HELLO LAKEWOOD, GOOD-BYE RANGERS
By Dom DiPasqua/Staff Writer
Saturday morning, October 18, 2014
LAKEWOOD – For the first time ever the Bees played at Lakewood last night. It was a horizon-broadening trip to a different kind of place. The atmosphere, although very good for high school football, has a different feel at First Federal Lakewood Stadium.
The venerable ballpark sits in the middle of a come-as-you-are residential neighborhood, deep in the heart of an inner-ring suburb. Traffic, road construction, congestion and parking challenges come with the territory. Lakewood is not Olmsted Falls or Avon Lake. It doesn’t try to be. It doesn’t want to be. Those are just a few of the many traits that give this tight-knit lake shore community its charm.
The landlords of the aging stadium at the corner of Bunts and Madison, the Rangers, found little to be charmed about last night when they were topped by visiting Brecksville-Broadview Heights 34-18 in a late season non-conference game.
The cross-over contest was played on a mild evening and in intermittent light showers. Despite its 2-5 record coming in support was good for the hosts on peewee football appreciation night. The Lakewood student section, decked out in pink, stood the entire game. And even though they had little to cheer about until the final six minutes they appeared to have a blast. School spirit runs high. That’s the Lakewood I know.
A Tough Little Road Trip
Other than the final outcome, many Bee Nation fans didn’t have such a good time – at least in getting to the Mad House on Madison. Northbound traffic on the Jennings Freeway was brutal. I-90 west was a complete bottleneck. And then, whether you exited the coast-to-coast route at West 117th or West 140th the traffic standstills were what they normally are (I’m guessing) at that time of day on a football Friday night.
Brecksville’s cheerleaders did not arrive until about ten minutes before kick off. The marching band entered the stadium with four minutes left in the first quarter. By that time the Bees were well into their second touchdown drive.
The More Roy’s The Better
It was in the company of a pair of guys named Roy that I spent last night. “Berea Roy” Hruska now lives in north Akron. He is an ardent high school sports fan who had sentimental reasons for driving north this October Friday.
“My dad took me to my first high school football game there in 1963. It was a similar night, cool with showers. Parma was at Lakewood. The field was grass then and the stands were a lot closer to the field than they are now. You were practically in the huddle,” Hruska wrote in an early morning email. “Russ Jacques was Parma’s quarterback. It was a great game. The fans and the bands were terrific.”
Hruska was touched with the magic of high school football that night over a half century ago. He carries it in his heart today. Roy, who provided traffic updates via technology that wasn’t even fathomed in ’63, was the first one to offer a handshake last night. He was enjoying a Lakewood concession stand tradition, a giant pickle.
“Garfield Roy” Pubal is an old buddy from a rival high school. We were co-workers in the circulation department at Sun Newspapers back in the days when the chain of weeklies were about to explode into their prime. After a career in the Navy, Pubal is now employed by the U.S. government in another capacity. He has traveled the world, kept in touch, met a lovely Australian woman, married her and has lived for the last 20 years in Canberra, the capital of Australia.
High school football has never left his heart. Because of modern day technology Garfield Roy has followed the Bees on this website for years. He and wife Barb are in town visiting his mom. Roy was excited when we parked the Blue Goose in front of a double-home on Wyandotte, near the corner of Franklin, three blocks away from the stadium.
The treat was seeing him soak in the pregame atmosphere. The closer we got to the ballpark the more his eyes lit up. He hadn’t been to a high school football game in decades. They don’t do this in Australia on Friday nights. “There is something about this. The bands, the lights, the kids. This is America. This is what people do in this country on Friday night. This is the way it should be,” Pubal said as he forked over the $6 entry fee at the gate. I had a feeling he would have paid any price for the opportunity to be in a high school football stadium again.
While Berea Roy sat in the stands and personally reminisced about his first high school football game 51 years ago, Garfield Roy was like a kid in a candy store, assisting with insight and functioning as a welcome extra set of eyes for this sites game night coverage.
Breezy But No Rain
Minutes were ticking down until kick off. The Brecksville cheerleaders finally arrived. They quickly stretched and readied the large white banner for the team to run through, firmly holding down the corners against an 18mph west wind.
Junior cheerleader Chloe Backman hustled over with her traditional pregame prediction. “Brecksville-38, Lakewood-24,” Miss Backman said. For the third time this season she was relatively close. One of these weeks Chloe is going to nail the final score.
Bee fans were few and far between about 20 minutes prior to the opening boot. But after the national anthem was played a look around was met with many more familiar faces who were clad in various combinations of red, black and gold.
BBHHS students, the real loyal fans, who could have easily blown this game off as a meaningless non-conference match-up at an unfamiliar venue on an off day from school, showed up. Theirs were the usual faces. It is wonderful how fellow Bee athletes support each other. From Dani D’Anna to Erin Livingston. From Emma Tupa to Jen Farwell. Several girls sports were represented. Boys basketball players; Dan Auble, Matt Dimitrijevs, Jimmy Henyey and Jared “Big Baby” Bazil all called for Tootsie Pops.
This was Friday night in America to Garfield Roy. This was Brecksville football to the rest of us.
The Bees, sporting their all-white look, took the field well before the Rangers. Lakewood would receive the opening kick off. “After last week you should want to be on the field first,” Brecksville defensive coordinator John Shirilla told his group.
As the Rangers broke through their banner BBHHS principal Joe Mueller’s phone rang. “The band was stuck in traffic on 176 and 90. They just got here and are trying to park,” Mueller said. Welcome to Lakewood.
The regulars continued to trickle in, all with their traffic woes. “It took me an hour and ten minutes to get here,” said sideline photographer Chris Walter. “I left late on purpose so I wouldn’t get stuck in rush hour traffic,” BBHHS athletic director Dan Kalinsky said, shaking his head in frustration. “I parked a few blocks down that side street,” said middle school coach Lou Cozza, pointing through the south end zone.
Let The Game Begin
The hosts took a short-lived 3-0 lead on a 27-yard field goal to culminate an impressive opening possession. Shirilla’s defense responded to his challenge. Lakewood would not score again until it posted two late touchdowns against the Bees reserves when the game was well out of reach.
In the meantime Luke Strnad threw touchdown passes to Tyler Tupa and Garrett Patterson and ran one in himself. G-Pat’s TD was set-up on a fumble recovery by Aaron Livermore. The play of the game came when Victor Bierman blocked a Rangers punt and raced 43 yards with the ball for a touchdown early in the second quarter.
Brecksville led 28-3 at intermission. That left Garfield Roy to feed off another American tradition, a grilled bratwurst. In fact he purchased two of them at halftime from Coach Harper, the Rangers girls basketball coach.
The halftime discussion with the students was mostly about the upcoming basketball season. Erin Livingston is ready. “You should have been there at open gym this morning. We were getting after it,” sophomore Matt Dimitrijevs said.
“There is no band party tonight,” a band member said when asked where the big post-game bash would be. Now that is the upset of the night.
The wind picked up, the temperature dropped a little and rain fell. Umbrellas were opened. It didn’t look like anyone left.
Working Through The Second Half
Brecksville tallied its fifth and final touchdown when Strnad went up top to Tupa for a 32-yard strike just four plays into the third quarter. “It’s men against boys now,” Garfield Roy said.
Wind and rain came and went.
Big Nick Sokolowski, a junior lineman who was injured in the Hudson game and played only on offense last week against Avon Lake, went both ways last night. It was good to see number 58 wreaking havoc on both sides of the line of scrimmage again. Meanwhile his younger brother Mike, an eighth-grader, served as a water boy.
With the new 30-point plus scoring margin rule in effect Tupa intercepted a Lakewood pass. Bees coach Jason Black all but cleared his bench. Brand new units on both offense and defense played most of the fourth quarter.
A late game bummer came when Brecksville’s Matt Tilk, a sophomore lineman, had to be helped off the field. His left knee was wrapped in ice.
“What do these kids do after the game? We used to always go to McDonald’s on Turney Road. Where do they go?”, wondered Garfield Roy. He soon had his answer. As the Bees lined-up in victory formation injured senior Jared Schott paid a visit. “I’ll probably go to Swenson’s. It’s a Bees post-game tradition,” Schott said.
The good news is that Schott had a big weekend planned. The better news is that he will be cleared to play for this Friday’s fray against Berea-Midpark on Senior Night.
The trip to Lakewood was one of those games where all you had to do was analyze the line score and the scoring summary to know what happened. Brecksville pretty much dominated the Rangers. The final score was closer than the game actually was due to a pair of late fourth frame touchdowns the purple and golds starters recorded against the Bees subs.
Post Game Sound Bites
It was Beeville’s first-ever trip to Lakewood and more than likely it’s last – at least for the foreseeable future. “It was a new environment for us. It was a different day to go through. But we came out and did what we needed to do and got the W. And we’re 7-1 now,” Bierman said shortly after the game.
There are those that thought ‘never in a million years’ that the Bees, who were as green as the summer grass in August, would win seven of their first eight games this season. Sophomore offensive lineman John Baltas wasn’t one of them. “Everyone has been doubting us all year. But we are 7-1 now,” Baltas said before joining his team for the bus ride back to Broadview Heights.
Berea Roy called with an update on the discount gasoline prices at Triskett and 140th. He later relayed the Berea-Midpark/Westlake score; 42-0 Titans.
Meanwhile the Bees, high school football and life in America were all Garfield Roy could talk about on the way back to The Pickle Works. He’s not due back in Canberra for a few weeks so he is planning on watching his favorite team play again next Friday at Community Stadium.
“The entire thing is so wholesome. So American,”Pubal said. “Everything about the atmosphere; being around the players and the coaches. The band, how cool was that? There are 2oo plus kids doing something fun and constructive on a Friday night. And their parents know who they are with and what they are doing.”
BEE BUZZ:
Yes, Brecksville is 7-1 now and they are 4-0 in the Southwestern Conference. That sets up Friday nights huge league showdown with 7-1, 5-0 Berea-Midpark at the Bee Hive. More on that game in the days ahead.
So far this season the Bees are averaging 29.2 points per game. In their last four however they have posted an average of 34.5. Defensively they are allowing 21.3 on the season.
Playoff picture: The top eight teams in Division II, Region 3 as of October 14th were (in order): Mayfield, Bedford, Madison, Maple Heights, Willoughby South, BBHHS, Riverside and North Olmsted. In case you may be wondering. If the season ended this past Tuesday the Bees would play at Madison in week 11. But there is so much more football to play before the OHSAA computer punches any trip tickets to the post-season.
LAST NIGHTS RESULTS:
Cross-over Game
BBHHS – 34, Lakewood – 18.
A pair of late Ranger TD’s make the final score respectable.
Southwestern Conference
Olmsted Falls – 35, Avon Lake – 7.
After going overtime at the Bee Hive the Shoremen are sunk at home. Go figure.
North Olmsted – 32, Amherst Steele – 0.
I’m beginning to think the Bees are glad to have both Falls and the Eagles in their rear view mirror.
Berea-Midpark – 42, Westlake – 0.
Justin Harris and Joey Bachie, a pair of Titans standouts, each scored twice in a lopsided road victory. That sets the stage for a big- time SWC showdown next Friday night in Broadview Heights.
OTHER GAMES OF NOTE:
Warren John F. Kennedy at Holy Name … tonight at North Royalton.
Mayfield – 37, North Royalton – 7.
The Bears have scored just 65 points in eight games.
Hudson – 41, Strongsville – 7.
The Mustangs get sent back to the ranch. Obviously the Explorers weren’t looking ahead to Thursdays contest against Mentor, which will be the biggest game in the entire state.
Joplin – 42, Springfield Hillcrest – 21.
The Eagles soar to 6-3 with one game remaining.
Upcoming stories: Sunday; a look inside the stats of the Bees-Rangers game. Monday night; a look ahead at Fridays SWC headliner between Brecksville and Berea-Midpark.
See You At The Bee Hive!
To contact: Ddipa67834@aol.com.
Follow the Lady Bees volleyball team on the web at: beesvolleyball.com.
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