by MEDINA, OH – The sounds of a band. The murmur of a crowd in stadium seats. The popping of pads under the lights. These are the simple pleasures that returned to Northeast Ohio on Friday night, signaling the start of a (mostly) normal high school football season.
Celebratory as those Week One vibes may have been – particularly after the pandemic adapted 2020 season – it was short-lived for Berea Midpark (0-1), who found themselves on the receiving end of 38 -14 stinging at the hands of Highland (1-0). For the hometown Hornets though, those vibes will continue into the wee hours of Saturday morning.
“Every week presents its own challenges,” Highland head coach Mike Gibbons said after the game. “We’re gonna enjoy this one tonight, flip the page tomorrow and get back to work. It’s a process, it’s one day at a time but that’s what’s fun about [football].”
There was no shortage of impressive performances on both sides of the ball for the Hornets in Week One. Bruising, junior running back Lukas Stiles rushed for over 100 yards, highlighted by a 75-yard touchdown. Senior wideout Jonathan Lima hauled in four receptions for 59 yards. On defense, senior defensive back Austin Addington snared two interceptions and nearly had a third.
No one, however, was more impressive than quarterback Aaron Filips. The senior completed 7-of-13 passing for 88 yards, adding 96 yards on the ground and a whopping three rushing scores. It was a performance coach Gibbons has come to expect from his captain.
“He’s our leader, he’s a two-year captain,” the head man said. “[Berea-Midpark] has a great quarterback [in their own right] but our kid was awesome tonight.”
Truth be told, it was the defenses that stole the show early on, before the sometimes forgotten third phase of the game that flipped the script in Highland’s favor.
After a sack at their own two-yard line left Berea-Midpark punting from their endzone, a punter’s worst nightmare became reality when senior, Andrew Ringgenberg came off the left side unmarked to block the punt and send the ball spinning into the air. Then, in a classic case of “right place, right time” for defensive end Hunter Winston, the sophomore caught the ball out of the air and took a few short steps to pay dirt for the first touchdown of the season.
“We talk about special teams and we want to be the team that makes the plays,” Gibbons said. Ringgenberg did a great job. He was close in scrimmages to getting a few blocks and we told him ‘you’re gonna get it tonight,’ and he did. Proud of him and proud of the way all three phases played tonight.”
Trailing for the first time, the Titans had a quick response. Exploiting the Hornets defense on a three play 60-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 30-yard scamper from senior, running back Aquan Bell. When the first quarter came to a close, the two foes were knotted at seven.
While a defensive struggle told the story of the first quarter, a 24-point second quarter explosion by the Hornets told the story of the game.
“It’s week one,” coach Gibbons explained. “You don’t always know how you’re gonna come out. The kids are nervous. I was really proud of our defense – the way that they set the tone early – cause when our offense wasn’t producing in that first quarter [Berea-Midpark] had a chance to get on us but they prevented that and eventually the offense got clicking.”
That first Titans score seemed to awaken a beast on the Highland sideline as the Hornets followed it up with a 9-play drive of their own, that despite stalling out just outside the red zone ended with three points.
At the time it felt like a momentum building hold for the Berea-Midpark defense. Instead, it was the start of an unpredictable avalanche and there was nothing the Titans could do. Another Titants punt after just four plays led to a four-play drive for Highland, only that one ended in paydirt in the form of a five-yard TD run by Filips.
Like a broken record, another stalled Titans drive set the Hornets up at their own 37 and Filips worked his magic again breaking a read-option keeper 63 yards on one play, leaving a trail of Titans in his wake on his way to the endzone.
In less than five minutes the Hornets lead has ballooned from 3 to 17 and they weren’t done, as more poor tackling sprung Stiles for a 75-yard scamper with just 50 seconds to play in the half.
It was more of the same in the second half, as Highland forced a stop and got the ball back in the hands of the offense. With the game well in hand, Filips directed a 10-play drive, doing the honors once again, for a 14-yard touchdown – his third of the game.
After 31 unanswered points, the Titans finally stopped the bleeding with a 12-play, 60-yard touchdown drive of their own, as Hudson Devins did the honors from six yards out, but it was far too little, far too late.
In defeat, Bell finished the night with 53 total yards and the one touchdown. Quarterback Luke Devins threw for over 150 yards.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
Highland – Aaron Filips: 7-13 passing for 88 yards … 8 carries, 96 yards, 3 rushing touchdowns
Berea-Midpark – Aquan Bell: 12 carries, 53 yards, 30-yard touchdown run
