PICTURE PERFECT OPENING NIGHT
By Dom DiPasqua/Staff Writer
Saturday afternoon, August 30, 2014
NORTH ROYATON – For the first time ever the Bees stepped foot in North Royalton’s spectacular stadium, which is now in its third year of existence. Although the playing surface (it is now artificial field turf) remains what it was once called, Gibson Field, the ballpark itself goes by the name of Serpentini Chevrolet Stadium. Fans had said the place is nice. It didn’t disappoint.
The Bears ballpark is outstanding. Everything about it; from the exterior facade, its setting, the score board and even the landscaping was eye-opening. The field surface was about as comfortable underfoot as any of its kind. An A+ goes to all the folks who made the project a reality.
A sliver of a silver moon hung in a fading pale blue sky high above the press box of the far-reaching home grandstand as dusk fell. That respite from a hot and bright setting sun provided relief for the Brecksville-Broadview Heights fans who spent most of the first half squinting at the field.
There was plenty of action on it. Especially early as the Bees put up 14 first quarter points, which they sandwiched around Holy Name’s 7. Brecksville (1-0) would go on to score a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to put the contest out of reach. The Bees would claim a 28-13 opening night non-conference victory over the Green Wave (0-1). It was the programs ninth win in its last ten outings.
Fans settled in early for the 2014 lid lifter, jump-starting their three-day Labor Day weekend the best way that Greater Clevelander’s know how. Under the bright Friday night lights of high school football.
It was 79 degrees and sunny at kickoff. A light breeze stirred the American flag, which flew high in the north end zone. Humidity was low. The season had begun.
Strolling The Sideline
The usual gathering of Brecksville game day personnel chit-chatted on the east sideline about a half hour prior to kick off. Assistant athletic trainer Kara Butcher was one of the first to say hello. Butcher, who lives in Medina County, is working with the Brunswick football team during the week. She will spend her Friday nights with the Bees, helping out ‘Trainer Tom” Iannetta.
Holy Name game attendants were gracious. A rotating cold water sprayer kept the temperature comfortable at field level. At least for those of us that weren’t in helmets and pads. Pregame music blared. “I wonder who picked this music. It doesn’t sound like The Our Father,” quipped one of the sidelines primary chop-busters.
Across the way the Holy Name fans, although very good in numbers, still appeared dwarfed by the enormity of the home stands. H-N is known for its school spirit and the Division IV school didn’t disappoint in that department. It appeared as through half its student body was seated, or standing as it were, in the northern most section of the edifice. When the Green Wave made a good play the shrieks of what sounded like hundreds of girls made its way across the turf.
Spirits were high. And why not? Players coaches and fans wait months for high school football season to kick off. Mother Nature blessed its return last night.
“We’re going to throw everything and the kitchen sink at them early and often,” said Bees defensive coordinator John Shirilla as warm-ups concluded. “If we can’t tackle it’s Coach (Mike) Czack’s fault.”
The Action Begins
Other than a letdown after Brecksville scored its first touchdown on an 8-yard pass from Danny Shirilla to Tyler Tupa where the Bees were slightly out-physicalled and looked a step slow when Holy Name broke a long kick off return that resulted in a 2-play 40-yard scoring drive to make the score 8-7, the Bees defense was solid. It wasn’t scored upon again until there was 2:05 remaining in the contest and substitutes had entered the fray.
The Bees Marching Band sat in portable bleachers in the south end zone. BBHHS students jammed their section. They were decked out in black. “They picked a heck of a night to wear black,” Kara Butcher said.
Senior basketball player Kelsey “KC” Roman was the first to receive a Tootsie Pop this season. Roman, who also runs cross country, will forever be the answer to the trivia question of who caught the first Tootsie Pop of the 2014-’15 school year.
Junior hoop players Dan Auble and Jimmy Henyey made sure-handed snags of the tossed Pops. Henyey, harkening back to the Bees team camp this June and referring to an inside joke, asked if there were any muffins in the black travel bag.
Beeville cheerleaders were in a rare mood. This year they are coached by Jamie Hoy, the winter sports cheer coach, who has taken over for Mrs. Harnist. “We’re going to win, but I can’t decide the score yet,” said cheerleader Giovanna Milano. “And I think we’re going to have a good season.”
Nicole “The Predictor” Best, where are you?
“Can you believe I’m a senior?” cheerleader Morgan Zeleny asked. Aren’t we all high school seniors, at least in our hearts? Was all I could think.
Opening Statements
Beginning Thursday morning the calls and emails and text messages began. How will the Bees do? We can beat Holy Name, right? Folks wanted to know. “This is a marquee opener for Holy Name when you think about it,” said The Mouthpiece. “They get to play on a Friday night, in a beautiful ballpark that is their home, against a nearby team that is a winning program and will bring a lot of fans.”
The Mouthpiece, the wise old sage that he is, had a good point. As if in the court of law he drove home his point. “When I played at Padua we didn’t have a stadium. We played our home games at Byers Field. And that was long before it had turf. If we were lucky we got to play on a Saturday night, but it was usually on Saturday afternoon. We hardly ever got to play on a Friday night.”
So the Namer’s, who have never really had a place that felt like home, can now certainly call Serpentini a place they can settle into. Congratulations to Holy Name athletic director Jack Richardson and North Royalton A-D Bo Kuntz for making it happen.
Old Home Week
The old guard, literally, began to show-up along the Bees sideline as action had settled in to a rhythm on the field. Former Beeville players Eli Sorna, Dan Duncan and Troy Lang, all members of last years Southwestern Conference championship team, made the scene.
“I drove 222 miles from the University of Cincinnati to get here,” Sorna said. Lang, who is on the second string at Baldwin-Wallace, traveled all of 9 miles to be there.
By this time the Bees had posted their second touchdown, a 9-yard pass from Austin Strnad to Tupa. And the sun had slipped below the press box, which took the pressure of the old eyeballs. Team photographers Scott Warren, Jeannette Weaver and a newcomer, Mrs. Walter, whose son Troy had a varsity debut to remember with two interceptions, were clicking away.
Moments later Troy picked off Holy Name quarterback Christian Klink. “I missed it,” said a bummed, but smiling Mrs. Walter.
The Bees led 14-7 at halftime. The visiting band played the 1964 Beatles tune, “Eleanor Rigby”, as its featured intermission song. The setting, sitting on the bench with the photographers and looking across the way at the press box, its facade adorned by back-lit purple block letter lights, was about a good a view as one could ask for after a long off-season.
Second Half Statement
Brecksville got the ball to start the second half. They went to a quicker pace at the line of scrimmage and that tempo caught the Green Wave off guard. The Bees would go 59 yards in a well-executed 10-play drive to score their third touchdown. It came on a 5-yard pass from Strnad to Niall Lewison. Lewison reaching pay dirt for the first time in his high school career.
Players from both teams suffered from cramping. Trainers made fairly regular appearances on the turf. But the game had no serious injuries. That’s a positive on any Friday night and certainly a bonus in week one.
At the end of the third quarter Jeannette Weaver suddenly found herself with a new gadget. She was beaming. “I’m going fishing in Canada. You can have my telephoto lenses and tripod. You can get it back to me next week,” Scott Warren said to Weaver before disappearing into the night and eventually to a placid lake somewhere north of the border.
When Tupa made a diving catch in the end zone of Strnad’s third quarter pass the Bees had the game pretty much locked up. Especially the way the defense had been playing. The exclamation point came when Steve Klaus broke up a Clink pass to halt a Namer’s drive. “That was the break wall that stopped the Green Wave,” quipped the voice of the Bees, Dan “Hacksaw” Hodous.
Living A Dream
As time wound down in the fourth quarter smiles and handshakes were being exchanged on the Brecksville bench. Evan Baschko, a 6-4, 275-pound senior two-way tackle, was tracked down. Baschko, who had been in the marching band the last three years, traded in his tuba for a football helmet this fall. He was grinning from ear-to-ear.
“This is something else,” Baschko said. “I was trying to stay calm in school all day but I had butterflies. On the bus ride over I felt a little queasy. But once I got on the field it was awesome. This is everything I thought it would be and more. I wish I would have joined the football team earlier. This is a really good time.”
Baschko also plays baseball for BBHHS. He said in the summer that while sitting in the band stands that he always wondered what it would be like to run out onto the field in a football uniform. Last night was a night to remember for number 79. “The best thing of all about tonight was that the coaches had a great game plan,” Baschko said. “Everyone has done a really good job.”
The Final Countdown
When Troy Walter’s second pick all but ended the game the Brecksville student section was in a mild frenzy. Coming off a 10-2 season not many knew what to expect. But those expectations, as they usually are at Brecksville, were high.
The “Special K’s”, the junior Lady Bee basketball playing trio of Katie Boehlefeld, Kendall Brown and Kaylee Vadini were at the rail, calling for Tootsie Pops. The scoreboard clock ticked away. “Are you going to Swenson’s with us?” Lady Bees soccer goalie Jennifer Farwell asked. “You have to go and get the fried mushrooms,” Vadini added.
The team came over for the traditional post-game singing and playing of the BBHHS alma mater. It never sounded so good. “It’s awesome that the boys are singing,” Mrs. Hoy pointed out.
The game was over. A 28-13 opening night victory was in the books. The crowd began to file out. But Hodous wasn’t done. “Did you know that Harold Chidsey wrote the words and musical score to Brecksville’s alma mater?” Hodous inquired. “He was me and Dan Kalinsky’s eighth grade music teacher. He wrote the words to “All Hail To Brecksville High.”
And so the night came to and end. But over on Broadview Road at Swenson’s it was just beginning. I took a flyer on the fried mushrooms. The doctor would not approve. Besides, I had a date with this keyboard.
BEE BUZZ:
Last night concluded Brecksville’s brief two-game, season opening home-and-home contract with Holy Name. The Bees open the 2015 campaign by taking on the Green Waves arch rival, Padua Franciscan. Padua topped a very good Brush team last night on the road, 21-14.
Timmy Tupa, the Bees All-Ohio quarterback from last season and now a freshman at the United States Naval Academy, dressed and traveled up I-95 with the Midshipmen today for their game against Ohio State at the Baltimore Ravens M&T Bank Stadium. Beth and Tom Tupa are in Baltimore.
Linebackers coach Mike Czack was shuffling off to Buffalo today to watch son Colton, a First-Team All-SWC linebacker a year ago, play for Duquesne in this afternoons clash at The University at Buffalo.
Brecksville opted to wear its black game pants last night. They wore white jerseys and the customary red helmets. Holy Name sported green from head to toe.
Kudos to whomever sold all the advertising space on the Serpentini Stadium scoreboard. It gives the board at Progressive Field a miniature run for its money. No pun intended.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT:
“If you parked at Taco Bell you will be towed.” – The Holy Name public address announcer.
LAST NIGHTS SCORES:
BEES – 28, Holy Name -13.
Berea-Midpark – 47, North Royalton – 7.
Hudson – 40, Euclid – 6.
Lakewood – 14, Parma – 13.
Bedford – 14, Olmsted Falls – 7.
North Olmsted – 48, Valley Forge – 23.
Amherst Steele – 13, John Hay – 7.
Avon – 44, Avon Lake – 7.
Westlake – 34, North Ridgeville – 33.
Joplin (MO) – 35, Springfield Parkview – 21.
QUICK RECAPS:
The Titans are loaded but who would have thunk a 40-point win over the Bears? It was 33-7 early. By all accounts Berea-Midpark quarterback Nick Gassman looked sharp. North Royalton will be in a grizzly mood this Friday when the Bees head back over to Ridge Road for the annual tussle for the Golden Shoe.
Mitch Guadagni passed for three touchdowns and the powerful Explorers pasted Euclid. Guadagni, a Toledo recruit, comes to the Bee Hive in two weeks. Hudson is the second-ranked team in the area, behind St. Edward.
Lakewood, the Bees week seven West Shore Conference crossover opponent, slipped past Parma at Byers Field.
Bedford scored a fourth quarter touchdown to stave off Olmsted Falls’ upset bid at Bearcat Stadium.
It appears as though North Olmsted has found a replacement at quarterback for Brad Novak. Christian Ammons threw for five touchdowns in setting a school record. Returning all-conference running back Ben Kurscak had two of those scoring receptions.
It shows what this scribe knows. The prediction was that Amherst Steele would go win-less this season. My bad. The Comets took care of Cleveland John Hay, 14-7. Congratulations to Bill Fishleigh on his first win at Steele.
Avon Lake took it on the chin in a 44-7 rout at the hands of neighboring rival Avon in a game played at the War Memorial. It won’t get any easier for the Shoremen when they travel cross town to Bedford next Friday.
Westlake survived a tough opening night foe by dodging a bullet when the Rangers game-winning two point conversion attempt failed. Demons running back JaQuan Hardy carried the ball 27 times for 133 yards and scored three touchdowns in the nail-biter at Lou Duchez Field. Junior quarterback Andris Balodis, in his first varsity start, threw for a score.
The Joplin (MO) Eagles are off to a 2-0 start this season. Last week they defeated Springfield Glendale at home, 42-21. Last night they bested Springfield Parkview on the road.
The Southwestern Conference went 5-2 last night.
Stay tuned to the Bees football website on Sunday for a look inside the statistics of last nights season-opening win over Holy Name. On Monday the Battle For The Golden Shoe will be previewed.
See You At The Bee Hive!
To contact: Ddipa678342aol.com.
Follow the Lady Bees volleyball team on-line at: beesvolleyball.com.
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