BEES – BULLDOGS AT THE BEE HIVE
By Dom DiPasqua/Staff Writer
Monday night, September 15, 2014
BRECKSVILLE – Two longtime rivals will tangle Friday night in a 7:00 pm kickoff when Olmsted Falls makes its way to Community Stadium.
Brecksville-Broadview Heights (2-1) will be at the Bee Hive for the second time in a three-game home stand. Meanwhile the Bulldogs (1-2) will be in the middle of a three-game road swing.
It will be the Southwestern Conference opener for both teams. A clean slate is the mentality that both are approaching this game with.
Beeville and O-F have played each other nine times since the Bees joined the SWC. Prior to that the two teams faced each other for several years as early season non-conference opponents. There is a lot of familiarity.
Falls, under second-year head coach Tom DeLuca, lost last Friday at Mayfield by the score of 33-20. The ‘Dogs opened the season with a 14-7 loss to Bedford. It was a game where they played well enough to win. In week two they shutout Canton South, 10-0, at Harding Stadium.
The Bees began the campaign with two wins at Serpentini Stadium. They defeated Holy Name 28-13 and came back a week later to down arch rival North Royalton, 26-8, to maintain possession of The Golden Shoe.
With this being DeLuca’s second season at the helm on West Bagley Road the transitional year following legendary coach Jim Ryan is behind the Bulldogs. Falls plays an old-style power brand of football on offense. On defense they will be physical and get after you.
Falls’ Featured Players
Senior quarterback Nick Fritz (#12) is the Fall-Dogs veteran senior at quarterback. Fritz (5-10, 170) also plays basketball. Their running back is 6-0, 180 junior Matt Garrett (#32).
Kevin Meehan (#11) is a talented and rangy (6-4, 190) wide receiver. He was a second-team All-SWC performer in 2013. Brian Candow is a senior WR who will also see the ball.
Big Ryan Sosic (#52) is a two-way senior lineman who, at 6-2, 230, takes no wooden nickles. Sosic is the enforcer on the Bulldogs hoop team. Noel Caraballo (#44) is a 6-1, 223 linebacker who will make an impact.
Falls struggled through a 1-9 campaign a year ago in DeLuca’s debut. They are scoring 12.3 points per game and allowing 15.2.
Anthony Trujillo, a senior wide receiver who transferred from Westlake this summer, has suffered a knee injury and is not expected to play. He too plays basketball. The Bulldogs kicker Rickey Castrigano (#15) hit a 33-yard field goal in the 10-0 win over Canton South.
“I can tell you this after playing Olmsted Falls for all the years that we have. They are a physical football team. They play as hard as they possibly can. And they are going to figure out a way to do something because Coach DeLuca is a good coach and their players play with a lot of pride every time out,” said veteran BBHHS head coach Jason Black. “It’s Falls. They are a good football team. They have beaten us a good amount of times.”
Bees Look To Bounce Back
Leading the Bees will be junior wide receiver Tyler Tupa and sophomore quarterback Luke Strnad. Both scored touchdowns in the 48-14 non-conference loss to Hudson last Friday. Tupa, a returning first-team All-SWC player, is the teams leading receiver and scorer with a half dozen touchdowns. He caught the longest TD pass of the season (32 yards) against the Explorers. On the season Tupa has snagged 21 passes for 258 yards. Opposite him is senior WR Garrett Patterson. “G-Pat” has hauled in 13 aerials for 133 yards and scored twice. “Tyler produced at his receiver position like we expected him to produce. Garrett did well catching passes as well,” Black said after the Hudson game.
Strnad, the leading rusher, scored Brecksville’s only running touchdown of the season on a 36-yard jaunt up the middle in the fourth quarter last week.
Both Strnad and junior running back Josh Underwood have over 100 yards rushing this season. Despite a low output on the ground vs Hudson the Bees are still out-gaining their opponents in the rushing department this year.
Strnad, who has started two of the three games and saw plenty of action against Holy Name on opening night, has completed 51 of 74 passes (69%) for 520 yards and eight touchdowns. He has been intercepted three times.
Brecksville’s defense is led by junior end Ryder Seballos (26 tackles) and a pair of senior linebackers in Joe Mandato (23 tackles) and Joe Dimitrijevs (21 tackles). Junior Danny Shirilla is a mainstay at defensive back who can make plays on the ball and deliver big hits.
BEE HIVE BUZZ:
Senior defensive back Troy Walter is the Bees Captain of The Week.
In week five Olmsted Falls stays on the road by visiting Westlake. Brecksville remains home and will entertain North Olmsted.
Here is an interesting fact. Brecksville-Broadview Heights and Olmsted Falls are the only two public schools in Cuyahoga County to win a state championship. Both were Division II titles. The Bees did it in 1983 by defeating Celina, 12-6, under the late Joe Vadini. The Bulldogs won the 2000 crown by defeating Piqua, 21-0, under former head coach Jim Ryan.
Berea came close in 1978. That year the Braves, representing the old Pioneer Conference, lost the Division I title tilt to Cincinnati Princeton, 12-10. Berea was coached by the late Tom Madzy.
THIS WEEKS GAMES:
Southwestern Conference
Olmsted Falls (1-2) at BBHHS (2-1).
Westlake (2-1) at North Olmsted (2-1).
Amherst Steele (1-2) at Berea-Midpark (2-1).
Other than the game at Finnie where the Titans should have no trouble with Steele, the other two SWC frays look like good ones. You never know what to expect when the Bees and the Bulldogs hook-up. Except for the past couple of seasons the series has been very competitive. Westlake and North Olmsted appear to be fairly evenly matched. Last years, two-day contest which was interrupted by weather, ended unexpectedly for the Eagles. And this season the Demons got a taste of their own medicine when they had to go back to Bay on a week-two Saturday. When they left Friday night they were in control. When they left Saturday morning it was with a loss on a last second Hail Mary pass.
OTHER GAMES:
North Ridgeville (2-1) at Avon Lake (1-2) … The Shoremen got untracked in an impressive 16-0 victory on Saturday afternoon at Shaker Heights. This will be their first home game since getting blown out by rival Avon in the opener. This is the SWC-West Shore Conference crossover game of the week.
Holy Name (2-1) at Benedictine (2-1) … Two long time rivals. The Namer’s have won two straight after falling to BBHHS. But I still have to go with the Bennie’s here.
Parma (0-3) at North Royalton (0-3) … The Redmen got skunked by Nordonia last week 55-0. The Bears have struggled to score points. The hunch here is they will score plenty Friday.
Brunswick (3-0) at Hudson (3-0) … After watching the Explorers last Friday I’m not sure who will beat them in the regular season. Perhaps Mentor, but that is a long way off. The Blue Devils have a tall order to fill in this cross town trip.
Lakewood (2-1) at Avon (3-0) … The Rangers have some dynamic play makers but the host Eagles have the tradition and experience. This might be closer than some think. But Avon will win.
Joplin (2-2) at Rolla (1-3) … If the Eagles can get any type of defense they should pass this Ozark Conference test.
See You At The Bee Hive!
To contact: Ddipa67834@aol.com.
Follow the Lady Bees volleyball team on-line at: beesvolleyball.com. Brecksville hosts Westlake Tuesday night.
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