Hudson football routs Brecksville to remain undefeated
Don't look ahead.
That was the message Hudson coach Jeff Gough had for his team last week. Gough didn't want anyone looking ahead to its week seven showdown with Nordonia even after his squad blasted Brecksville–Broadview Heights 45-0 Sept. 23 at Bees Stadium.
“We tell our kids; every week in the Suburban League is the most important game,” Gough said. “Every week you got to bring everything you have; that’s what we are trying to preach to our kids. It doesn’t matter who we're playing. Nordonia is a great program and the week after that we have North Royalton …another great program. We are focusing on tonight and celebrate; tomorrow we're going to jump into the film with Nordonia.”
The Explorers definitely didn’t get caught looking ahead when the squared off with the Bees, on their Homecoming Night, just a week after Brecksville (1-5, 1-2) stunned Stow 43-42.
Hudson dominated every facet of the game limiting the Bees to 143 yards in total offense while amassing 406 yards on offense. The hosts averaged just under three yards per play while the Blue and White picked up 7.8 yards each snap.
“This was a great job by these guys coming out here and doing what we asked them to do. They came out here and executed the game plan,” Gough related.
At Brecksville the Explorers came out of the gates hot scoring on the contest’s first possession behind junior running back Ian Ludewig and an experienced and dominating offensive line.
Ludewig capped the seven play, 65-yard march with the first of his four touchdowns (in the first half) going 14-yards over left tackle. DJ Ashe kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead and the route was on.
Ludewig made short work of Hudson’s second touch going through a huge hole in the middle of the line, on the second play of the series, and racing 63 yards to pay-dirt untouched.
By the end of the first quarter (14-0) in Hudson’s favor Ludewig had 121 yards rushing and two scores. It was more of the same in the second period as he added touchdown runs of 20 and 35 yards and another 100 yards rushing.
With a running clock to start the second half thanks to a 27-yard field goal by Ashe, as time expired on the second stanza (31-0 at the break) and early substitutions by Gough on both sides of the ball Ludewig’s night ended with just four carries after intermission for a total of 22 totes for 231 yards.
“Our offensive line and our two tight ends did a phenomenal job tonight. Some of the holes Ian got a chance to run through were very …nice. What I saw from Ian was the way to finish. He had a couple home-run runs; we haven’t had too many of those. Kudos to him,” Gough praised. “You got to see his natural athletic ability blossom; he’s a three sport athlete.”
Through six games Ludewig now has 11 TDs and 813 yards rushing.
Special teams had a good night with nearly everyone got into the act except punter Gio DePompei who was never called on to boot it away. Ashe kicked
the first three extra points and knocked through his fourth career field goal to close out the first half scoring. Sophomore Brad Masiella was 3-3 on extra points and senior Aristotle Markakis kept the Bees guessing with his kickoffs. High kicks, pooch kicks and squib kickoffs were all successful with great down field coverage by the kicking team.
Then there’s the defense.
One of the best Hudson defenses’ in recent memory the 2022 team is giving up just 6.7 points per game thus far and now had recorded two shutouts (35-0 over Euclid in week two).
“I love the game plan that coach (Jake) Brandy (defensive coordinator) and his staff came up with. Then to watch our defensive backs, linebackers and D-line really execute what we asked them to do … I applaud our defense,” Gough explained. “Its awesome top to bottom watching them work. To watch them come out here and tighten up the screws and build that confidence was exciting to watch.”
Brecksville crossed midfield for just a handful of plays on the crisp, fall evening. Trailing 21-0 early in the second quarter the hosts reached the Hudson 34 with two plays gaining 21 yards and a late hit penalty on the Explorers. That drive ended on downs with four straight incomplete passes from junior quarterback Colin Seibert (10-23, 106 yards).
Seibert was picked off twice for the night. Senior Jack Jenkins got the first with 3:58 left in the first half and the score now 28-0. That possession would end seven plays later with Ashe’s field goal with the first half clock at zeros.
The Explorers next score also came with the game clock at all zeros. In the third quarter, after crossing midfield again (reaching the visitor’s 39), Seibert’s pass to the right sideline was picked off by Fritz Trautmann. The junior defensive back did the rest avoiding would-be tacklers and racing 63 yards down the Brecksville sideline for a touchdown and a 38-0 lead after three.
“To see him (Trautmann) jump that (route) and then to finish was exciting,” Gough noted. “He’s been cracking the varsity lineup here and there during certain packages. To see him take advantage of his opportunity was sweet.”
The pick-six basically ended the Bees best shot at avoiding the shutout and Teagan O’Guinn closed out the scoring for Hudson with an 18-yard touchdown run with 2:10 left to play for the 45-0 final score.
On the night the Explorers allowed just 37 yards rushing on 25 carries. That has been the trend for all six weeks now.
“It helps that on the early downs we can really stop the run. A lot of teams have trouble getting yards on us,” senior defensive lineman Henry Casper expounded. “That sets us up for a good opportunity on third down. Our pressure and our DB’s always give us a chance to get off the field on third down. The way that both the run defense and pass defense work together, kind of complement each other makes for a nice defense.”
“Obviously it’s great to get a shutout. We came out and did what we were supposed to do. It was great that when we started rolling guys in (subbing late) that they could continue the shutout. This defense can take this team very far and our offense has been looking great too. I think there is going to be more to come,” Casper added.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hudson football routs Brecksville to remain undefeated
