by Strongsville, OH – Earlier this season, Medina and Cleveland Heights played in a thriller that resulted in a 62-52 victory for the Tigers. With the same two Greater Cleveland Conference foes facing off once again in the Division I, Region 1 semifinal, the question was whether this would once again be a shootout. Instead both defenses stood strong tonight and this one came down to the wire. In the end the Battling Bees prevailed 21-20 to avenge the previous loss and advance to the regional championship.
After a turnover on downs on the opening drive for Medina, the defense of the Battling Bees was able to force a punt for the Tigers on their opening drive. The following drive for Medina gave them the lead courtesy of a Danny Stoddard to Austin Knowles 41-yard touchdown (7-0 Medina). Medina would not trail all night.
After giving up the score, the Tigers roared right back with a vengeance. Henry Perrymond nearly took the following kickoff to the house but was finally caught at the 14 yard line of Medina. Just two plays later, Ammaar Lakes ran it in from eight yards out. The first quarter would conclude with a score of 7-7.
Cleveland Heights recovered an onside kick after tying the game up but Medina later stopped that drive on 4th and 7. The Battling Bees were driving after the stop and found themselves at the Tigers 27 yard line early in the second quarter. As Stoddard tried to fire a long pass towards the back corner of the endzone, he was unable to follow through because a defensive lineman hit his arm. The ball fluttered up in the air and John Gordon Jr. intercepted it at the 11. Unfortunately for Cleveland Heights, they were unable to capitalize on the turnover.
On Medina’s next drive, Stoddard found Knowles again for a huge 68-yard gain. After a few more positive plays, the Battling Bees found themselves at the one yard line on 4th and goal. Stoddard lined up under center and they attempted the infamous tush-push. Cleveland Heights did a beautiful job of penetrating and stopped Stoddard just short. The turnover on downs for Medina was a major win for the Tigers as things would remain all square at 7-7 going into half.
In the beginning of the second half, it appeared like the Tigers were destined to score first. Not once but twice on sustained drives, the Tigers were stopped on fourth down. The major body blow was the second one when the spot for the first down was at the one yard line. On 4th and three, Marquise Davis ran it for three yards. The officials called the chain gang out to measure the spot and deemed it just short.
The only positive for Cleveland Heights was that Medina was buried deep in their own end zone by taking over at the one. On the very next play Stoddard was forced out of the pocket and while running to his right in the end zone, threw back across his body to a wide open Nathan Angus deep down the middle of the field. The pitch and catch gave the Battling Bees 53 yards of breathing room and sparked a scoring drive. Austin Knowles then hauled in his second touchdown reception of the night on a spectacular grab. The Stoddard to Knowles hookup made it 14-7 right before the end of the third quarter.
After a recovered kickoff by Medina, a fumble for Cleveland Heights and a turnover on downs for Medina, the Tigers finally struck back. Marquise Davis had been about one block away from breaking off a big run at some point. It finally happened with a 25 yard TD making the score 14-14.
With still over four minutes remaining in the game, Medina had plenty of time to drive down the field. They did just that. Jack Wojciak blew past his man and just barely beat the help safety over the top for a 26-yard touchdown. The well-timed throw from Stoddard to Wojciak put the Battling Bees up 21-14 with 1:42 left to play.
The Cleveland Heights offense is predicated on the run and after a few Davis carries, they had to go to the air with less than a minute left. Lakes threw a gorgeous ball down the near sideline and hit Emere Atkins in stride for a massive 48-yard touchdown. With the score 21-20 and 32 seconds left on the clock, the Tigers decided to go for the win. Instead of handing the ball off to Davis, they decided to run a read-option to the left with Lakes and Gordon Jr. Gordon was 1-v-1 and after getting the pitch it looked like he would get into the end zone for the two point conversion. Instead he was tripped up at the one, sealing the game for six-seed Medina.
The Medina Battling Bees improve to 10-3 on the year and will play St. Eds in the regional championship game.
Two-seed Cleveland Heights wraps up a strong season with an overall record of 11-2.
Tonight’s player of the game has to be the whole Medina defense. They have been questioned this season after conceding a lot of points, but tonight they made multiple crucial stops. They were the true definition of bend, don’t break and gave their offense the best chance possible in this game.
