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The Firelands varsity football team extended their winning streak to seven games following a thunderous win over the Brookside Cardinals. Since week one, their average margin of victory has been a whopping 29 points per game. The offense and defense have been on the same wavelength all year with the Falcons outscoring opponents 322-119.
First Half
After receiving the opening kickoff, the Falcon offense went to work. The offensive line got started early, opening up a gap for Falcon senior running back, Weston Strader, to break off a 32- yard gain on the first offensive play of the game.
As head coach Ryan O’Rourke put it, the conference-leader in rushing attempts, yards, and touchdowns “sets the tone for everybody.”
Not only did Strader set the tone, he also set up fellow tail back and classmate Evan Tester for a one-yard touchdown, capping off a seven-play, 65-yard opening drive. After forcing a quick three-and-out, the speedy junior wideout and returner, Kevin Williams III, found the end zone on a 19-yard jet sweep around the outside. He took it inside the pylon, and the Falcons had an early 14-0 lead.
With 4:22 remaining in the opening quarter, the Cardinal offense took the field on their own 34-yard line. The Falcon defense instigated errors, working their way into the Brookside backfield all night long. In their last regular season home game, seniors Shane Stitchick, AJ Dunn, and Connor Rogers all had multiple tackles for loss. After picking up two first downs, the Falcon defense forced Brookside to hand the ball back.
The second quarter opened up with a short, 66-yard scoring drive for Firelands. After a 51-yard rush from Strader, junior quarterback Jimmy Aunspaw found Cory Ransom in the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown. The Falcons led 21-0.
On the ensuing kick, an illegal block-in-the-back penalty forced the Cardinals to start from their own 13-yard line. Nothing seemed to be going Brookside’s way. After picking up a quick first down on back-to-back five-yard runs, they were stuffed by the Firelands front seven and forced to punt at the 23.
After working their way down inside the 20, Strader finally found the endzone for the first time—giving his team a four-score lead on a 14-yard rushing touchdown.
On the kickoff, The Falcon Foot, Rocoo Iafolla, rolled the ball through the back of the Cardinal end zone. After an incompletion, Brookside’s lead back, Michael Gomes, found a hole in the secondary and broke off a 56-yard run. On the next play, sophomore QB Nick Arra delivered a 24-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Ben Montgomery. With four minutes left in the half, the score was 28-7.
Firelands answered quickly—really quickly. On their first snap, Aunspaw handed the ball to Strader, and he went 65 yards for the touchdown. The Falcon Foot knocked his fifth point after attempt through the uprights. That pushed the advantage for Firelands to 35-7 at the half.
Second Half
To open the half, Iafolla kicked the ball through the endzone yet again. On third and nine, a 13-yard rush by Gomes gave the Cardinals a fresh set of downs. But two plays later, Arra overthrew his target and junior cornerback Timmy Phillips came up with the interception.
After a couple of penalties, the Falcons looked to pass on second down and 20. Aunspaw took pressure, but rolled out to his right and delivered a pass to Abel Coultrip just shy of the marker. As he has done all season, O’Rourke put the ball in the hands of his best player and let his lineman go to work.
Thirty-six yards later, Strader was in the end zone. Due to a muffed snap, and through no fault of the Falcon Foot, the point after was not converted. The scoreboard read 41-7, Falcons.
The game’s final score came after a 69-yard monstruous rush by Collin Scott. The sophomore, and assumed successor to Strader, finished the drive by punching through the line for a one-yard touchdown lunge on the next play. For the final nine minutes of the game, the score remained unchanged; Falcons 48 and the Cardinals 7.
After the game, O’Rourke had high praise for the way his front five opened the game up and allowed his offensive to get whatever they wanted tonight. He also added that captain quarterback, Jimmy Aunspaw, exemplifies great leadership and continues to pull the most from his team. The Falcon head coach will look for his team to continue their winning ways as they head to Black River for a matchup against the Pirates next week.
Firelands (7-1) (5-0)
Brookside (0-7) (0-5)
Players of the Game:
Firelands Falcons- RB Weston Strader
278 yards, 3 TDS 17.4 YPC
Brookside Cardinals- WR Ben Montgomery
5 REC, 101 YDS, 1 TD
