PATTERSON’S TD CATCH ONE-UPS EAGLES
By Dom DiPasqua/Staff Writer
Friday night, September 26, 2014
BROADVIEW HEIGHTS – Garrett Patterson’s 16-yard touchdown reception with 2:23 to play capped a wild fourth quarter where the lead changed hands four times as Brecksville-Broadview Heights came back to top North Olmsted here tonight in front of a lively Homecoming crowd at Community Stadium.
The Eagles and the Bees combined for 29 fourth quarter points in a Southwestern Conference game that wasn’t decided until Danny Shirilla defended a Christian Ammons fourth down and ten pass from Brecksville’s 30 at the far side first down stake with 41 seconds remaining.
Both teams fought tooth and nail for the entire 48 minutes in what was one of the most entertaining and competitive games contested at the Bee Hive in years. It was the Bees second straight Homecoming win and it keeps them undefeated in the SWC at 2-0. Brecksville is 4-1 overall.
“This is a huge victory for us. Our coaches really stressed, ‘don’t give up’ all night. This was the true meaning of don’t give up because we were trailing with close to four minutes left and we came back down and scored,” said Patterson, a senior wide receiver. “Then we held them off in the final two minutes and we win this game. Emotionally this is a huge victory for our team.”
North Olmsted (3-2, 1-1 SWC) took a 29-26 lead with 3:46 to play when Josh Hufstetler dove in from three yards out.
Gut Check Time
The Eagles ensuing squib kick was returned ten yards by the Bees Zach Venesile to his own 46. With 3:39 on the clock Brecksville had one last chance to pull out what was a back-and-forth game.
Strnad hit Patterson for a ten-yard gain on first down. Two plays later he found Tyler Tupa for 18 yards to the Eagles 26. Strnad went back to Tupa for ten more yards that set-up a first down play at the N-O 16. Tupa delivering a crunching blow to the Eagles defender who eventually brought him down.
Strnad then rolled slightly to his right and fired the ball into the end zone where Patterson was double-covered. Patterson went high in the air, splitting the two defenders and came down with the ball for what proved to be the clincher. Jakob Nypaver’s extra point kick ended the games scoring. But this one was far from over.
The game-winning catch was extra sweet for Patterson who had an uncharacteristic drop on a prior possession. “It really doesn’t get any better. Especially after dropping such a wide open pass. I try to tell people, ‘when something bad happens on the field just move on to the next play. Don’t think about it’,” Patterson said. “Something bad happened to me and I had to act on my own words. So that’s exactly what I did. Coach (Tom) Tupa put me in a great position to make the game-winning touchdown catch. I just made the play that time.”
Fasten Your Seat-belt’s
The way North Olmsted had moved the ball in the second half it appeared there was too much time on the clock for the patchwork Bees defense to fend them off. But this gutsy group found a way.
The Eagles took possession with 2:17 on the clock and had the ball, starting at their 35, for the games final nine plays. They came up empty. Ammons, a junior, hit Ben Kurcsak for a 15-yard gain to the 49. Three plays later he completed another pass to Kurcsak to the Bees 30. And a new set of downs with 1:00 to play.
Niall Lewison deflected the first down pass. Victor Bierman pressured Ammons into throwing a ball that was batted down by Mason Mackovjak on second down. Shirilla broke-up the third down pass. And he was there on the far sideline to make sure that Ammons’ last pass was incomplete at the boundary.
“We knew they were going to pass the ball. We were expecting it because they had to throw in that situation. I just dug down deep and tried to find the ball,” Shirilla, a junior defensive back, said. “North Olmsted is a great passing team. A great team overall. They have some really good receivers and a pretty good quarterback. And he is only going to get better as the season goes on.”
Making It Look Easy
The Eagles drew first blood with an impressive game-opening drive. They went 71 yards on five plays in just 2:20 and scored on a 25-yard run up the middle by Matt Starcovic, who lined up at quarterback in the wildcat formation. Junior Max Becker’s extra point gave the guests a 7-0 lead before the large crowd had fully settled in.
On its first possession Brecksville kept the ball for nine plays but eventually had to punt it away. Tyler Tupa’s boot buried the Eagles at their own six. Shirilla broke-up a second down pass and North Olmsted eventually lined up to punt.
Bierman, a sophomore defensive end, broke through on the left side and slapped Ryan Coleman’s punt away with one hand. Joe Dimitrijevs scooped up the ball and took it four yards to pay dirt. Brecksville’s point-after attempt, out of the muddle-huddle formation, was a pass that went incomplete.
That set the tone for the odd scoring sequences that were to follow for the duration of the physical contest.
Bees Continue to Capitalize
Joey McGonegal who had a night to remember, intercepted Ammons’ first down pass at midfield and returned it 20 yards to the Eagles 30. On a third and 30 play, back at the 50, Strnad muscled his way in zig-zagging fashion for 28 yards. McGonegal, in his first varsity start at running back, twisted and turned and his second-effort beat the measuring stick by an inch.
On the very next play Strnad went 20 yards over the top to Tupa for a TD. The Eagles blocked the extra point leaving the score 12-7 Brecksville with 2:37 left in the opening act.
North Olmsted’s third turnover of the first period came when Lewison picked off Ammons at the Bees 39. Tupa hauled in an 18-yard aerial from Strnad and McGonegal added 14 on a turf-eating chain-mover to the Eagles 22. A face-mask penalty put the Bees in business at the ten.
On an ideal play call that was beautifully executed Strnad rolled to his right and threw back across the field to his left where McGonegal, who drifted unnoticed out of the backfield, was wide open. He caught the ball at the one and stepped into the end zone for his first varsity touchdown. Nypaver’s kick gave Bees a 19-7 lead.
Getting After It
Defensive end Ryder Seballos and Dimitrijevs sacked Ammons on a key fourth and two play at Brecksville’s 22. Four plays later the hosts punted it back.
Both Seballos and Dimitrijevs had outstanding ballgames. Joe-D, a senior captain, reached the scoring column and was in on several key tackles. Seballos used his speed to get past a much larger offensive tackle and consistently put pressure on the Eagles signal-caller. “I just got after it. I left it all on the field,” Seballos, a junior who played with reckless abandon, said. “The past couple of weeks I’ve been thinking too much. Tonight I didn’t think. I just went for it and it worked.”
Beeville took possession again with 2:09 left in the half. On a second down rushing attempt McGonegal was injured. Trainers attending to his lower right leg. On the next play Coleman intercepted Strnad who lofted a middle screen pass that hung in the air.
With a short field it would be up to the Bees defense to keep the Eagles out of the end zone before the half. There was 1:18 remaining and they had the ball at the 13. The “Beefense” came through at this critical juncture.
Becker’s 25-yard field goal attempt was just wide left. That left the score at intermission 19-7 Brecksville.
Tupa laid out to grab a 28-yard bullet from Strnad on the Bees first possession of the second half. That was the highlight of a drive that otherwise netted little else.
The Tide Turns
The next time Brecksville had the ball Starcovic intercepted Strnad and wove his way 26 yards from the 40 down to the Bees 14. Seven plays and 3:38 later Ammons sneaked it in from the one. Becker, a left-footed kicker, narrowed the gap to 19-14.
Brecksville fumbled the ball away at its own 45. And then, as the third quarter melted into the fourth, Ryan Lambert came up with what was the play of the game up to that point when he sacked Ammons on a fourth and eight play from the Bees 17.
Brecksville was forced to punt and Ammons made them pay. He connected with Coleman, who was streaking wide-open down the left sideline, for a 62-yard touchdown pass that silenced the vocal home crowd.
The Bees got a syrupy dose of their own medicine when Ammons lined up under center on the extra point. He pitched to Starcovic who passed to Kyle Wapshott who was wide-open for a two-point conversion.
That gave North Olmsted a 22-19 lead with 10:11 remaining in the game. It was the visitors first lead since they went up 7-0 on the games opening drive.
Back On Top … For a Short While
Strnad heated up. He hit Tupa, who went up high between two defenders for a 28-yard gain. On the very next play he fired to Tupa again. The inside bubble screen went for 30 more yards. Venesile then hauled in an 8-yarder.
Strnad toted it to the five. And McGonegal, in his on-going night of firsts, capped the 5-play, 73-yard assault when he ran it in from the two. It was McGonegal’s first-ever varsity rushing TD. And it put the Bees back on top, 26-22, with 7:50 left.
“It felt good to get the pick and the touchdowns. When I got hurt in the second quarter I wanted to keep playing so I toughed it out,” said McGonegal, who suffered a sprained ankle and battled through the discomfort. “I knew I had to go out there and play. I couldn’t take any breaks. I had to go out there and get it done.”
The Bees are 2-0 to start conference play. But it has not been easy. They had to hold off a hard-charging Olmsted Falls squad a week ago. Tonight it came down to the end once again against the Eagles.
“We’ve had a couple of rough weeks. But to come back and get the win like this on Homecoming against a great team like North Olmsted is just a great feeling,” Shirilla said.
Summing It Up
For veteran BBHHS head coach Jason Black it was the second straight week that his club pulled a win out of the hat. To celebrate he will cut his sisters lawn tomorrow. And then his mom and dads. Then he’ll start watching film on Amherst. But tonight all he wanted to talk about was his team and not an Indian summer Saturday.
“I could not be more pleased with the effort our guys gave us. This is probably one of the more enjoyable team wins we’ve had in this program in a long time. It was a true team win,” Black said. “I’m very proud of the guys. I thought we played really hard. The guys that had a chance to step-up and make a play, not everybody did. But either their teammates bailed them out or they made a play later on in the game. And that’s team football. Football is the greatest team sport ever. And tonight that’s what it was all about.”
LINE SCORE:
EAGLES 7 0 7 15 = 29
BEES 12 7 0 14 = 33
SCORING SUMMARY:
1) – Eagles … Matt Starcovic 25 run. Max Becker kick. 7-0 Eagles (9:40).
1) – Bees … Joe Dimitrijevs 4 return of blocked punt. Pass failed. 7-6 Eagles. (5:03).
1) – Bees … Luke Strnad 20 pass to Tyler Tupa. Kick Blocked. 12-7 Bees. (2:37).
2) – Bees … Luke Strnad 10 pass to Joey McGonegal. Jakob Nypaver kick. 19-7 Bees. (9:14).
3) – Eagles … Christian Ammons 1 run. Max Becker kick. 19-14 Bees. (3:10).
4) – Eagles … Christian Ammons 62 pass to Ryan Coleman. Matt Starcovic pass to Kyle Wapshott. 22-19 Eagles. (10:11).
4) – Bees … Joey McGonegal 2 run. Jakob Nypaver kick. 26-22 Bees. (7:50).
4) – Eagles … Josh Hufstetler 3 run. Max Becker kick. 29-26 Eagles. (3:46).
4) – Bees … Luke Strnad 16 pass to Garrett Patterson. Jakob Nypaver kick. 33-29 Bees. (2:23).
Final: 33-29, Bees.
> North Olmsted is now 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the SWC.
> Brecksville is now 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the SWC.
Please stay tuned to the Bees website this weekend for Saturday nights notes and quotes sidebar story. On Sunday we will take a look inside the stats of the Eagles and Bees barn-burner. And on Monday night there will be a preview story for next Fridays Brecksville at Amherst Steele game.
See You At The Bee Hive!
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