by The 2-3 Barberton Magics went on the road to Revere to take on the 2-3 Minutemen in a cold weather matchup, dominating 34-7.
The stars for Barberton were defensive end Corey Gibson, running back Xavier Macon and kicker Trenton Doerfler.
Gibson was a monster defensively, finishing the day with 10 tackles. Macon started the game out very slow, but took over in the fourth to clinch the win. He carried the ball eight times for 136 yards and two scores. Doerfler showed off his leg. He went 2/2 on field goals and 4/4 on PATs, he also converted a fake punt for a first down.
The Revere stars were Zach Olechnowicz and Alec Dettling. Dettling gave the defense hope at the beginning of the game with an athletic interception. Olechnowicz tried to be a workhorse for this team. He carried the ball 22 times and caught 2 passes for a total of 57 yards.
Barberton won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball. Both teams looked to run the ball hard in the first quarter, but to no avail.
Both teams had long drives that ended in punts take up most of the first quarter.
After the first big drive of the game, the Magics looked to throw deep facing a third-and-long late in the first. The pass was intercepted by the minutemen’s Alec Dettling inside his own 10-yard line.
On the following drive Revere’s Brandon Read escaped pressure in his own endzone and threw it deep, only to have it picked off by the Magics’ Kenneth Larry. A few plays later quarterback Noah Dehart scrambled and broke a couple of tackles on his way to a 27-yard touchdown run. Barberton led 7-0 with 10:56 left in the second quarter.
Both sides had another slow drive until Minutemen punter Andrew Caranna couldn’t handle the snap and put the Magics right outside of the red zone. The Minutemen stood strong on defense and held Barberton to a 38-yard field goal kicked by Trenton Doerfler. The Magics led 10-0 with 3:22 left in the half.
Revere struggled once again on their next drive. They punted the ball back to Barberton with around 40 seconds left. That was too much time for quarterback Dominic Wilson, who led the team into field goal range. Doerfler showed off his big leg, this time connecting on a 45-yarder. The Magics went into halftime with a 13-0 lead.
The Minutemen came out at the half and Read found Thomas Christman for a 33-yard catch down the middle on a seam route. The momentum wouldn’t last though. Defensive end Corey Gibson stuffed the running back for a short loss, then the other end, Roosevelt Andrews got a sack.
Revere punted but their defense looked strong, forcing a turnover on downs. The Magics let their emotion run high after the fourth down and took a 15-yard penalty, which gave Revere the ball inside the red zone.
The Minutemen capitalized on the good field position to get their first and final score of the game. Read scored it on a quarterback sneak from a half-yard out. Revere cut the lead to 13-7 with 5:58 left in the third.
Barberton faced a fourth down on their own side of the field. The punter Doerfler faked the kick and used his legs to pick up the first down. The next play Wilson fired one deep down the middle and found Kenneth Larry for a 59-yard touchdown. The Magics led 20-7 with 53 seconds left in the third.
Early in the fourth, Revere found themselves punting again. Barberton took the ball and looked to put the game away. Xavier Macon took the handoff and found a lot of room to the right side, enough for a 55-yard touchdown. The Magics led 27-7 with 9:00 left in the game.
After another Revere punt, Macon took the game over. He had three rushes go for over 20 yards, including a 29-yard, his second of the game. The Magics led 34-7 with 5:55 left.
The player of the game was Corey Gibson. Gibson was a game changer on the defensive end. He flew around the field and managed to get 7 TFLs.
Barberton will look to go back over .500 next week against the Copley Indians.
Revere will look to stop a 2 game losing streak next week against the Highland Hornets.
