by MEDINA, OH – In week five of the regular season, the Strongsville Mustangs visited the Medina Battling Bees in Greater Cleveland Conference play. That game was our Kee On Sports High School Football Game of the Week streamed on our YouTube channel and it was a good one. Strongsville managed to give Medina a bit of a scare in the first half and both teams went to the locker room with the game knotted up at 21 all. In the second half the Battling Bees adjusted quite well and went on to win 56-35.
Tonight, in the first round of the OHSAA playoffs, these two GCC foes ran it back once again from Ken Dukes Stadium. In some ways this game very much so resembled the first meeting despite having its own differences.
The entire first half was a defensive battle and the Mustangs were prepared for the test against the number two seed Battling Bees.
The first few drives in the first quarter resulted in punts for Strongsville and a turnover on downs for Medina. Finally on Medina’s second offensive possession they began to piece a long drive together. The typical pass heavy attack led by junior quarterback Dan Stoddard marched down the field to the Mustangs 13-yard line. After back-to-back incompletions on 2nd and 3rd down, the Battling Bees kept their offense on the field for the 4th and 7.
Stoddard rolled right, looked back across the middle and found senior receiver Carlos Corchado just past the sticks for the first down. Corchado turned up field and found his way to the end zone. The 13-yard score broke the deadlock and put Medina up 7-0.
On the ensuing drive, Strongsville only ran three plays prior to the quarter concluding with the score still 7-0.
On Medina’s next offensive possession, Stoddard was on the mark and finding his receivers. On his third completion in a row, he found junior receiver Camryn Hathaway. As soon as Hathaway turned up field, he lost the ball and the fumble was recovered in Strongsville territory by the Mustangs.
On the ensuring drive Strongsville capitalized on the turnover and sophomore quarterback Nolan Beard capped off the drive with a 17-yard touchdown run. Momentum was swinging the way of the visitors as they found themselves tied 7-7.
On the next drive the Battling Bees easily cruised down the field and found themselves at the one-yard line following a Stoddard run for 18 yards. Medina then ran what appeared to be a delayed slant from the far left of the formation coming back to the middle. Stoddard looked and threw that way but a Strongsville linebacker slid under and made a fantastic diving interception at the one-yard line. With their back against the wall, the Mustangs defense was doing everything in their power to give themselves an opportunity to pull off the upset tonight.
Strongsville tried to bulldoze their way down the field with their physical junior running back Xavier Belvin. After several carries with nice chunk yardage, Strongsville had to punt the ball back to Medina with 1:12 left in the half still tied at seven all.
That was plenty of time for the explosive offense of the Battling Bees. They flew 61 yards down the field in 1:07 seconds, taking the lead on a Cooper Josefczyk 1-yard TD run. That would be it for the first half and Medina would head to the locker room with a 14-7 lead.
This game was truly a tale of two halves, even more so than the matchup earlier this season.
Medina would score touchdowns on all four of their second half possessions.
The first one was a Jack Wojciak 21-yard touchdown run out of the pistol set that has been incorporated into the offense this year (21-7 Medina).
The next two touchdowns both came by way of Stoddard on the ground from 1 yard out (28-7 and 35-7).
Finally, Medina’s last time of hitting pay dirt on the night was on a 28-yard completion from Stoddard to Wojciak (42-7).
On Strongsville’s final drive, they managed to move the ball and nearly scored. The last play of the game was a completion from Beard to Case McIntyre over the middle. McIntyre fought his way to the goal line and nearly broke the plane of the end zone. He was marked down at the one and the clock hit zeros following the 24-yard reception.
Medina moves to 10-1 on the season and will play Wadsworth next week following the 42-7 victory tonight.
Strongsville wraps up their 2022 season with a record of 3-8.
Stats
Passing
Medina: QB Dan Stoddard – 28/38 for 360 yards and 2 TDs
Strongsville: QB Nolan Beard – 15/30 for 114 yards
Rushing
Medina: QB Dan Stoddard – 14 carries for 94 yards and 2 TDs
Medina: WR Jack Wojciak – 7 carries for 50 yards and 1 TD
Medina: S Cooper Josefczyk – 1 TD
Strongsville: RB Xavier Belvin – 17 carries for 103 yards
Strongsville: QB Nolan Beard – 4 carries for 26 yards and 1 TD
Receiving
Medina: WR Brennan Schramm – 6 receptions for 52 yards
Medina: WR Jack Wojciak – 4 receptions for 64 yards and 1 TD
Medina: WR Austin Knowles – 4 receptions for 127 yards
Medina: WR Carlos Corchado – 5 receptions for 57 yards and 1 TD
Medina: WR Camryn Hathaway – 3 receptions for 38 yards and 1 fumble
Strongsville: WR Case McIntyre – 4 receptions for 43 yards
Strongsville: WR Will Dasher – 2 receptions for 43 yards
Player of the Game: Dan Stoddard 28/38 for 360 yards passing, 14 carries and 94 yards on the ground, 4 total touchdowns
