by Week 3 of High School Football in Northeast Ohio featured multiple high-octane matchups. The Medina Bees hosted the Wadsworth Grizzlies in an offensive powered matchup. Medina is coming off a loss to Olentangy which dropped them to 1-1 on the season. They also fell out of Devin Lowe’s Top-5 programs in the area because of it. On the other hand, Wadsworth is coming off their 2nd straight dominant victory. They defeated Wooster 45-13 and have scored at least 45 points in the first 2 games of the season.
Medina Starts Strong
The Medina offense started the game with a long and methodical drive. They drove 79 yards down the field in 17 plays. Senior Jack Wojciak finished off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to get the scoring started. On the 1st play of scrimmage for their defense, the Bees forced a fumble. Junior safety Cooper Josefczyk scooped up the loose ball and took it 40 yards to the house. After a missed PAT, Medina had a quick 13-0 lead.
Back and Forth Punches
For the rest of the 1st half, Medina and Wadsworth traded blows. Wadsworth picked up a big touchdown run from quarterback Will Stack that put them on the board. The Bees answered right back with a long touchdown pass from quarterback Don Stoddard to one of his top targets Austin Knowles. The Grizzlies came back with a 3-yard touchdown run from senior running back Kyle Figuray. With just over 4 minutes to go in the half, Stoddard found Austin Knowles for their 2nd touchdown connection of the game. This time Knowles made an incredible leaping catch for a 5-yard score. Wadsworth closed out the scoring with a 41-yard field goal from Junior kicker Jack Dinwiddie. Dinwiddie hit the field goal as time expired to trim the Bees lead to 9. At the half Medina led 26-17.
Medina Takes Over
The Medina Bees came out ready to pounce in the 2nd half. Their defense forced 2 straight 3-and-outs to force the Grizzlies into punting. Between those defensive drives, Dan Stoddard found Austin Knowles for a 56-yard touchdown on 4th down. This would not be the last time we heard from those two. Before they could connect again, Wadsworth had scoring of their own to do. With just under 3 minutes to go, Will Stack found Kyle Figuray for a 20-yard touchdown. Not even a minute later, Stoddard and Knowles would connect for their final score. A 36-yard touchdown pass officially put the game out of reach from Wadsworth. The Bees came back from last week to give themselves a convincing victory over a tough Wadsworth opponent. The final score was 40-23 in favor of the Bees.
Players of the Game:
Medina: With Stoddard and Knowles both having great performances, this was not easy to choose. However, with Stoddard being able to get things done on the ground as well, the honors will go to the Senior QB.
QB Dan Stoddard: 27-38 passing, 359 yards, and 4 TDs/ 17 carries for 90 yards
Wadsworth: RB Kyle Figuray: 13 carries, 66 yards, and 1 TD/ 4 receptions, 34 yards, 1 TD
Week 4
The Medina Bees (2-1) will travel to Mentor (1-2) to take on the Cardinals and look to advance to 3-1 on the season. The Wadsworth Grizzlies (2-1) will stay home next week to take on the Twinsburg Tigers (2-1). They look to bounce back from their loss to Medina.
