by The 0-4 Brecksville-Broadview Heights Bees traveled to Stow-Munroe Falls to take on the 1-3 Bulldogs. The Bees beat the Bulldogs in a tight game, 43-42.
The stars were out tonight for both teams. Stow’s best players were Sal Romito, Teddy Gregory Jr and Rider Spath. Romito finished the day with 10 touches for 207 total yards and 3 scores. Gregory added 9 rushes for 81 yards and a score, while also having 4 tackles and a sack. Spath caught 3 passes for 87 yards and a score, and had a late game interception.
Brecksville was led by Logan Doskocil, Cooper Skruck and Lucas Reasor. Reasor was all over the field on defense, finishing with 10 tackles and a sack, plus the game-winning two point conversion. Logan Doskocil and Cooper Skruck were an incredible receiving duo. Skruck caught 8 catches for 113 yards and two scores. Doskocil caught 12 passes for 155 yards and two scores.
The Bees received the ball on the opening kickoff. The Bulldog defense started out strong. They held the Bees to an opening three-and-out after a sack on third down by Teddy Gregory Jr.
Stow’s offense started out just as strong. After a few short plays, quarterback Jacob Harrington found running back Sal Romito on a shovel pass that went for a 39-yard touchdown. The Bulldogs led 7-0 with 8:56 left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs kept their energy up on both sides of the ball. The defense caused another three-and-out. The offense extended their lead as Harrington found Rider Spath for a 43-yard slant route. The Bulldogs went for two and Gregory ran it in on a direct snap. They led 15-0 with 4:45 left in the first.
Stow got over confident on the next drive. A failed onside kick gave the Bees the ball right on the midline. Quarterback Colin Seibert found wide receivers Logan Doskocil and Cooper Skruck multiple times to lead the offense inside the 10. The Stow defense tightened up though, and held Brecksville to a 28-yard field goal by Atilla Fulop. The Bees cut the lead to 15-3 at the end of the first quarter.
The Bees defense swarmed the bulldogs offense and held them to a three-and-out, but a muffed punt by Skruck gave the ball right back to Stow. Cooper Davids recovered the fumble.
The Bees defense stayed strong though, holding the Bulldogs to -9 yards on their drive. When the Bulldogs punted, Skruck made up for his mistake. He flipped the field after a 40-yard punt return.
Skruck was fired up on the drive. After his big return he caught two passes for 39 yards, including a 21-yard wide open touchdown. The Bees tried to go for two, but their attempt failed. The Bees cut it to a one score game 15-9 with 8:31 left in the half.
The Bulldogs answered back fast though. Romito ran into a wide open gap right up the middle and took it 66-yards for a score. Stow led 22-9 with 7:36 in the half.
After another short Brecksville drive, Romito continued his big day. He scored a second 66-yard touchdown, this time after a quick swing pass that he took all the way to the house. Stow attempted another two point conversion, this time to no avail. They led 28-9 with 6:12 remaining in the half.
The Bees kept fighting. This time running back Andrew Zabkar broke away for a 49-yard touchdown run. Extra point struggle continued, as this time it was blocked. Brecksville cut the lead to 28-15 with 4:17 before halftime.
After a short Bulldog drive, the Bees got the ball back and cut the score to a one possession game. This time it was a 4-yard out route caught by Doskocil. The score was 28-22 with 1:30 left in the first half.
The Bees defense looked sharp on the next drive, forcing a turnover on downs at midfield. The offense looked just as sharp as Seibert found Doskocil for 24 yards, then found Skruck for another 24, this time a touchdown. Another extra point disaster and the score was 28-28 to end the half.
Stow came out at the half with a new quarterback, bringing highs and lows. They had two penalties before finding Jabari Hopkins for a 41 yard gain. Then the new quarterback Jack Smith took a sack from Riley McPherson before finding Rider Spath for 39 yards. The drive was capped off on a 2-yard touchdown run from Gregory, giving Stow a 35-28 lead to start the second half.
The Bees came right back. Seibert found Doskocil for a 54-yard catch and run touchdown to tie the game up 35-35 with 5:21 left in the third quarter.
Stow looked sharp on their next drive, until Gregory fumbled on what should have been a breakaway run. The fumble was recovered by Owen Larkins.
The Bees couldn’t do anything with it and had to punted it away. This time Smith wasted no time as he found Jabari Hopkins on a streak for a 39-yard touchdown. Stow led 42-35 at the end of the third.
The fourth quarter was slow to start, until Brecksville started driving. They drove the ball all the way into the redzone, until Seibert under threw a ball right to Stow’s Rider Spath for an interception.
The defense didn’t care though, as David Zambounis forced and scored a fumble. They went for two and got it on an end-around to Lucas Reasor. Brecksville took their first lead of the game 43-42 with 4:01 left in the game.
Stow had one drive to win the game, but penalties and sacks kept shooting them in the foot. Facing a 4th and 35, Jacob Harrington came back in to find Jack Smith for a gain of 34 ½, but it wasn’t enough.
The true player of the game was Logan Doskocil. He was all over the field on both sides of the ball, doing whatever Brecksville needed of them.
The Stow-Munroe Falls Bulldogs will look to bounce back next week against the North Royalton Bears.
The Brecksville-Broadview Heights Bees will hope to keep the momentum against the Hudson Explorers.
