by It was a back and forth contest between North Royalton and Brecksville Broadview, and it is the Bees who prevail as winners tonight.
Bee QB Colin Seibert found a wide open Walker Nall for a 79 yard touchdown too start the night. The PAT was blocked so the Bees jumped out to an early 6-0- lead.
North Royalton ran into some trouble on their first drive. After taking a sack, they faced a 3rd and 17. QB Joe Kinney found receiver Mannix Wasco for a huge conversion to keep the drive alive. A facemask penalty gave the Bears an extra 15 yards on top of that. Entering Bees territory, North Royalton continued to push their ground and pound offense right up the gut, concluding in a Cody Miller 1 yard touchdown run to give the Bears a 7-6 lead.
The Bees went quiet on their next offensive possession, giving the ball right back to the Bears. To start the second quarter, Cody Miller once again pushed through the middle on a tough 19 yard run and once again got 15 extra yards on a personal foul penalty. With the bears threatening in enemy territory once again, Bees safety Luke Reasor made a great read on the ball and came up with a huge interception on the 10 yard line to shift momentum back into the home crowd’s favor.
Brecksville Broadview running back Evan Rizzo took a screen pass 39 yards to get deep into North Royalton territory. The very next play, Seibert took the QB keeper 20 yards to the house to put the Bees back on top 13-7.
After the Bears turned the ball over on downs, the Bees got the ball right back and their passing game began singing. Seibert unloaded a beautiful 42 yard dart to receiver Carson Zabkar to get the Bees on the edge of the red zone. Unfortunately, the song was cut short as Seibert then threw an ill-advised pick in the final minute of the first half to keep the score at 13-7.
The Bears received the second half kickoff and made the most of it. Miller once again flashed his explosiveness, bursting through the middle en route to a 51 yard score to retake the lead 14-13.
Kyle Keener redeemed himself from earlier, making a gorgeous 12 yard catch to get into enemy territory. Running back Jacob Eterovich took the very next snap 39 yards for a touchdown to put the Bees back on top 19-14.
Once again, the Brecksville Broadview defense came up huge again, as safety Peter Chermonte intercepted Joe Kinney to force a crucial turnover. The Bees offense continued to shine in the second half, as Keener fully redeemed himself by taking a wide receiver screen 60 yards for a touchdown. This gave the Bees a two score lead at 26-14.
The Bears tried to mount a comeback in the 4th quarter, as Kinney found receiver Luke Koprowski for a 9 yard score to make it a one score contest. Unfortunately, it was too little too late, as the Bees hung on for a 26-21 victory.
Player of the Game
Tonight’s Player of the Game goes to Brecksville Broadview QB Colin Seibert. While he wasn’t perfect, he made the timely throws and continuously put his team in a position to score. He went 10-18 with 292 yards, 2 TDs and a pick. Congrats Colin!
