by BAINBRIDGE, Ohio – Going into the locker room at halftime, it looked like Kenston might suffer their first hiccup of the year as they trailed 21-14 to the Willoughby South Rebels.
The second half proved different as the Bombers scored 23 straight second half points, taking the 37-21 victory on Friday (Oct. 4) night at Bomber Stadium.
Kenston improved to 6-0 (3-0 WRC) while South dropped to 4-2 (1-2 WRC).
Kenston head coach Jeff Grubich on his team’s performance, “Our team was resilient tonight throughout all four quarters. We made some mistakes but our guys remembered that the most important play is the next play. Our coaches made some great adjustments at halftime and our players improved.”
Kenston turned the ball over in the red zone on their first possession, leading to South’s first score of the night. Jack Porter fumbled the ball at the eight-yard line and the Rebels recovered.
Ira Sampson capped an 11 play, 92-yard drive with a 36-yard touchdown run for Willoughby South as they led 7-0 with 5:04 left in the first quarter.
The lead was not held long. Tyler Kestranek took the kickoff 79 yards to the house for the Bombers and just like that, it was tied 7-7. Rico Small tried to make it back-to-back kickoff return touchdowns but the attempt was called back on an illegal block in the back.
Porter closed the first quarter with a two-yard touchdown run as Kenston led 14-7 at home after one quarter.
After South stopped the Bombers on fourth down, Willoughby South made quick work of the drive as they drove 53 yards in three plays. Justin Grosel found Mike Ward for a 35-yard TD pass as the game was deadlocked at 14 with 9:48 left before halftime.
Porter coughed up the ball on Kenston’s next drive in the red zone, giving South the ball back with five minutes left in the half.
Willoughby South turned in another 12 play, 91-yard drive before the intermission. Rico Small gave the Rebels a 21-14 lead on a two-yard TD run with seconds to go before half.
Rico Small scores from 2 yards out as South takes a 21-14 lead with 21 seconds left in first half. pic.twitter.com/05dt75A600
— Tyler Stotsky (@tstotskySID) October 5, 2019
“Our biggest adjustment at halftime was getting back to what we do: playing clean and mistake free football. We can’t do that against teams in this conference because they will punch us in the face like South did in the first half.”
Coming out of the break, Kenston moved down the field on their first drive. On fourth and six from the seven-yard line, Jon Tomcufcik delivered a slant to Jonathan Abbarno for a touchdown. With eight minutes left in the third, the game was tied once again.
South turned the ball over on the next drive on a Justin Grosel fumble. Kenston could not take advantage as they were turned away at the goal line by the Willoughby South defense on fourth down. The game was tied 21-21 after three quarters.
Tomcufcik pinned the Rebels at the one-yard line with a tremendous punt on the first play of the fourth quarter. A bad South snap on the goal line led to a safety as Kenston took their first lead since 14-7.
With momentum in their corner, Kenston strung together four plays to convert a first and 35. After the fourth down conversion, Tomcufcik completed a 13-yard TD pass to JP Germano as Kenston continued to push the game out of reach, 30-21 with 7:04 left.
Two sacks on the next South drive by Logan Vargo and Tim Matty took all offensive momentum and turned the ball over on downs. With one minute to go, Tomcufcik dropped a pass in the hands of Tyler Mintz for a 22-yard TD pass. Kenston won 37-21 with a 23-0 run.
Kenston totaled 367 yards of offense with 192 passing yards and 175 yards on the ground. Tomcufcik completed 15-of-24 passes with three touchdowns and 192 yards. He added 55 yards on the ground on ten carries. Porter finished with 110 yards rushing on 27 carries and one touchdowns. Just like last week, Mintz was the heavy target with eight catches for 123 yards and one touchdown.
South ended the night with 320 total yards despite the second half offensive struggles. Grosel completed eight passes for 112 yards and one touchdown. Sampson accounted for 120 of South’s 208 rushing yards on 15 carries. Danny Gallagher was the leading receiver with five catches for 47 yards.
Kenston will travel to Chardon next Friday while Willoughby South will take on undefeated Mayfield on the road. Both will be crucial for the Western Reserve Conference race.
