by BEREA, Ohio – The Berea Midpark Titans showed up to play for the home fans tonight for their homecoming game, blowing out the Midview Middies 42-27. The Titans played a great overall game, with three of their receivers in the triple digits.
The first half of the game was pure cinema, featuring numerous highlight plays, closing out the first half 21-14 in favor of Berea. The Titans set the tone early and made a statement with a touchdown on their first drive, where sophomore running back Xaviere Harding broke through the Middie defense for a 40-yard rush and touchdown. After converting the extra point, the Titans went up 7-0.
The Middies were not able to fire back on their first drive, turning the ball over to the Titans. On the 4th down with seven yards to go, the Titans faked a punt and Nick Reece ran the ball seven yards to just barely get the first down. However, the Titans weren’t able to capitalize on the momentum of the trick play and couldn’t score.
On the Titans’ next drive, they fought off two sacks from the Middie defense, and with a beautiful lead pass into the endzone from Dylan Papushak, caught by Andre Alexander, the Titans went up 14-0.
However, Midview fought back on the very next drive and senior running back Marcus McMahon plowed his way through the Titan defense for a 60-yard touchdown.
Capping off the first quarter, Midview then kicked the ball off to the Titans, where junior receiver Nick Reece converted on an impressive 90-yard kick return and touchdown, bringing the score to 21-7 in favor of Berea.
The Titans started off the second quarter with a solid drive, but a Middie interception flipped the script. Midview achieved two first downs and capped it off with a handoff to McMahon and a 6-yard carry and touchdown for his second of the night. The score was 21-14 in favor of Berea.
On the very next drive, the Titans fired back, and after a 52-yard run and a first down by Harden, quarterback Dylan Papushak faked a pass and ran the ball for a seven-yard touchdown. Berea extended their lead to 28-14.
Midview looked to get back at the Titans on the very next drive, and after two first downs, Berea junior Mayson Price intercepted Shay Williams’ pass. Berea achieved four first downs on the final drive of the half, and Tyson Clay caught a 23-yard pass at the one-yard line as the quarter came to a close.
Though the Titans played a great all-around first half, their player of the game through the first and second quarters was quarterback Dylan Papushak, who connected on an impressive 16 out of 21 passes for 195 yards with one interception.
The Midview first-half player of the game was, without a doubt, running back Marcus McMahon. McMahon had a pair of touchdowns and carried the ball for 116 yards.
Opening the second half of the game, McMahon had an impressive 85-yard kick return and touchdown, hoping to generate some momentum for the Middies, making the score 28-21.
The Titans gained possession, and after four first downs, the Middies would force a fumble and fire back with two first downs and a 15-yard touchdown by McMahon for their final touchdown of the night. However, they failed to convert the extra point attempt, and the score remained 28-27 in favor of the Titans.
On Berea’s last drive of the third quarter, Papushak slung a 65-yard bomb to Dylan Maddox for their 5th touchdown of the contest, extending their lead to 35-27.
Berea’s final touchdown of the game came at the 10:28 mark in the fourth quarter, where Berea gained possession on their own 49-yard line. Papushak threw a pass to Tyson Clay for a 51-yard catch and run, barely scraping by the Middie defense.
While it’s hard to choose just one player of the game for the Titans, it has to be the Titan quarterback Dylan Papushak, who completed 24 of his 31 passes for a total of 355 yards and three touchdowns, plus a seven-yard scramble and score.
Berea’s junior receiver Nick Reece had 210 receiving yards and a 90-yard kick return touchdown.
Tyson Clay, another of the Titans’ core receivers, had six receptions for 94 yards and a 51-yard touchdown.
Titan’s Dylan Maddox had five receptions for 110 yards and a 65-yard touchdown.
And finally, sophomore receiver Xaviere Harden caught for 161 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown in the first half.
For Midview, their player of the game was Marcus McMahon, who ran the football for an impressive 228 yards and four touchdowns.
Midview quarterback Shay Williams converted on 9/17 of his passes for a total of 112 yards.
Additionally, wide receiver Zachary Wallace had a solid game, catching the ball five times for 77 yards.
Berea fans definitely have a lot to be excited about, securing their fourth win of the season after last week’s close contest against Amherst. Their quarterback and four of their five primary receivers still have a year (or two) to go, and it’ll be fun to watch them do some damage next year, as they definitely show a lot of promise! Berea has a tough game coming up next week against Avon, and the Eagles are coming off an impressive run for the state title last season.
Midview racks up their second loss of the season and hopes to bounce back next week against North Ridgeville and the Rangers.
