by Brunswick, OH – While the talk was on the Medina Bee’s offense coming in, it was the defense led by Keon Johnson, Matt Spatny and JaJaun Jackson that caused 4 Wildcat turnovers on it’s way to a 27-14 win over St. Ignatius. They will now rematch with St. Edwards, a team they beat last year in the playoffs.
What a night for Jackson? He had 4 catches on offense for 108 yards and a touchdown along with a big interception and then game sealing tackle on defense. It was that Bee defense all night long making one big play after another.
The Bee offense was once again led by Drew Allar who went 30 of 54 for 386 yards and 3 touchdowns. One of his top targets was Drew Hensley who pulled in 6 passes for 63 yards and a score. Brennen Schramm was a force with 5 catches for 65 yards. Michael Rodak had 54 yards on 6 catches with a touchdown while Ben Butler pulled in 5 balls for 60 yards.
The Wildcat offense had its struggles tonight. Quarterback Joey Pfaff was held to 9 of 28 passing for 138 yards, getting picked off twice. Marty Lenehan once again provided a spark as he rushed for two touchdowns and 146 yards on 24 carries. Max Muresan was their lone receiving threat with 4 catches for 68 yards.
Drew Allar and the Bee’s wasted no time scoring the first time they held the ball to open the game. On a drive that saw them covert a 3rd and 18 to JaJuan Jackson, the Bee’s cruised down the field with little to no resistance. Allar went 7 of 8 on the drive, with 4 of those passes to Michael Rodak who had the 25-yard touchdown catch at the 3-minute mark of the opening quarter.
The Wildcats opening drive would see a few first downs before JaJuan Jackson stepped in front of a Joey Pfaff pass to pick him off and give the Bee’s the ball back at midfield. The Bee’s would move it 29 yards before turning it over on downs at the Wildcat 21. It wouldn’t matter as seconds later a fumbled handoff to Lenehan would give the ball right back to Medina.
Despite some nice plays in which Allar bounced off blitzers to get a pass off, the Bee’s couldn’t find the endzone and had to settle for a 34-yard field goal by Nick West to make it 10-0 Bee’s with 2:45 to play. At this point, nearly 10 minutes in, St. Ignatius had 6 plays, and 2 turnovers. Not the start they wanted.
The next time they had the ball, the Wildcats had laser focus and fearless execution as they began their march towards points. A 15-yard pass to Max Muresan combined with a 18 yard run by Joey Georges helped them set up shop. Following a sack by Matt Spatny, Marty Lenehan took the next snap 36 yards to the house to cut the Bee lead to 10-7.
Following a 3 and out, the Wildcats would get the ball back near their own 40. This time, sharp passing by Pfaff would get the Wildcats cooking with big connections to Max Muresan and Patrick Thompkins to move the chains. The drive would come to a screeching halt however with another interception, this time right to Keon Johnson. The Wildcats had turned the ball over 3 times in under 17 minutes to start the night. St. Ignatius would dodge getting stung however, as they forced another three and out.
While St. Ignatius struggled to move the ball, the Bees got it cooking again with a nice 80 yard drive following a missed Wildcat Field goal. This time, it was Drew Hensley catching balls all over the field. Hensley had catches of 20, 10 and then 9 to score and make it 17-7 with 2:06 to go. The first half would end by that score.
Down 17-7, the Wildcats sensed the urgency needed and returned the opening kickoff of the second half, 52 yards. Marty Lenehan took the next snap 32 yards, and suddenly, St. Ignatius had some momentum. After a few more Lenehan runs the Wildcats would score on a 3-yard Lenehan rumble as the opening drive took 3 minutes and resulted in points.
After forcing a 3 and out, the Wildcats would get the ball again inside Bee territory. They would drive inside the 35 when they got snake bit yet again by a turnover, this time a fumble on a jet sweep and they wasted away a golden chance. The fourth turnover by the St. Ignatius Wildcats. They never recovered.
It didn’t take long for the Bee’s to make them pay with a 28-yard dime on fourth down from Allar to JaJuan Jackson to make it 24-14 Medina. St. Ignatius went from driving to take a lead, to giving up a touchdown within minutes. The quarter would end 24-14 Medina in front.
Matt Spatny of the Bee’s shut down the Ignatius run on the next several possessions, and the Wildcats just couldn’t move the ball as Spatny and the Bee’s stepped up, keeping it 24-14.
Up 10, Medina decided to end all doubt with a 49-yard launch from Allar to JaJaun Jackson to move the ball inside the St. Ignatius 27. However, they would have to settle for a 35-yard West field goal. A great job by the holder Brennen Schramm for handling a bad snap to get it down. This made it 27-14 Medina with 5:42 to go.
Down 13 with 5:42 to go, St. Ignatius would return the kickoff nearly 60 yards and then have a 15 yard late hit penalty tacked on to start the drive at the 27 of the Bee’s. It wouldn’t matter however as the Wildcats couldn’t pick up a single first down on the drive, completely giving away golden field position.
They would never get any closer as the Bee’s advanced 27-14.
