Highland, Hoban, Hudson, Nordonia improve to 4-0; East, Green, Norton, STVM, WJ earn wins
FOOTBALL
Highland 27, Tallmadge 7
The Hornets (4-0, 1-0) graduated 10 from last season’s Division II regional semifinal team, but they are making it well known that the Suburban League American Conference may just go through Granger Township this season.
Lukas Stiles rushed for 157 yards on 23 carries and scored three touchdowns against the Blue Devils (3-1, 0-1), Noah Robinson carried the ball 12 times for 101 yards and Highland broke open a halftime tie.
What may be even more impressive than the offensive prowess was the ball-hawking Highland did on Tallmadge quarterback Ty Hurst.
Hurst, who came in averaging 304.7 yards through the air, completed 19 of 32 passes for 154 yards with three interceptions. Wisconsin commit Collin Dixon made five catches for 40 yards but was held out of the end zone.
Highland safety Creed Hill had an interception and fumble recovery. Matt Ciryak had an interception and 63-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Archbishop Hoban 49, Cincinnati Withrow 13
Senior Lamar Sperling ran for four touchdowns and 179 yards on 14 carries to lead the visiting Knights (4-0) to a win over the Tigers (1-3).
Hoban junior quarterback JacQai Long completed 11 of 13 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. Junior Caleb Jones caught Long’s TD pass, Xavier Williams ran for a touchdown and junior Jordan Pritchard-Sewell recovered a fumble and ran for a touchdown.
Hoban ran for 232 yards on 34 carries and Withrow ran for 13 yards on 12 carries.
Norton 35, Streetsboro 25
Luke Dobbins had second-half touchdown runs of 68 and 71 yards to lift the Panthers (3-1, 1-0) in a Metro Athletic Conference game. Cooper Nipuelio closed out the scoring in the win over the Rockets (2-2, 0-1) with a 57-yard run for a touchdown.
Aurora 63, Copley 28
Matt Geier rushed for 188 yards and four touchdowns and threw for another 79 yards and a score in a Suburban League American Conference win for the Greenmen (3-1, 1-0). Alex Tenorio rushed for 188 yards and two touchdowns for Aurora.
Copley (1-3, 0-1) was led by DaOne Owens, who ran for three touchdowns and completed 25 of 37 passes for 244 yards and a touchdown to Ricardo Childs.
St. Vincent-St. Mary 34, Buchtel 13
D’Anthony Kelker and Santino Harper each scored two touchdowns to lead the host Irish (2-1) past the Griffins (0-4).
Kelker ran for 110 yards on eight carries, scored a 66-yard rushing touchdown and returned an interception 9 yards for a touchdown. Harper ran for two touchdowns and 69 yards on 16 carries.
“The guys played hard,” STVM coach Terry Cistone said. “They battled and I am proud of them. We were physical like we were last week [in a 35-0 win over Barberton].”
STVM senior Nick Bertolini kicked four extra points and two field goals (34 yards and 30 yards).
The Irish defense forced five turnovers with Kelker and senior Connor Jones both grabbing an interception, senior Ali Haynes recovering two fumbles, senior Nathan Lenz recovering a fumble and junior Kai White and senior Nick Gage each forcing a fumble.
“We are pretty good defensively,” Cistone said. “We are pretty good up front. We have got a lot of seniors on defense and they get after it. We are still working out some kinks offensively and we are trying to get better every week.”
Buchtel sophomore quarterback Stevie Diamond threw two touchdown passes, a 43-yard strike to senior Marcel Boyce Jr. and a 17-yard connection to sophomore Zyaire Lewis. Griffins sophomore Arman Gable grabbed an interception.
Green 29, Jackson 28
After losing by a point last week, the Bulldogs (3-1, 1-0) opened Federal league play with a one-point thriller in a come-from behind win.
Green rallied from two touchdowns behind and scored with 44 seconds on a 3-yard run by Robby Klockner to pull within one. Klockner found Zach Baglia (17 catches, 173 yards, two TDs) on the 2-point conversion and the Bulldogs hung onto win.
It thwarted a great night by Jackson's Jason Davide, who finished with 226 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Klockner completed 43 of 66 passes for 358 yards and three touchdowns.
East 40, Brush 13
The Dragons (1-3) broke out in a big way in a win over the Arcs (1-3).
Justin Cox threw for 219 yards and three touchdowns and Ronin Kelly had four receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown.
It was the Ziaire Stevens show most of all. He rushed for 322 yards and scored two touchdowns in East's first victory.
Wadsworth 56, Brecksville 0
The Kyle Figuray show took center stage once again for the Grizzlies (3-1, 1-0) in SL National Conference action. The junior ran 11 times for 76 yards and scored two touchdowns as Wadsworth got ready for a huge showdown at home next week against Hudson.
Backup quarterback Will Stack appeared in his second straight game and went 8-for-12 for 182 yards with two touchdowns.
He also ran 11 times for 68 yards and scored once.
Davis Nye made two catches for 83 yards and scored a touchdown.
Woodridge 28, Coventry 14
Two fourth-and-one situations went the Bulldogs way Friday at Coventry Memorial Stadium. That proved to be the difference in the game.
Woodridge (2-2) found its running game and shut down Coventry's. The Bulldogs scored a touchdown in each quarter to pull out the win and hand the Comets their first loss.
The first key play was a fourth-and-goal at the 1 for the Comets. Coventry elected to go for it, but quarterback Brayden Clark was stood up and stopped short on a quarterback sneak.
The Bulldogs took the momentum from the stand and turned it into a 99-yard drive, which ended with quarterback Charlie Lambes hitting Jack Novak for an 8-yard touchdown pass.
Coventry opened the second half with a touchdown drive. On fourth-and-goal from the 7, Clark found running back Jeremy O'Brien in the end zone to tie the score at 14-14.
Woodridge answered with a drive of its own, capped by a 5-yard touchdown run from Taysear Williams-Clay. Williams-Clay had a big night, running nine times for 81 yards and three touchdowns.
However, the Bulldogs' workhorse was senior Robert Dixie, who ran 23 times for 188 yards. He also was keyed the other fourth-and-one play for the Bulldogs.
Woodridge had fourth-and-one at the Coventry 8 and went for it. Dixie ran it up the middle and the measurement gave the Bulldogs the first down by about an inch.
Three plays later, Williams-Clay run in a 4-yard sweep for a touchdown to ice it for the Bulldogs.
Revere 21, Cuyahoga Falls 7
The visiting Minutemen (2-2, 1-0) had a fight on their hands Friday in the Suburban League American Conference opener, but pulled out the win late at Clifford Stadium.
Revere's running tandem of Rowan Klein and Zach Olechnowicz combined for 198 yards rushing on 37 carries. Klein scored two touchdowns, including a 19-yard TD with 1:46 left to clinch the win.
Cuyahoga Falls (1-3, 0-1) received an 8-yard touchdown run from Valentino Cargill to cut the lead to 14-7 with 6:47 left in the fourth quarter.
Orrville 41, Manchester 8
Asiah Smith scored twice for the Red Riders (2-2, 1-0) and Greg Smiley threw and ran for a touchdown against the Panthers (0-4, 0-1), who avoided being shutout thanks to a 62-yard run by Caleb Youngman. Orrville amassed 438 yards on offense.
Nordonia 37, North Royalton 14
The Knights (4-0, 1-0) won their Suburban League National Conference opener in a familiar way. Nordonia's air attack and defense swamped the Bears (2-2, 0-1).
After falling behind 14-9 midway through the second quarter, the Knights finished the game by scoring 28 unanswered points.
Knights quarterback Joey Palinkas continues his hot start to the season. He completed 21 of 27 passes for 358 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also ran in a 4-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Zach Zender continues to be the Knights' workhorse. He rushed for 56 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
The Knights also got a boost from their special teams when Israel Petite returned a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Hudson 31, Twinsburg 13
The Explorers (4-0) opened their Suburban League National Conference schedule by jumping on the Tigers (1-3) early.
Hudson led 24-0 after one quarter in large part due to its special teams.
Explorer kicker DJ Ashe opened the scoring with a 32-yard field goal. Later in the first, Hudson's special teams blocked a field-goal attempt by the Tigers and Gio DePompei returned the block for a touchdown.
Hudson's Jagger Pallay had another solid game as a duel-threat quarterback. He completed 8 of 10 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown. He rushed seven times for 30 yards and a touchdown.
Ian Ludewig led Hudson's ground attack with 17 carries for 98 yards and a touchdown.
Twinsburg avoided the shutout thanks to two fourth-quarter touchdowns from Steve Cammack. He ran for 70-yard touchdown early in the fourth and then caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from CJ Lyden with 14 seconds left.
Walsh Jesuit 70, Toledo Rogers 12
The two-hour trip to Toledo may have been the toughest thing Walsh Jesuit (3-1) had to endure, because once the Warriors arrived, they took a 56-0 halftime lead, despite playing many of their reserves early.
Justin Bremner scored touchdown runs of 34 and 49 yards in the first quarter, and backup quarterback Ruel Tomlinson threw a touchdown pass to Gavin Mayes and scored on a 57-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Walsh's defense had two safeties in the win.
Medina 55, Stow 21
Junior Dan Stoddard threw five touchdown passes and ran for another to lead the host Bees (3-1) to a win over the Bulldogs (1-3).
Medina junior Austin Knowles and senior Brennen Schramm both caught two of Stoddard’s touchdown passes, and Carlos Corchado caught the other TD pass.
Stow freshman Jacob Harrington threw two touchdown passes, one apiece to Brayden Gabele and Tyler Harrington.
BOYS GOLF
Manchester 170, Orrville 184
The Panthers moved to 13-0 at Spring Hills as Evan Hausch and Drew Mothersbaugh each shot a 6-over par 41.
Barberton 166, Norton 187
Marco Silva shot a 1-under par 34 to lead the Magics (6-1) to a win at Spring Hills.
— Compiled by Jimmy Miller, Don Coughlin, Brad Bournival, Michael Beaven, Michael Leonard and Nate Ulrich
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Highland tops Tallmadge, Hoban rolls in Akron-area high school football
