GUADAGNI PACES HUDSON’S ROMP
By Dom DiPasqua/Staff Writer
Friday night, September 12, 2014
BROADVIEW HEIGHTS – Visiting Hudson proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, why they are the areas’ second-ranked team in a thorough 48-14 non-conference victory over Brecksville-Broadview Heights here tonight in front of a capacity crowd at Community Stadium.
The Explorers faithful travel well. They know what type of team head coach Ron Wright has been building the past several seasons. This years squad is poised to make some serious noise. Tonight they added more believers to their legion. By the time the Elementary School Night traffic jam had cleared from the parking lots around the ballpark Bees fans were well aware, in a painful way, just how good Hudson is.
Mitch Guadagni, a Toledo recruit, fired touchdown passes at will and with ease. Joe Charpentier ran for one and returned an interception for a score as the visitors from Summit County had a field day in the western highlands of the Cuyahoga Valley. Equal to the task was the quick and aggressive Explorer defense that bottled-up the Bees.
“They played hard. They played fast. They played physical. They are a good football team. Every bit as good as advertised,” said veteran BBHHS head coach Jason Black. “We didn’t execute as well as we needed to execute to beat a team as good as Hudson.”
It didn’t help that the Bees lost the field position battle early. And Hudson (3-0) made them pay the price.
The Explorers Exploitations
A short punt and a 15-yard penalty gave the Explorers the ball with a first down at the Brecksville 20 early in the first quarter. Guadagni completed a 13-yard pass to Matt Restifo on the first snap. On second he was sacked by Victor Bierman for an 11-yard loss. Two plays later he hit Dean Miller for a 15-yard touchdown.
The teams exchanged possessions on punts. On a first and ten at the 50-yardline Guadagni was intercepted by the Bees Joe Dimitrijevs and it looked like the hosts had come to play.
But on Brecksville’s very first play Charpentier jumped an out-route and raced untouched 45 yards for the Explorers second touchdown and a 13-0 lead. The extra point kick attempt was wide left.
Later in the opening period Guadagni connected with Colton Whited for 22 yards and a first down at the Brecksville 25. On a second and goal situation from the Bees two Hudson lined up in a pistol formation. Guadagni executed an outstanding ball fake and ran to his right. Just before he was hit he pitched the ball to Charpentier who dove for the far side pylon and a touchdown. Guadagni came back to the other side of the field and hit Charpentier for the two-point conversion. And just like that it was 21-0 Explorers with 1:32 remaining in the first quarter.
Hudson took advantage of starting with the ball at the 50, the Bees 20 and the 50 on its first three possessions. “Field position is a big part of the game and we were unable to overcome our poor early field position. It’s not good to play in the hole with field position let alone play from behind point-wise. That’s a credit to Hudson for making that happen for them,” Black said.
The onslaught continued in the second. Reid Robnson caught a four-yard scoring pass. On Hudson’s next possession Guadagni tossed a swing pass to his left, which Restifo took 75 yards to pay dirt. The Explorers got an interception on a tip drill and in the final 31.7 of the first half called two time outs to engineer their final tally of the explosive opening 24 minutes of football.
With 5.6 remaining and the ball on Brecksville’s 26 Guadagni went left side to Whited for the sixth Hudson TD of the half. Freshman kicker Grant Gonya (5-5, 120) converted three extra points in the frame.
Gathering The Troops
The Bees went to the locker room trailing 42-0.”What we asked the guys to do at halftime was to go out and play with pride in the second half. To play with intensity and dedication to the game of football because that first half was not who we are,” said Black.
Brecksville (2-1) did not pick-up its first first down of the game until around the 9:00 mark of the second quarter. That came on a 25-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Luke Strnad to junior wide receiver Tyler Tupa. The glimmer of getting something going offensively ended with another punt.
Strnad raced for 26 yards with just under three minutes left in the half. He came back on a second down play and found senior wide receiver Garrett Patterson who made a jumping catch in traffic for a 26-yard gain. That drive however would be silenced by an interception.
Playing For Pride
Playing under the new running clock rule Brecksville drove from its own 29 to its first touchdown of the game. Tupa made a nice catch on the march. And Strnad hooked-up with senior wide receiver Jared Schott for 25 yards and a first down at the Explorers 21. Back-to-back motion penalties moved the ball back to the 31. On first and 20 Strnad flung a pass high and far that Tupa came down with in the end zone while being heavily covered. Jakob Nypaver nailed the extra point and with 5:50 showing on the third quarter clock the Bees had averted a shutout.
“We scored that first touchdown of the second half against their ones. Not that seven points means anything at that point but the guys responded to the challenge we set forth to them at halftime. So it showed a little bit of pride,” Black said.
Just when you thought Hudson would keep it on the ground to make the hurried clock move even faster Guadagni drilled another scoring pass to Robinson for a 48-7 lead with 12.8 remaining in the third frame.
Strnad broke off a 36-yard run for a touchdown with 7:15 to go. Nypaver’s point-after concluded the scoring.
Taking a Good, Hard Look
Hudson, out of the Northeast Ohio Conference, was dominant in every phase of the game. “I’m going to say this as simply as I can. You have to go to bed on this one and you have to be honest with your performance and how you played in order to get yourself better. If you focus on getting yourself better the team will improve based on that,” said Black. “But you have to be honest with yourself. You have to look at film and say ‘I did this. I did not do this.’ If you look at it with rose-colored glasses it’s really never going to get any better for you.”
Black not only challenged his players to be self-critical with their own post-game analysis he took it a step further. “As coaches we have to come up with a better game plan. So I’m holding all of us, as coaches, accountable as well,” Black said. “We didn’t execute as well as we needed to execute to beat a team as good as Hudson.”
LINE SCORE:
HUDSON ….. 21 21 6 0 = 48
BEES …………… 0 0 7 7 = 14
SCORING SUMMARY:
1) – H … Mitch Guadagni 15 pass to Dean Miller. Dean Miller kick. 7-0 Hudson (7:17).
1) – H … Joe Charpentier 45-yard interception return. Kick failed. 13-0 Hudson (4:48).
1) – H … Joe Charpentier 2 run. Mitch Guadagni pass to Joe Charpentier. 21-0 Hudson (1:32).
2) – H … Mitch Guadagni 4 pass to Reid Robinson. Grant Gonya kick. 28-0 Hudson (9:54).
2) – H … Mitch Guadagni 75 pass to Matt Restifo. Grant Gonya kick. 35-0 Hudson (5:27).
2) – H … Mitch Guadagni 26 pass to Colton Whited. Grant Gonya kick. 42-0 Hudson (00:00).
3) – B … Luke Strnad 31 pass to Tyler Tupa. Jakob Nypaver kick. 42-7 Hudson (5:50).
3) – H … Mitch Guadagni 11 pass to Colton Whited. Extra point failed. 48-7 Hudson (12.8).
4) – B … Luke Strnad 36 run. Jakob Nypaver kick. 48-14 Hudson (7:15).
Please stay tuned to the Bees website this weekend. Saturday evening we will run the notes and quotes sidebar story. Sunday we will take a look into the stats from tonight’s game. And on Monday evening there will be a preview post of the Bees next opponent, Olmsted Falls.
See You At The Bee Hive!
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