by Brunswick Auto Mart Stadium – The Division I ninth seeded Berea-Midpark Titans traveled a short distance down to eighth seeded Brunswick to face the Blue Devils in the first round of the OHSAA playoffs.
Both teams entered the night with overall records of 6-4. The Titans went 5-2 in the SWC and the Blue Devils were 4-1 in the GCC.
More often than not, the first round provides us with many blowout victories. From initial scheduling this did not give the same lack of appeal. Both teams appeared evenly matched on paper and it seemed like this evening could go either way.
The game began with an early turnover as Brunswick senior quarterback Ethan Fritz looked over the middle and a linebacker tipped the ball. Another Titans linebacker dove and picked it off on a spectacular play – a dream start for a defense that gave up 63 points the week before.
The excellent field position quickly led to a Berea-Midpark touchdown on a fourth and goal from the three-yard line, courtesy of junior running back Hudson Devins (7-0 Titans).
Midway through the first quarter, the rest of the half turned to a game of “offense can do no wrong” as both teams traded points back and forth.
Fritz threw an out route to star wide receiver JD Serwatka for a 13-yard touchdown, knotting it up at 7. Serwatka would continue to perform well out wide, just as he did last week.
On the ensuing drive, Luke and Hudson Devins shouldered the offensive workload and marched all the way down to the four-yard line. On the first and goal, Luke Devins took it in for six on a QB keeper. The made PAT made it 14-7 Titans.
On Brunswick’s next drive, the coaching staff pulled a flee flicker out of their bag of tricks on the first play. The big completion from Connin Som to Jack Safko put the Blue Devils on the right side of the 50 and knocking on the door for a quick response.
The drive began to slow down and the Berea-Midpark defense backed up the Blue Devils behind the chains. On a 4th and 11 from the 22-yard line, the Brunswick coaching staff decided to keep the offense on the field.
Fritz was rolling to his left, keeping his eyes downfield but decided to tuck the ball and run due to excellent coverage downfield. The entire middle of the field was wide open and Fritz was not only able to pick up the first down, but take it to the house by cutting all the way back across to the right corner of the endzone. The massive 22-yard TD scamper from the quarterback once again tied it at 14.
The battle of the senior quarterbacks continued as Luke Devins scored again with his legs on a 2-yard TD run up the middle (21-14 Titans).
On the ensuing drive, Brunswick struck back right away on 3rd and eight from their own 20-yard line. Fritz dropped the ball in just over the reach of the safety and Serwatka was gone up the middle. The 80-yard touchdown made it 21-21.
Brunswick missed a 31-yard field goal to the right on their last drive of the half and Berea-Midpark ran out the clock.
Coming out of the halftime break, both defenses flipped the switch and showed up for the third quarter. Both offenses began to struggle and pressure was being applied on both quarterbacks.
Brunswick’s Daniel Gorski tallied two sacks in the third and Berea-Midpark’s Johnny Sellman had one of his own.
The third quarter resulted in zero total points and the score was still 21 all.
Brunswick had been spread out offensively and using the legs of Fritz or looking to the air. Branyan Nichols had a few carries but Luke Petrowski had not yet touched the football.
The first drive of the fourth quarter was completely different from the rest of the game and featured the run. Petrowski tallied all eight of his carries, picking up 49 yards and getting the Blue Devils in goal-to-go territory. This drive had also eaten away over half the time remaining in the quarter. The Titans defense was getting torn apart by the run before finally holding strong with their backs against the wall.
Brunswick ultimately had to settle for a 22-yard chip shot field goal by Noah Bartczak. Despite Brunswick gaining their first lead of the game, that was a big win for the Titans.
Facing their first deficit of the game, Berea-Midpark still had plenty of time to operate offensively with over five minutes remaining. The Titans remained calm, did not go for the big play and just kept taking a bit of yardage at a time on the ground and in the air.
On third and goal from the five, Luke Devins took off towards the corner and was denied at the two-yard line. The huge play by the Brunswick defense forced a major decision, kick the field goal and tie it at 24 or go for the win on fourth and goal.
Berea-Midpark put the offense back out on the field and handed it off to Hudson Devins, just as they did on their first drive of the game. Devins followed his blockers and put the Titans up 28-24 on the touchdown run.
With 2:35 remaining, Fritz and the Blue Devils looked to quickly go the other way. Following a 6-yard run by Fritz, on 2nd and four he threw a long pass across the field towards the Brunswick sideline, where Tommy Mordarski jumped the route and hauled in the interception.
Berea-Midpark only needed one first down to end the game and converted on a throw from Luke Devins to Josh Medina.
The 28-24 win for the Titans is the first win in the playoffs for a Berea city school since 1991.
The Titans improve to 7-4 on the season and will prepare for an extremely tough test against St. Eds next week.
Brunswick concludes their season at 6-5.
Berea-Midpark Notable Stats
Passing:
#11 Luke Devins – 18-25 for 193 yards
Rushing:
#32 Hudson Devins – 21 carries for 76 yards and 2 TDs
#11 Luke Devins – 6 carries for 31 yards and 2 TDs
Receiving:
#1 Devin Johnson – 6 receptions for 44 yards
#32 Hudson Devins – 4 receptions for 71 yards
Brunswick Notable Stats
Passing:
#6 Ethan Fritz – 15-27 for 202 yards, 2 TDs and 2 INTs
Rushing:
#6 Fritz – 11 carries for 76 yards and 1 TD
#8 Luke Petrowski – 8 carries for 49 yards
#15 Branyan Nichols – 7 carries for 29 yards
Receiving:
#21 JD Serwatka – 3 receptions for 100 yards and 2 TDs
Player of the Game: Luke Devins – 18-25 for 193 passing yards, 6 carries for 31 rushing yards and 2 rushing touchdowns
