North Olmsted Clinches Playoffs with Dominant Win Over Westlake

Westlake, Ohio – With a playoff berth on the line for the North Olmsted Eagles, the Westlake Demons looked to play spoilers on their Senior Night. Both teams felt that they had good weeks of practice heading into the final game of the regular season.  

Coach Tim Brediger and the North Olmsted Eagles would not have their playoff hopes spoiled. The Eagles came out playing aggressively on both sides of the ball. Matthew Chalkwater led the way with 14 carries for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns. 

North Olmsted came out of the gates on both sides of the ball ready to attack. The Westlake Demons started the game with possession and were quickly forced to punt. North Olmsted’s defense forced them into negative 6 yards on the opening drive.  

Offensively, the Eagles got the run game going early. Matthew Chalkwater carried the ball 6 times tallying 28 yards on the opening drive. On his final carry, Chalkwater fumbled the ball into the end zone. Luckily for the Eagles, Javion Pierce was ready to jump on the loose ball for a big man touchdown. 

Westlake’s next offensive possession spanned 13 plays for 42 yards. However, they came up empty on the scoreboard thanks to a myriad of penalties. On the first play of North Olmsted’s ensuing drive, Michael Passafiume took a handoff 91 yards for a touchdown. Following the PAT, the Eagles were up 14-0 early in the 2nd quarter. 

Defensively, the Eagles played tough the remainder of the half. The Demons possessed the ball three more times that ended with two punts and a turnover on downs.  

North Olmsted’s next possession found Tommy Horsfall connecting with Mitchell Kurtz on a 34-yard touchdown pass. The Eagles were not done yet either. Matthew Chalkwater popped off their second 80 plus yard run of the game. An 84-yard run set the Eagles up in prime position to score again. The next play, Chalkwater ran a 3-yard play into the end zone. Heading into the break, the Eagles held a 28-0 lead. 

North Olmsted picked up right where they left off to start the 2nd half. A 32-yard pass play from Tommy Horsfall to Dean Cullup set up yet another scoring drive. The Eagles got back to their run game to finish off the drive. Matthew Chalkwater found the end zone for the 2nd time in the game from 6 yards out.  

“We have been fortunate the last 4-5 weeks to be able to run the ball a lot. Our goal was to run the ball and eat clock to keep our defense off the field.” stated Coach Tim Brediger on the impact of the run game. 

Late in the 4th quarter with the Eagles leading 35-0, the Demons were able to get on the board. A 69-yard pass from Sam Brucchieri to Charbel Rida ended in a touchdown for Westlake. On the ensuing North Olmsted drive, a botched snap on a punt attempt was loose in the end zone. Westlake’s Seth Eagle jumped on the ball for a Demon touchdown.  

On the final drive of the game, North Olmsted’s Naim Mahmoud ripped off a 59-yard run to put the game away. The Eagles came out on top 35-14 to advance to the postseason. 

Following the game, Coach Brediger had this to say about his team, “I am just proud of them. Tonight was a really good game in all phases… I’m proud of our kids from being 0-4 to being 5-5. I think we learned a lot from playing those four teams early on… I’m just very happy right now.” 

With the victory, North Olmsted moves on to the postseason and will await the announcement Sunday evening for the opening matchup. 

Key Players 

North Olmsted: 

RB Matthew Chalkwater – 14 carries, 136 yards, 2 TDs 

RB Michael Passafiume – 4 carries, 129 yards, 1 TD 

Westlake: 

WR Charbel Rida – 4 receptions, 119 yards, 1 TD 

PLAYER OF THE GAME:  RB MATTHEW CHALKWATER