by YOU CAN WATCH FULL HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GAME HERE –
Cleveland Heights, OH – In the second round of the OHSAA football playoffs, the second ranked Cleveland Heights Tigers hosted the seventh ranked Berea-Midpark Titans in a rematch of week one. In that game at George Finnie Stadium, the Tigers won 46-21. Tonight, the defense of the Tigers paved the way to a shutout victory 35-0.
On just the second play of the game, superstar running back Marquise Davis found open space up the middle and was off to the races. No one would catch him and the 62-yard touchdown run made it 7-0 Cleveland Heights.
After a three-and-out for the Titans offense on their first possession, the punt from their own 31 turned into disaster. The bad snap resulted in Jalen Ball falling on the football at the Titans own 3 yard line. Berea-Midpark’s defense held strong for three plays but finally on 4th and goal from the one, Ammaar Lakes was able to punch it in on the QB sneak. All momentum was swinging the way of the hosts up 14-0.
On the first play of the ensuing drive, Daniel Bowser III tried to take a shot to Devyn Zahursky up the seam. John Gordon Jr. read the play perfectly from the safety spot and out-jumped the big tight end for the interception. Cleveland Heights was unable to capitalize on the turnover.
The first quarter would conclude with Cleveland Heights leading 14-0.
The second quarter was a defensive and turnover filled segment of the game. John Gordon Jr. picked off Bowser for a second time on the night. Just three offensive plays into the drive for the Tigers offense following the turnover, Lakes was leveled while trying to throw a shot downfield. Austin Clay high-pointed the football and made the interception to give the Titans the football back.
After a few punts a piece, Berea-Midpark was driving with less than a minute left. They were truly pushing to get points before the break because they would receive the football coming out of halftime. Only down two scores and a little life showing for the visitors late in the second quarter was promising. With less than 10 seconds left, Bowser delivered a strike to a wide open Chase Stackhouse over the middle of the field. As Stackhouse sprinted towards the end zone, it appeared like the play would result in a touchdown. Instead, the wide receiver was chopped down at the one and time ran out. Not getting points before the half while getting so close to scoring felt like a back breaker for the Titans.
After halftime, Berea-Midpark’s offense went to work again but the second half would quickly get much worse than the first half. The Cleveland Heights defense was swarming to the football and Antonio Williams snagged an interception. The third of the game for Bowser.
Despite the forced turnovers, the offense of the Tigers was stalling out thanks to solid run defense in the second and third quarters by the defense of the Titans. The defense of Cleveland Heights took it upon their shoulders to find ways to extend their lead. Big defensive lineman Jay’Quan Stubbs batted a pass from Bowser down and picked it off. He then turned upfield, followed his cavalry of lead blockers and turned on the jets. The pick six extended the lead to 21-0.
From the end of the third quarter to the start of the fourth quarter, the Titans were piecing together a sustained 11 play drive. Bowser threw a long pass out to the far sideline that was jumped by Henry Perrymond. Perrymond then spun out of a would-be tackle and took it to the house for back-to-back pick sixes for the Tigers defense (28-0).
Unfortunately for Bowser, the night would keep getting worse. The defensive line was consistently forcing Bowser to speed up because the pressure was coming. Eventually they did get to him as he tried to scramble. Defensive end Brandon Caesar hammered Bowser from behind, resulting in a fumble. The strip sack gave the Tigers offense solid field position at the 26 yard line.
Following a 10-yard penalty, Marquise Davis on a “quiet” night by his standards decided to give the offense a lift. He found some space off to the left side of his line and blew past the defense. The 36-yard TD gave the number two seed a 35-0 lead.
The Tigers would put the finishing touches on the game with another interception courtesy of Antonio Williams.
The 35-0 victory makes Cleveland Heights 11-1 this season. They will now play fellow Greater Cleveland Conference opponent Medina. The Tigers and the Battling Bees had a 62-52 thriller just a few weeks back.
The Berea-Midpark Titans close out a successful season with a record of 7-5.
Tonight’s player of the game is the entire Cleveland Heights defense. They were suffocating and flew to the football. Here are their stats from the impressive showing: 14 points scored, 6 interceptions and 1 forced fumble. The Titans also struggled to move the football on the ground all night.
Stats
Passing
(Tigers) Lakes – 3/5 for 12 yards and 1 INT
(Titans) Bowser – 14/31 for 155 yards and 6 INTs
Rushing
(Tigers) Davis – 11 carries for 127 yards and 2 TDs
(Tigers) Lakes – 6 carries for 4 yards and 1 TD
(Titans) Mendez – 9 carries for 25 yards
(Titans) Silva – 14 carries for 18 yards
Receiving
(Titans) Zahursky – 4 receptions for 64 yards
Defensive
(Tigers) Gordon – 2 INTs
(Tigers) A. Williams – 2 INTs
(Tigers) Perrymond – 1 INT and 1 TD
(Tigers) Stubbs – 1 INT and 1 TD
(Tigers) Caesar – 1 forced fumble
(Titans) Clay – 1 INT
