lamar Sperling, Browns running backs coach Stump Mitchell watched the Knights' statement win Friday at Dowed Field. It's not the first time Mitchell has been to Hoban, either.

And Sperling hasn't disappointed yet. The running back only strengthened his Mr. Football candidacy by rushing 29 times for 149 yards and scoring three touchdowns.

“It's kind of crazy for an NFL coach coming to watch me,” said Sperling, who verbally committed in late July to the University at Buffalo. “It's actually a blessing knowing I've got that recognition and for him to actually take time out of his day to come.”

Hoban (5-0) built a 21-0 lead with two Sperling touchdowns in the first half and junior quarterback JacQai Long's 24-yard touchdown pass to freshman receiver Payton Cook, who was wide open in the end zone when he caught the ball with 9:03 left in the third quarter.

High Schools scores and schedules:A look at Week 5 action around Greater Akron.

Picture Pages:Photo gallery from Archbishop Hoban's win over St. Ignatius

After St. Ignatius (3-1) trimmed its deficit to 21-7 with 8:35 left in the third quarter, Sperling virtually sealed the outcome early in the final quarter. On fourth-and-1, he broke loose for a 21-yard TD run with 8:10 left to play.

“He's special. He just does things that other people can't,” Hoban coach Tim Tyrrell said. “He has such unbelievable balance.”

“Lamar's just a beast,” Hoban senior nose tackle Jason Martin III said. “Any defense, he can just run through.”

Sperling scored an 83-yard, catch-and-run touchdown in the first quarter. In the second quarter, he rushed for a 10-yard touchdown.

“The hole's clogged and he bounces outside,” St. Ignatius coach Chuck Kyle said. “That's a great running back. The kids stopped that initial hole, but then he finds a seam, and look out. That happened several times tonight. You knew they were going to pound away with him, but he did a nice job finding that extra cut.”

Hudson 17, Wadsworth 7

In an early battle of Suburban League National Conference frontrunners, it was the Explorers (5-2, 2-0) coming out on top against the Grizzlies (3-2, 1-1).

The ground and pound game of Hudson took center stage as the Explorers rushed for 187 yards on 55 carries with Ian Ludewig (36 carries, 138 yards, TD) leading the way.

Jagger Pallar kept Wadsworth honest, completing 11 of 17 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown. Trey Sharp (5 catches, 63 yards, TD) was his main target and Jack Jenkins caught two passes for 51 yards.

The defense took center stage with two interceptions and held Wadsworth quarterback Will Stack to 94 yards through the air and 61 yards on the ground.

Kyle Figuray scored Wadsworth's only touchdown but was held to 82 yards on 15 carries. Defensive end Lucas Offredo finished with two sacks for Hudson.

The defense hasn’t allowed more than 13 points in any of its victories and has held opponents to seven points or fewer three times.

“It’s huge to hold an offense like that to only seven points,” Offredo said. “We knew our defense was huge and we came out and proved it more than we have in the past weeks.”

Nordonia 33, Twinsburg 3

Senior quarterback Joey Palinkas threw four touchdown passes and the host Knights (5-0, 2-0 SLNC) forced seven turnovers in a victory over the Tigers (1-4, 0-2) at Boliantz Stadium.

Palinkas completed 14 of 25 passes for 161 yards. Devin Tufts caught two touchdown passes in the third quarter.

Nordonia’s Tucker Rusk and Zach Zender had one TD reception apiece in the first half. Zender also contributed a rushing TD in the third quarter.

Nordonia’s defense forced five turnovers and its special teams accounted for the other two turnovers.

St. Vincent-St. Mary 42, Sandusky 14

D’Anthony Kelker scored on touchdowns runs of 3 and 62 yards for the Irish (3-1).

STVM's Santino Harper scored from 9 and 23 yards, Ali Haynes scored on a 5-yard blocked punt and Gabe Mansel threw a touchdown pass.

STVM put up 242 yards on the ground and 135 yards through the air on the Blue Streaks (2-3).

East 21, North Royalton 11

Tristan Thomas ran for two touchdowns and Ziaire Stevens ran for one TD to lead the visiting Dragons (2-3) to a win over the Bears (2-3).

East coach Marques Hayes said Stevens finished with 203 yards on 26 carries and Thomas contributed 125 yards on eight carries.

Derald “Debo” Mitchell paced East’s defense with 16 tackles and one interception. Antonio Bascomb totaled eight tackles (six for loss) and one sack and Davier Bishop added five tackles and one interception.

Brecksville 43, Stow 42

The Bees rallied from a 14-3 deficit to edge the Bulldogs (1-4, 0-1 in the Suburban League National Conference).

The key play turned out to be an exchange of turnovers. After Stow's Rider Spath intercepted a pass by Bees quarterback Colin Seibert, the Bees (1-4, 1-1) forced Stow quarterback Jack Smith to fumble on the next play.

Brecksville's David Zambounis picked up the ball and returned it 15 yards for touchdown with 4:01 left. The Bees' opted to go for two and took the lead when Lucas Reason scored on a reverse.

The Bulldogs led for most of the game with Jacob Harrington completing 13 of 17 passes for 195 yards and three touchdowns before getting hurt and sitting out most of the second half.

Stow senior Sal Romito score three first-half touchdowns in three different ways. He ran in 34-yard shovel pass from Harrington, burst up the middle for a 66-yard TD run and turned a screen pass into a 66-yard touchdown.

Romito had 92 yards rushing on six carries and 117 yards receiving on six catches.

Walsh Jesuit 49, Columbus St. Francis DeSales 7

Warriors quarterback Ryan Kerscher threw a touchdown pass to Justin Bremner and had rushing touchdowns of 2, 7 and 12 yards to keep Walsh (4-1) on track in preparation for its game next week against rival Archbishop Hoban.

Bremner also scored from 2 yards out against DeSales (2-3).

John Keough opened the scoring for the Warriors. with an 11-yard interception return. Topher Salek ended Walsh’s onslaught with a 2-yard run for a score.

CVCA 36, Triway 6

The Royals (4-1, 2-0 in the PAC) and earned a statement win over the host Titans (3-2, 1-1).

The Royals offense was a bit more varied this week, as it raced out to a 28-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Freshman Joey Kopec ran in touchdowns of 3 and 34 yards in the first half, and quarterback Ryan Wiehe threw two first-half touchdowns. He hit Ricky Levak with a 14-yard touchdown in the first quarter before tossing a screen pass to Kyle Snider for a 22-yard TD in the second quarter.

Snider scored the lone second-half touchdown on a 27-yard run early in the third quarter.

Tallmadge 42, Revere 8

The Blue Devils (4-1, 1-1) bounced back in a big way with Suburban League American win over the Minutemen (2-3, 1-1).

Ty Hurst completed 18 of 22 passes for 303 yards and five touchdowns. Collin Dixon had seven catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns.

Seth Yacobucci (four catches, 61 yards), Constantine Detorakis (three catches, 51 yards) and Jackson Dougherty (one catch, nine yards) also had touchdown receptions.

Revere's Rowen Klein scored on a 12-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Aurora 69, Cuyahoga Falls 0

The host Greenmen (4-1, 2-0 in American Conference) dominated every phase of the game against the Black Tigers (1-4, 0-2).

Aurora's Matt Geier tossed three touchdown passes in the first half, connecting with Jayce Unverferth on touchdown passes of 28 and 54 yards and Cade Fromwiller on a 15-yard TD.

Alex Tenorio and Ben Lukasik each scored two rushing touchdowns in the first half.

Coventry 59, Springfield 12

The visiting Comets (4-1, 1-1 in the Metro Athletic Conference) rebounded from their first loss of the season with a dominant win.

Dalton Cooksey was unstoppable in the first half, running for four touchdowns, scoring from 30, 67, 74 and 16 yards out. Chase Rankin added a 35-yard TD run for the Comets, who led 43-0 at halftime.

Coventry's Chris Wilcox returned a kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Woodridge 28, Norton 21 (OT)

Behind 21-7 midway through the third quarter, the visiting Bulldogs (3-2, 2-0 in the MAC) rallied to force overtime and win.

The Panthers took the lead with a 61-yard run from Luke Dobbins, followed by a 1-yard TD plunge from quarterback Toby Tatka. Tatka also tossed a 21-yard TD pass to Noah Willig to tie the score 7-7 at the half.

After its running game got going in the first half, Woodridge rallied thanks to two touchdown passes from Charlie Lambes. In the third quarter, Lambes hit Jack Novak with a 55-yard TD pass and Evan Duve with an 11-yard TD pass to tie the score.

Lambes completed 8 of 16 passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns through the air, but ended up winning the game with his legs in the first overtime by scrambling for a 3-yard TD run.

Canton McKinley 51, Green 19

Robby Klockner was 32-for-58 for 243 yards and three touchdowns for Green (3-2, 1-1), but McKinley (1-4, 1-1) dominated through the air as Keaton Rode completed 11 of 18 passes for 134 yards and three touchdowns and ran 17 times for 81 yards and a touchdown.

The win kept McKinley perfect in eight games against Green in the history of the series.

Dante McClellan intercepted two Klockner passes. D.J. Lewis and John Chance also had interceptions. Zach Baglia had eight catches for 92 yards and scored twice for Green.

Cynceir McNeal had four catches for 47 yards and two touchdowns for McKinley.

Highland 35, Barberton 0

Lukas Stiles rushed for 82 yards on 11 carries and scored twice for the Hornets (5-0, 2-0) in a Suburban League American Conference win over the Magics (2-3, 1-1). Andrew Lurts completed three of nine passes for 98 yards, but two of those passes went for touchdowns.

Matt Ciryak opened the scoring with a 16-yard interception return for a touchdown.

— Compiled by Don Coughlin, Nate Ulrich, Brad Bournival, Michael Beaven and Michael Leonard

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hoban tops St. Ignatius in battle of high school football powers