by Under the lights overhead and lightning in the distance throughout the evening, the Medina Bees (8-0) stayed unbeaten with a 35-14 win over their rival Brunswick Blue Devils (5-3) on Friday.
As usual, the fans packed Ken Dukes Stadium eager to cheer for – or on the Brunswick side, boo – Medina star quarterback Drew Allar, and rightfully so as the Penn State commit put on a show, completing 35 of 49 pass attempts for well over 300 yards and 2 touchdowns.
But it was more than Allar tonight. The defensive line, for example, smothered Brunswick to the beat of two sacks and a whole bunch of tackles for loss. The secondary was fast and feisty, snaring two interceptions and shutting down an offense that relies on it’s screen game. When the night was over, the Blue Devils had less than 200 yards of total offense to show for its efforts.
“Our defense played real, real well,” Medina head man Larry Laird said afterward. “Other than one drive I’m not too crazy about, I thought out defense played with bad intentions tonight. Offensively, our O-line stepped up at times and did some nice things. We have some things to clean up, but I thought our receivers played well and obviously Drew can make all the throws.”
While wideouts Brennen Schramm and Ben Butler had the honor of catching Allar’s TD passes, running back Matt Spatny added two of his own on the ground. And in a feel good story, 275-pound defensive lineman Antonio Coleman also found paydirt on a 1-yard touchdown run.
.@medinaathletics strikes first with a 2-yard TD run by Matt Spatny. 7-0 here in the first quarter @SportsKee1 pic.twitter.com/YObLYhClBV
— 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝙶𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 (@Spencito_) October 8, 2021
For Brunswick, senior QB Ethan Fritz hooked up with top target Connin Som and JD Serwatka for both their scores.
Despite the lopsided score, there was a moment in the second where it felt as though Brunswick was on the comeback trail. Trailing 28-7 after Spatny’s second touchdown run, Frtiz had the offense humming on 80-yard drive and found Serwatka for a 17-yard touchdown pass. Now a two possession game, the Blue Devils defense rose to the occasion and forced a swift three-and-out to get the ball back to the offense.
That effort was in vein as Fritz threw his first interception of the night to CB Jajuan Jackson, promptly ending the drive. Jackson snagged another pick on Brunswick’s next series as well, essentially sealing their fate.
“When you’re faced with [a momentum swing] like that, you find out who you are as a team and I thought we answered the bell,” coach Laird said.
Short, stalled drives was a common theme for Brunswick tonight and it started right from the outset punting after just a few plays on the opening drive of the game. That set up a spread’em out, pass heavy, 62-yard drive from Allar and company that concluded with Spatny punching it in from a few yards out. It was a lead the Bees would never relinquish.
After another quick stop of the Blue Devils it was more of the same from the Bees, with Allar leading a drive from their own 27 for a score – hitting Schramm from 18-yards out for his first touchdown pass of the evening.
Brunswick eventually stopped the bleeding a bit by forcing back-to-back punts from the Bees, but could only slow them down for so long. With just over five minutes before the half, an untimely fumble by Som gave Medina a short field at the 35-yard line. Two plays later, Allar found Butler from about 13 yards out to make it 21-0.
Trailing by three scores, Brunswick was desperate to seize some momentum before the break and found it after forcing a turnover on downs. With 1:08 remaining, the Blue Devils put together their best drive of the half, working the sidelines on 52-yard drive that ended with a two-yard pass from Fritz to Som.
As time expires on the first half @BHSGoBigBlue gets a much needed touchdown with Ethan Fritz finding Connin Som. Cuts the lead to 21-7 @medinaathletics at the break. pic.twitter.com/EF2N5I2rAZ
— 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝙶𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 (@Spencito_) October 9, 2021
While that momentum seemed to carry over for a least a portion of the third quarter, it wound up being another half marred by mistakes for Brunswick as they simply didn’t have enough firepower knock off their rival tonight.
“I don’t think we’re satisfied,” Allar said of his team’s attitude as they carry the weight of an undefeated season. “I don’t necessarily have to do anything or tell my teammates to get going, because we’re still hungry. Undefeated is cool but it doesn’t matter if we don’t win out and make a deep run in the playoffs.”
Next up on Medina’s path to perfection is a senior night matchup with a struggling Lorain team, before they conclude their regular season on the road against Solon. For Brunswick, it’s a trip to Hudson next Friday.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Medina – Drew Allar: 35/49 passing, about 340 yards and 2 TDS … 37 yards rushing
Brunswick – Connin Som: 9 receptions for 72 yards and 1 TD
