BEREA-MIDPARK TOPS BEES, 52-37
By Dom DiPasqua/Staff Writer
Friday night, October 24, 2014
BROADVIEW HEIGHTS – With a nearly unstoppable offensive performance Berea-Midpark outlasted the host Bees, 52-37, in a Southwestern Conference Score-a-Thon here tonight in front of a packed house at Community Stadium on a beautiful night for football.
With the victory the Titans (8-1, 6-0 SWC) clinch the outright Southwestern Conference title in the second year of the schools existence.
Berea-Midpark blasted off the launching pad. It took a 21-0 lead less than halfway through the first quarter. When Brecksville-Broadview Heights had an answer, the Titans responded with at least one and oftentimes two of their own.
B-M never trailed. It went wire-to-wire in impressive fashion in a must-win game on the road.
“It’s never easy to play a team that good down 28-6. Playing catch-up against them is very hard to do,” said veteran BBHHS head coach Jason Black. “Congratulations to Berea-Midpark. They came out and won the game. They are a really good football team. They really are. They are fast. They are big. They are strong. They are good.”
Junior quarterback Nick Gassman passed for two early touchdowns and classmate Joey Bachie ran for two quick others as the Titans stormed out to a 28-6 advantage by the 3:34 mark of the first quarter.
Brecksville (7-2, 4-1 SWC) fought back to make a game of it several times. The Bees narrowed the gap to 28-20 early in the second stanza on a bit of trickery. It came on a 62-yard touchdown pass from junior wide receiver Tyler Tupa to Garrett Patterson.
That play, which electrified the home stands, followed a 64-yard touchdown dash by senior running back Joe Dimitrijevs and a 5-yard scoring toss from sophomore quarterback Luke Strnad to Patterson.
Momentum Swings
The Bees would tack on a 25-yard field goal by senior Jakob Nypaver to trim what was a 22-point deficit to 28-23 with 4:12 remaining in the first half.
On the following drive B-M marched from its own 34 to the Brecksville 20 as Gassman completed four big passes. Two of those to 6-6 junior wide receiver Brett Swinnerton.
With possession in the red zone the drive sputtered when Gassman’s pass into the end zone on a fourth and five from the Bees 19 sailed high.
Trailing by only five, after spotting the visitors a 28-6 lead, the Bees had momentum on their side with an impressive stop of the Titans offense, which had dictated terms and tempo the entire fall evening.
But on first down Jared Paul, a senior defensive back, intercepted Strnad and zig-zagged his way 32 yards down the near side numbers to the house. It was a momentum-changing jolt. Connor Kahls’ fifth extra point of the half gave the Titans a 35-23 lead with 1:45 remaining before intermission.
To add insult to injury B-M would add three more points on a 31-yard Kahl field goal at the halftime horn to up its margin to 38-23.
Instead of trailing by just five at the break the hosts, who were nearly blown out of their own ballpark early, were now suddenly looking up at a 15-point halftime differential. “That takes the wind out of our sails. At that time we had all the moment and we gave it back to them,” Black said.
The Titans Keep Scoring
Brecksville got the ball to start the third quarter. It moved the sticks one time on an 11-yard pass from Strnad to junior wide out Danny Shirilla. However the Bees eventually had to punt it away.
The Titans broke out to a 45-23 lead when senior speedster Justin Harris, who was rock-solid the entire game, raced 47 yards to pay dirt with 7:56 left in the third.
“We had a chance to re-establish momentum, but we weren’t able to. That is a credit to Berea-Midpark. They did a great job of regaining it,” Black said.
The Bees mounted another comeback. Strnad fired a 37-yard touchdown pass to Tupa, who timed his leap in the end zone and came down with the ball. A little over four minutes later Strnad sneaked in from a yard out to make the score 45-37 Titans with 1:30 remaining in the third period.
That was as close as Brecksville got.
A minute and a half into the fourth quarter Gassman hit Matt Owens with a 15-yard TD toss and Kahl’s point-after was the final tally of the long and entertaining evening at the Bee Hive.
A Quick Re-Cap
“That was a pretty impressive display. Credit to Berea-Midpark’s players and to its coaches for having them ready to play,” Black said when asked about the Titans scorching offensive onslaught in the games opening eight and a half minutes.
Gassman finished with three touchdown passes for the Titans. Owens, a senior wide receiver, caught two of them. Bachie, a rugged junior, ran for a pair of short opening quarter TD’s.
Patterson, a senior wide receiver, hauled in two scoring passes. Tupa, the teams leading receiver and scorer, threw for one and caught another. Dimitrijev’ 64-yard jaunt, where he broke through a wide open hole off left tackle, got the Bees on the board at the 5:30 mark of the first frame.
“Garrett has been making plays all year. He had a big night. Everybody has been rolling coverage to Tyler. You have to do something for Garrett. He stepped-up and made big plays,” said Black.
Annual Opponents Since 1977
The game was the 37th and final meeting between Brecksville and either; Berea, Midpark or the combination thereof. The Bees won 15 of those 18 games as members of the Southwestern Conference. Brecksville moves to the Suburban League next year.
The defeat drops Beeville into second place in the SWC. They will conclude the regular season next Friday at Westlake in its last game ever as members of the league.
“Obviously we wanted to win the Southwestern Conference championship. That was one of our goals. But all is not lost for us. We still have an opportunity to play in week 11. That’s one of our goals too,” Black said. “We have to play better. We have to execute our assignments better. We have a chance to fix ourselves and work for next week.”
The setback was the Bees second this season and as many against ranked opponents. It snapped a 5-game winning streak. “The last time we were in a big game like this (Hudson) things didn’t really go too well for us,” said Black. “Tonight I don’t think there was any point in the game where the guys gave up. There was no time where it was out of reach. We had to make one play here or there and we weren’t able to. Berea-Midpark was. But our guys never lost hope.”
The Titans SWC slate is complete. They host Midview next Friday in their West Shore Conference cross-over match-up. The Middies, another high-scoring team, were 8-0 coming into this evening.
LINE SCORE:
TITANS 28 10 7 7 = 52
BEES 13 10 14 0 = 37
SCORING SUMMARY:
1) – B-M … Joey Bachie 4 run. Connor Kahl kick. 7-0 Titans (9:42).
1) – B-M … Nick Gassman 27 pass to Matt Owens. Connor Kahl kick. 14-0 Titans (6:32).
1) – B-M … Nick Gassman 15 pass to Brett Swinnerton. Connor Kahl kick. 21-0 Titans (6:17).
1) – Bees … Joe Dimitrijevs 64 run. Kick blocked. 21-6 Titans (5:30).
1) – B-M … Joey Bachie 2 run. Connor Kahl kick. 28-6 Titans (3:34).
1) – Bees … Luke Strnad 5 pass to Garrett Patterson. Jakob Nypaver kick. 28-13 Titans (00:57).
2) – Bees … Tyler Tupa 62 pass to Garrett Patterson. Jakob Nypaver kick. 28-20 Titans (9:35).
2) – Bees … Jakob Nypaver 25 field goal. 28-23 Titans (4:12).
2) – B-M … Jared Paul 32 interception return. Connor Kahl kick. 35-23 Titans (1:45).
2) – B-M … Connor Kahl 31 field goal. 38-23 Titans (00:00).
3) – B-M … Justin Harris 47 run. Connor Kahl kick. 45-23 Titans (7:56).
3) – Bees … Luke Strnad 37 pass to Tyler Tupa. Jakob Nypaver kick. 45-30 Titans (5:45).
3) – Bees … Luke Strnad 1 run. Jakob Nypaver kick. 45-37 Titans (1:30).
4) – B-M … Nick Gassman 15 pass to Matt Owens. Connor Kahl kick. 52-37 Titans (10:32).
Final: 52-37, Berea-Midpark
Records:
B-M: 8-1 overall and 6-0 in the SWC. The Titans are undisputed conference champions.
Bees: 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the SWC. Second place.
Please stay tuned to the Bees football website for continued coverage throughout the weekend. Upcoming stories; Saturday (notes and quotes sidebar). Sunday (a look inside what should be huge statistical numbers). Monday (a preview of the Bees week-ten game at Westlake).
See You at The Bee Hive!
To contact: Ddipa67834@aol.com.
Follow the Lady Bees volleyball team on the web at: beesvolleyball.com. Season complete (14-10).
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