Hudson football routs Brunswick, clinches National Conference title

Entering week nine’s non-league contest at Brunswick Oct. 14, Hudson football was focused on remaining unbeaten while taking on the Division I Blue Devils at Brunswick Auto Mart Stadium.

The plan was that a week later they would come back home to host Suburban League rival Stow with a chance to win the National Conference title outright and complete an undefeated regular season.

The Explorers (9-0) took care of business against Blue Devils with a dominating 35-13 victory but their week ten plans were altered slightly by North Royalton’s 22-21 upset win over Wadsworth.

The loss dropped the Grizzlies to 3-2 in league play and clinched the first outright Suburban League championship for Hudson since 1962.

“Royalton was able to beat Wadsworth that means we are the outright champs now we get to play Stow (1-8) for bragging rights. It’s a big redemption game, it’s a rivalry game and they won (22-21) in the final minute (49 seconds left) last year with a long (73-yard) drive,” said Hudson Coach Jeff Gough. “We’ve watched that drive twice with our team. That’s exciting for our kids to clinch it outright.”

While Gough referred to redemption second year starting quarterback Jagger Pallay downplayed pay-back noting, “Every week, obviously, we want to win. They (the Bulldogs) did beat us last year but we’re not going into that game with any revenge thoughts or anything like that. We just want to go out and do our job, win and finish off the season 10-0.”

Pallay had season highs in pass completions (18), attempts (25), yards (234) and touchdowns (four) in the win at Brunswick.

The 9-0 record?

“That (9-0) is rare air in our over one-hundred year history. The amount of time, effort, practice it takes and to buy into the family culture. These guys did it,” Gough said.

Hudson finished 9-0 in 1949, took a 9-0 record to undefeated Green in 1975 (losing 28-6), the Explorers were 9-0 on the way to 10-0 regular season marks in 2002 and 2014. The 2020 team went 6-0 in the COVID-19 shortened regular season and stretched that to 9-0 before a loss to eventual state champions Hoban in.

This year’s ninth win came with a combination of running, passing and turnovers. Three first half fumble recoveries by the Explorers led to the visitor’s first three scores.

After an early drive was stymied by the Blue Devils defense with a goal line stand at the two-yard line Hudson got the ball back two plays later. Devils quarterback Etan Roksandich picked up his team’s first first-down of the night but coughed up the ball at the end of the run with Collin Baughman recovering at the host’s 15-yard line.

The Explorers made short work of the opportunity four plays later with Ian Ludewig plowing in from four yards out over left tackle. Brad Masiella tacked on the first of his five extra points on the night for a 7-0 lead with 3:53 remaining on the first period clock.

Ludewig’s string of three straight 200-yard plus games was snapped as Brunswick loaded up the box limiting the junior to just (sarcasm) 153 yards on 27 carries. Ludewig now has 1416 yards on the ground this year and 18 total touchdowns.

“Ian ran hard tonight. They (the Blue Devils) did a nice job trying to take away some of that stuff, that we really like to do. Watching Ian continually read his blocks and extend some of those runs was amazing,” Gough said.

It didn’t take long for the Explorers to get the ball back. On the ensuing kickoff Brunswick fumbled again with Henry Casper falling on the loose pigskin at the host’s 33-yard line. Four plays later Pallay snuck for a first down on fourth and one and on the next play the senior went to Jack Jenkins on a bubble screen to the right side. A lay they would use a lot on this night. Jenkins did the rest tip-toeing along the Hudson sideline chalk going 22 yards for a 14-0 lead with 2:13 left in the first period.

Brunswick’s next possession started out well for the home team but ten plays in another fumble (recovered by Casper) ended the threat at the Hudson 46 yard line.

Four plays later Pallay aired it out to Trey Sharp on a post pattern from the left side. The pass was right on the money and Sharp did the rest for his third touchdown grab of the year. The 43 yarder made the score 21-0 with 7:10 left in the first half.

After a Blue Devils punt disaster struck for the Explorers when defensive back Jack Safco jumped the route on an intended bubble screen. Safco was brought down immediately but Brunswick had the ball at the Hudson five. Two plays later the score was now 21-7 when John Crawford punched it in from three yards out.

Hudson missed a 22-yard field goal try late in the half (28.0 seconds on the clock) and the Devils quickly moved the ball 65 yards in four plays. With 0.7 showing on the clock they had one chance but Sharp, from his cornerback spot, knocked away a pass into the end-zone to send the game to intermission at 21-7.

The Explorers continued to go to Jenkins on bubble screens. Early in the third Pallay found the senior on the right side. With Gio DePompei sealing the edge Jenkins raced 42 yards down the home sideline for a 28-7 lead.

Jenkins ended the night with ten catches for 118 yards and two scores.

“We saw the corner was dropping back off the line. The coaches call the play and Gio, the slot, would come out and block the corner ….it was just like that. Its easy plays like that that make the game simple,” Jenkins shrugged.

Brunswick answered with an eleven-play, 69-yard march. On a fourth and one play James Toomey broke free up the middle and raced 27 yards to a 28-13 score with 4:50 left in the third quarter.

The Explorers countered with an eleven-play, 65-yard drive of their own. Backed up to a fourth and 22 from the Devils 33-yard line Hudson went to the air. Pallay lofted a perfect pass to Nolan Tanner streaking down the right sideline with tight coverage. The junior tight end did the rest hauling in the pass and diving to the pylon for a 35-13 advantage with 11:24 left in the game.

Neither team threatened to score for the rest of the game. Nick Innamorato and Jenkins recorded interceptions to keep the hosts at bay the rest of the way.

“I’m so proud of our guys. The way they battled,” Gough related. “We are playing a big Division I school. They had probably almost a hundred pounds on every one of our defensive linemen and linebackers. For our guys to keep fighting again and again and again on every play; to watch them battle to get this 1-0 week nine win to go 9-0 is amazing.”

“It feels great,” Pallay said of the Suburban league crown. “We put in so much work in the off-season. It’s really awesome to see it payoff. This group of guys is super-special, we all love each other and we all play for each other. It’s awesome to have that accomplishment (the first outright Suburban league title in 60 years).”

The Explorers shared the National Conference crown in 2019 and 2016. Hudson won the Suburban outright in 1949, 1953 and 1962. The 62 title came with a 6-1-1 mark.

Coach Ed Sogan returned Hudson to the winner’s circle with co-championships in 1988 (Wadsworth) and 1992 (Revere). The Explorers left the Suburban in 1997 and won Western Reserve Conference titles in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Next was the Northeast Ohio Conference with trophies in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014.

The League title is the Explorers 21st all-time.

Hudson is 21-15-2 all-time against neighboring Stow since their first clash nearly a century ago; Hudson won 25-0 at Stow on Oct. 26 1923. The Bulldogs have won four of the last six meetings since the two schools joined the Suburban League in 2015.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hudson football routs Brunswick to improve to 9-0