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This week’s matchup between the Aurora Greenmen and the Twinsburg Tigers brought a lot of hype with it. The game was selected as both the “My Community Focus” high school football game of the week and and the “Fox 8 Cleveland Browns” game of the week.
Wooster College’s Professor of Mathematics, Drew Pasteur, had Aurora entering Friday night’s matchup against Twinsburg as a heavy favorite with a 96% level of confidence. Pastuer’s predicted point spread may have been off, but the confidence level was on the money as the Greenmen put the Tigers to sleep early. They won by a final score of 42-23.
FIRST HALF
The Greenmen jumped out to an early 21-0 lead, holding Twinsburg from scoring until late in the second quarter. A 3 yard touchdown run from Aurora tailback Alex Tenorio got the scoring going.
Then, senior fullback Mate Orgovan punched it in from 4 yards out. Finally, senior quarterback Matt Geier was able to deliver a 22-yard pass to Jayce Unverferth. A four-minute seven-play drive put the Greenmen up by three scores.
But Twinsburg quickly responded. Starting sophomore starting tailback Quincy Newsom rattled off back-to-back first down runs. Moments later, Joey Pollock connected with him on a 15-yard screen pass, and punched it into the endzone.
On the next drive, the Greenmen quickly went three and out. However, the Tiger offense was unable to capitalize because of the pressure provided by the Aurora defensive line. Pollock was knocked down throughout the game and took four sacks.
Junior Enzo Catania was one of the biggest forces on that side of the ball for the Greenmen.
Following a Twinsburg punt, the Greenmen staged a seven play, 55 yard drive in which Tenorio dominated the Tiger’s secondary. On three straight plays, the Greenmen handed him the ball and allowed him to punch through the A-gap.
Everyone in the stadium knew Tenorio was getting the ball, yet he was still able to pick up—not 1,—not 2,—but 3 straight first downs. He then handed the reins off to Catania, who took it 17 yards to the house and stretched Aurora’s lead back to three touchdowns.
The Tigers were set to receive the second half kickoff but had to get some more points on the board. Luckily, they got some help from Aurora’s defense in the process. Two offside calls and a pass interference, set up Twinsburg kicker Tyler Seegert to knock a 30-yard field goal through, bringing their deficit to 28-10 entering the half.
SECOND HALF
Following a 22-yard return from Steven Cammock, the Tiger’s offense took the field on their own 32-yard line. Pollock continued to receive pressure from the Greenmen defense. Starting from their own 47, Aurora’s offense spent the next six and a half minutes on the field. Milking time off resulted in a 35-10 lead after Tenorio’s second rushing touchdown.
Twinsburg, again, was able to answer rather quickly. Pollock immediately connected with senior wide receiver Seth Wiseman, before handing the ball back off to Newsom for a 20 yard gain. Another 38-yard completion to Wiseman nearly resulted in a touchdown. Junior wideout CJ Lyden scored on a direct-snap from the 1-yard line to finish off the possession.
Lyden had six rushes and 15 yards out of Twinsburg’s wildcat offensive set.
Following three quarters, the score was 35-17.
For the entirety of the game, Aurora dominated the ground game and attacked the football. Geier’s rushing attempts matched his passing attempts but he picked up nearly 40 more yards on the ground than he did throwing the ball.
In totality, the Greenmen offense finished with 327 rushing yards compared to just 61 through the air.
In the fourth quarter, Tenerio broke off his longest rush of 41 yards and pranced into the endzone untouched. That left the Tiger faithful weary. With the score 42-17, the Tigers had the ball back on their own 26 yard line with just seven minutes to go.
Newsom found the endzone again, escaping multiple defenders and dragging Greenmen with him along the way. However, the 29-yard score proved to be a case of “too little too late” for the Tigers. The Greenmen’s offense proceeded to pick up three more first downs and whittle the clock down to zero.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
TWINSBURG:
MAJOR GRANT (for the second straight week)
10 TACKLES, 2 QB PRESSURES
AURORA:
ALEX TENORIO
22 RUSHES, 160 YARDS, 3TDS
