by Story by Spencer German
In a season where social distancing is required, there was no distancing the Olmsted Falls Bulldogs (2-1) from the end zone in Week Three.
Taking on their crosstown rival North Olmsted (1-1), the Bulldogs drew first blood via a 69-yard opening drive, with a sweeping Jack Pincheck finding pay dirt from one yard out. The 7-0 lead, was just the beginning for an Olmsted Falls team that saw six different players score in a 56-27 win.
“It feels good [when the offense is rolling],” Olmsted Falls head coach Tom Deluca said after the game. “I think the things we’re doing right now are pretty dynamic. Everyone says the triple option offense is boring and that’s completely false. Our offense is exciting.”
That unstoppable offense racked up 450 yards of total offense, 322 on the ground, including 131 from their hulk-like fullback Andrew Parkowski. On 19 carries, the 6-foot, 225-pound senior accounted for two of the eight touchdowns. He’s just one of the weapons in a loaded arsenal of an offense.
“We’ve molded our offense this year to tailor Charlie [Ciolek]’s ability to throw the ball and he’s such a good quarterback, now we have all these other weapons to go with it so it’s kind of a different dynamic to our offense now and it’s been really solid.”
Offensively, the Bulldogs resembled a runaway train in the first half. And after forcing a quick three-and-out of North Olmsted the scoring continued.
That next series saw Cioleck connect with Michael Candow on for 22 yard pass – his longest of the night – to convert a third-and-17 and eventually setup a 12-yard touchdown run by fullback Clay Vormelker.
“I got a lot of great guys out there that can do a lot of great things,” Ciolek said. “Not even just running the ball, catching the ball, they can block too. So it helps me out knowing I can trust my guys, every single one of them out there.”
Facing an early deficit, Eagles’ senior QB Anthony Guercio took it upon himself to avoid a sack and break away down the sideline for a 68-yard touchdown run on first-play from scrimmage on the ensuing series.
The Bulldogs didn’t miss a beat though, and back on offense they needed just five plays to cover 70 yards and cross the pilon again, this time courtesy of sophomore Michael Candow.
With three drives and three touchdowns under their belt, the Bulldogs were hardly done. Two plays after recovering an Eagles fumble on the 31-yardline it was Sophomore Rocco Conti breaking off a 31-yard run to put Olmstead Falls up 21.
Then a second three-and-out from North Olmsted put the Bulldogs in great field position for a drive that ended with Parkowski’s first trip to the endzone. Each of their five first-half possessions ended with six points.
“We knew [with] our offense, if we do what we can do, we know we can score,” Ciolek said. “That happened tonight and we pretty hyped that it came out in our favor.”
It wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies for the Bulldogs though. With things looking bleak, North Olmsted came out with a much-needed sense of purpose in the third quarter.
On the fourth play of the second half, Guercio hooked up with shifty wideout Eric Wasen near the sideline, who turned up field and outsprinted the Bulldogs defense to the pilon. Looking to capitalize on his teams new found momentum, head coach Tim Brediger made a strategic chess move on the ensuing kickoff, and a perfectly executed onside kick got the ball back to the Eagles.
Guercio looked to the air again on the very next play, hitting WR Jared Kelley over the middle for a 44-yard score. Less than two minutes into the second half, things were suddenly getting interesting with the Eagles now trailing 35-21.
“He’s a pretty darn good quarterback,” Deluca said of Guercio. “Credit to North Olmsted they came out on fire and played really good football. They caught us. And made a heck of a football game out of it.
“My message [to my team after that] was we need to finish. We didn’t finish last week and it cost us so this week our whole goal coming in was keep our foot on the throttle, finish the football game and we came out flat while they were ready and inspired.”
The misfortune continued for Olmsted Falls as a Cioleck interception gave North Olmsted great field position with a chance to make it one score game. Fortunately for Cioleck his defense bailed him out several plays later with an interception of their own.
Refocused after his blunder, Cioleck guided a nearly 90-yard touchdown drive, with Parkowski’s doing the honors for the second time.
Leading once again by 21, two more scoring drives followed for Olmsted Falls with touchdowns from a 39-yard Cioleck pass to senior Ryan Feskanich and a one-yard run for Candow.
One last Guercio touchdown run late in the fourth-quarter was far too little far too late for the Eagles, as the Bulldogs claimed victory over their rival in blowout fashion.
Despite the losing effort, Guercio finished with well over 100 yards rushing, just shy of 200 yards passing and all four Eagles touchdowns. He completed 13-of-20 passes on the night. Kelley was Guercio’s most reliable target, racking up 64 yards receiving and a touchdown.
None of that was enough to match the relentless Olmstead falls rushing attack, which outgained the Eagles on the ground by nearly 200 yards.
For Olmsted Falls, Vormelker finished with three carries for 20 yards and the lone touchdown. Feskanich contributed on the ground and as a receiver with 20 rushing yards, 40 receiving yards and his one TD. Candow bookended his two touchdowns with over 50 rushing yards and 38 receiving yards.
North Olmsted will look to get back in the win column next week on the road at Avon next Friday. Olmsted Falls will look to continue the offensive barrage they’ve showcased through three games at North Ridgeville next weekend.
Players of the Game:
Olmsted Falls – FB Andrew Parkowski: 19 carries, 131 yards, 2 TDs
North Olmsted – QB Anthony Guercio: 10 carries, 110 yards, 2 TDs, 13-20, 194 yards, 2 TDs 1 INT
Andrew Parkowski!!!!!