by .Many months ago, I was asked about one of my favorite games that I have covered on KOS. I couldn’t help but look back on Week 4 of the OHSAA High School Football Season, and an absolute nail-biter of a game between the Padua Bruins and the Aurora Greenmen.
That week, I decided to put a poll on Twitter for fans to decide which game we would cover, like Fox 8 does for Friday Night Touchdown.
By the time the poll ended on Wednesday evening, Padua at Aurora won the poll with 78% of the vote.
Fast forward to that Friday, two days later. It was a clear, warm night on Friday, September 21, 2019 at Aurora Veterans Stadium. Both defenses were very stout in the first quarter, not giving so much as an inch. And it was like that for part of the second quarter, before Padua rolled the dice with a fake punt on fourth down. Their gamble paid off, and they capped their drive with a touchdown. They would add another score before halftime.
With a win, Padua would not only get back to .500 (they were 1-2 going into Friday night’s game), but get major computer points that would help as the season went on. Being slotted in Division II, Region 6, every win counts, especially in such a deep region.
In the third quarter, Padua started one of their drives at the one-yard line, and scored, but their touchdown was called back due to a holding penalty. Nonetheless, the Bruin defense pitched a goose egg in the third quarter. I had bought a new video camera a week prior, with the intent to capture some of the big plays that would be made throughout the high school football season. And it would come in handy as you’ll see later…
At the end of the third, the score remained 13-0 in favor of Padua, but Aurora was driving. But the defense stood firm at the start of the fourth and stopped Aurora inside the 30-yard line regaining possession of the ball, looking to put the game out of reach. But the Greenmen weren’t done…
Senior defensive end and Otterbein commit Lenny Galaska, who also blocked an extra point, made another big play on defense. He strip sacked the quarterback, and AJ Barner (then Ohio and now Indiana commit) took it about 30 yards to the house. This touchdown gave Aurora some much needed momentum.
That play cut Aurora’s deficit to 13-7. The student section and band responded accordingly, looking to help rally the Greenmen. The defense, catalyzed by the big play, held and forced Padua to punt. Two plays later, senior running back and Otterbein commit Anthony Gramm, known as “Beast Mode” to his teammates, took the hand-off. He sprinted for a big gain on first-down, then broke two tackles. One additional block later, he scored to tie the game. The ensuing extra point was good and Aurora gained the lead. Gramm’s run was similar to that of Marshawn Lynch’s end zone scamper from 2011.
My broadcast partner, Alexa Schwerha was in the booth. She had a call of Gramm’s go-ahead touchdown run that FOX Sports broadcaster Gus Johnson would be proud of. But the game was not over yet. The Aurora defense made another stop, but Padua forced a turnover to get the ball back. The Bruins would get to midfield when senior defensive back Ben Rogge picked off a pass. The Greenmen would pick up a couple key first downs to seal the deal.
The Aurora Greenmen gave up an average of 4.7 points per game. Not to take anything away from the offense, but the defense played a HUGE role throughout the season. It was one of the main reasons that they were one of two Portage County teams to run the table. They would later pull off a nearly similar comeback in the regional championship game. In that game, they were down 16-0, but rallied to defeat Chardon and advance to the state semifinals.
And those aforementioned two difference-making plays that I caught on video, from the same quarter, less than four minutes apart, It is no surprise that those plays would became the finalists for the 2019 KeeOnSports High School football play of the year.
Relive this classic matchup here:
https://keeonsports.podbean.com/e/padua-bruins-at-aurora-greenmen-2019-week-4/
