Week 4 roundup: Alliance, West Branch, Waterloo and Southeast get victories
Alliance 49, Norwalk 25
Alliance won its third straight game, taking control with a 21-6 edge in the third quarter.
Junior quarterback Brendan Zurbrugg was outstanding, completing 20-of-24 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns, including two to K'Vaughn Davis. Davis caught seven passes for 129 yards. Ramhir Hawkins had nine receptions for 128 yards, and Carter Bugara caught a 27-yard TD pass.
On the ground, Kayden Davis had 166 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Adam Zumbar and Zurbrugg (10 for 79) also scored rushing TDs.
Junior Jackson Eddy led the Alliance with 18 tackles, while Zumbar finished with 15, Lucius Rowser had 13 and Dylan Bell 11.
Alliance visits Canton Central Catholic on Friday night.
Youngstown Chaney 35, Marlington 10
YOUNGSTOWN ― Things started well for the Marlington Dukes. Beau Himmelheber returned the opening kickoff to the Chaney 1-yard line and scored on the Dukes’ first play from scrimmage 25 seconds into Friday’s game.
The Cowboys took the lead for good, however, a little over three minutes later, and went on to post a 35-10 win over Marlington in the first game at the newly-refurbished Rayen Stadium.
The offensive issues for the Dukes (0-4) continued as they managed only 10 yards rushing on 15 attempts. Quarterback Bryson McCord completed 15 of 27 passes for 117 yards, though, with Himmelheber catching six for 72 yards.
Chaney (4-0) did most of its scoring damage in the fourth quarter. Cowboys quarterback Matt Jones had a fine all-around game, with 140 yards rushing on just 13 carries and two touchdowns, and 4-for-14 passing for 56 yards and a score.
His 7-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter extended the Cowboys’ lead to 22-10. He added a 16-yard scoring jaunt with 9:46 to go and Chaney added another TD with just under five minutes remaining.
Qwintin Hancox led the Marlington defense with seven tackles.
Friday, the Dukes play host to Warren JFK, which was a Division VII state semifinalist in 2021 and state runner-up in 2020, and is 4-0 this season.
West Branch 38, Ridgewood 14
BELOIT — Senior quarterback Dru DeShields became West Branch's all-time leader in passing touchdowns as the Warriors won impressively against Division V power Ridgewood.
DeShields was 22-of-32 for 298 yards and five TDs, giving him 61 career scoring passes. The old mark of 59 was held by Steve McNeely from 2005-07.
Michael Kanagy caught eight passes for 105 yards and two scores. Anthony Perry (3 for 57) also caught two scoring passes and Christian Martig (5 for 89) had one.
DeShields also led the Warriors' ground game with 84 yards on seven carries. Boston Muliniz rushed 15 times for 53 yards.
Trent Stryffeler led the West Branch defense with seven tackles and Martig had an interception. The Warriors sacked Ridgewood quarterback Carter Fry five times.
Friday the Warriors play at Howland.
Waterloo 47, Sebring McKinley 8
SEBRING — Blessed with plenty of open running lanes thanks to Waterloo's stout line, junior tailback Jayden Hakin turned three of his five first-half carries into touchdowns and also had a passing touchdown by the intermission. He finished with six carries for 159 yards and also completed all four of his passes, including a 16-yard touchdown to Aiden Hall, who did well to make a shoestring catch on the screen before turning up the field.
The Vikings (2-2, 1-0 MVAC Scarlet) were no less dominant on defense, forcing three straight three-and-outs to start the evening and forcing the Trojans (0-4, 0-1) to go away from their I-formation power run game.
Sebring McKinley senior running back Jahvian Cundiff ran hard all night and had 80 of his 117 rushing yards in the second half, including a 30-yard dash to the right side for the Trojans' lone touchdown.
Sebring plays host to McDonald on Friday night and Waterloo is home to Western Reserve.
North Canton Hoover 34, Louisville 8
NORTH CANTON — Carson Dyrlund ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as the Vikings routed Louisville at Memorial Stadium.
Dyrlund ran for TDs of 57 and 31 yards in the first quarter, on his way to 103 yards on 11 carries overall. Louisville (1-3), which fumbled five times and lost four of them, trailed 21-0 entering the second quarter.
Dyrlund also completed 11 of 16 passes for 180 yards, a 47-yard TD to Zach Braucher and no interceptions. Braucher caught four passes for 67 yards. Mason Ashby snagged seven receptions for 113 yards for the Vikings (3-1).
Louisville avoided the shutout with a Daveion Cruse 7-yard TD run with 2:50 left in the game. Cruse ran for 35 yards on eight carries and threw for 112 yards on 10-of-18 passing. Andrew Essik had 67 yards on 13 carries.
East Canton 35, St. Thomas Aquinas 0
EAST CANTON — Quarterback Brennan Betz threw three touchdown passes and ran for another to lead the Hornets to their first victory of the season.
Betz was 17-of-21 passing for 247 yards with no interceptions. He carried seven times for 78 yards.
Toby Schrader caught touchdown passes totaling 37 and 26 yards from Betz. He finished with four catches for 100 yards.
Jake McCullough had six receptions for 94 yards for East Canton. One was a 16-yard touchdown catch.
St. Thomas Aquinas was limited to 168 yards and 11 first downs by East Canton.
Southeast 43, Akron North 12
PALMYRA TWP. - Southeast evened its record at 2-2 with a home victory over the North Vikings. No other details were available.
Sandy Valley 43, Minerva 13
MINERVA — Sandy Valley improved to 2-2 with a road victory. Minerva fell to 0-3. No other details were available.
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Week 4 football: Alliance, West Branch, Waterloo and Southeast
