LOOKING AHEAD TO FRIDAY NIGHT
By Dom DiPasqua/Staff Writer
Monday night, November 3, 2014
BRECKSVILLE – The Bees had four main goals coming into this season. They were the obvious constants. Beat North Royalton to keep The Golden Shoe, defeat Avon Lake, win the Southwestern Conference championship and play in week 11. Three out of four aint bad.
Week 11 is here. More precisely it is the post-season and all bets are off. Win and advance. Lose and turn in your uniform. It doesn’t get much better than a must-win game when it comes to high drama on the gridiron. That is what playoff football in The Buckeye State is all about.
For the second consecutive year Brecksville-Broadview Heights begins its second season. As do the Madison Blue Streaks. The sixth-seeded Bees (8-2) travel to third-seeded Madison (9-1) Friday night for a Division II, Region 3 quarter-final playoff game. Kick off is at 7:30.
These are two programs that have enjoyed tremendous success over the last two years. Brecksville is 18-4 in that span. Madison is 19-4. The difference? The Blue Streaks 22-21 second-round playoff victory last November at Mentor’s Jerome T. Osborne Stadium. That was the first and only meeting between the schools. Friday night is the re-match.
Madison was physically imposing in that 2013 game. Not much has changed. Bees head coach Jason Black has seen the Blue Streaks on tape.
“Obviously they are big and physical like they were last year. They do so so many “body punches” (runs right at you for three or four yards) with their running game that their “counter punches” (counters and deep passes) are very effective,” Black said.
A quick glimpse at Madison’s roster reveals a few familiar names from a year ago. Aaron Petruccelli (#10) is a 5-10, 170-pound senior wide receiver and corner back. Senior Connor Nikses (#24) is a 6-0, 208-pound load of a running back and nose guard combo.
The Blue Streaks may very well be the most physical team Brecksville plays all season. For that matter the most physical team it has faced since the last time these two cross-town squads hooked-up. “Offensively we have to find a way to make sure we protect Luke (Strnad) so he can distribute the ball to our play-makers,” Black said.
Line-up and play football is what Madison does best. Yet there is another factor. “Their special teams are very solid. Every game we have on them they have been able to make a big play during that phase,” said Black. “That is something we have to control and have to focus on. We cannot give them any momentum in that important part of the game.”
Home And Away Trends
Madison’s field is natural grass. The early forecast for Friday is calling for 43-degress and rain. That shouldn’t phase the Bees at all. They had no problem in executing their offense, both running and passing the ball, in similar conditions when they won at Westlake last Friday, 35-7.
On top of that Brecksville is spotless (5-0) away from Community Stadium this season. This team knows how to win on the road. That mark is the clubs best away record since at least 1997.
This will be the Blue Streaks seventh game at home this season, where they are 5-1. An early season non-conference game against a school from Canada tipped the schedule in their favor.
Inside The Numbers
Madison has points-for and points-against numbers that remind one of last years Beeville squad. The Streaks are scoring 38.1 points per game and allowing only 11. The Bees are posting 30.6 and giving up 23.
On the ground Brecksville has gained a regular season average 126 yards per start. Through the air they put up 227. The Bees are allowing 135 yards rushing and 164.5 through the air. In total yardage the red and gold are good for 353.3 per game, while surrendering an even 300.
Total first downs and penalties on the season are even with the competition. Two big X-factors are; senior kicker Jakob Nypaver has been red hot as of late. He is 34 of 39 (87%) on extra point boots. And Brecksville is plus 5 in the give-away/take-away department. It’s defense, although prone to bend, has been opportunistic and has made big plays in crucial situations.
A More Balanced Attack
Luke Strnad, a sophomore quarterback, has thrown for 2,165 yards and 30 touchdowns. He has been intercepted 11 times. However none of those occurred in the two rain games; at Amherst Steele and at Westlake.
Strnad is also the teams leading ground gainer with 582 yards and six touchdowns. In the backfield is senior linebacker, turned part-time runner, Joe Dimitrijevs. Joe-D is averaging 11.2 yards per carry and has reached the end zone two times in as many games.
The Bees receiving corp is its offensive strength. Junior Tyler Tupa, who will be up for many post-season awards, has caught 71 passes for 1,131 yards and has scored a team-high 19 touchdowns, which ironically matches his jersey number.
On the other side is senior Garrett Patterson. G-Pat has snagged 41 passes for 652 yards and ten TD’s. Patterson had an impressive game last year against Madison in the regional semi-final at Mentor. His clutch third down reception in front of the Blue Streaks bench kept the Bees last ditch late fourth quarter drive alive.
Patterson has been named the Bees captain of the week for the Madison game. He will join co-captains Joe Dimitijevs, Tyler Tupa and Danny Shirilla for the pregame coin toss.
Juniors Danny Shirilla (23/186) and Niall Lewison (11/110 and 2 scores) are guys that you can’t take a nap on. The beauty of Tom Tupa’s offense is that you never know who is going to get the ball and when. Field position matters little.
Bees Dee
Dimitrijevs leads the Brecksville defense in tackles with 111, including 18 solos. That fits perfectly into John Shirilla’s swarm and attack scheme, which calls for getting as many red hats as possible to the football. Joe-D also has three interceptions and a team-leading four fumble recoveries from his linebacker position.
Lewison is also a defensive back. He has 93 total stops, including 11 for a loss and three INT’s. Junior end Ryder Seballos has recorded 74 hits and has an interception to his credit. Seballos uses technique and his speed to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. He has seven hurries and leads the group with 5.5 sacks.
Opposite Seballos is sophomore end Victor Bierman. The big-play Bierman has five sacks, two fumble recoveries and has blocked a whopping four kicks.
Senior DB Troy Walter has a team-best five interceptions to go along with 61 tackles. Classmate Ryan Lambert also has a pick and 61 stops. Shirilla plays center field as well as anyone. He has seven pass break-ups. Tupa, who does the punting, is known to see quality time in the secondary where he delivers crunching hits.
Winning Consistently
The Bees made history by winning at Westlake in week-ten because it put them into the playoffs for the second straight year, which is a first for the school. Not that the program needed any validation. Last years team, which had 20 senior starters, left its legacy by winning ten games and a home playoff tilt (Painesville Riverside) for the first time in school history. This years seniors have made their mark by reaching week 11 as well. That consistency is what every head coach strives for.
“I’m proud of the way the guys responded. It means a lot to the program to make it to the playoffs in back-to-back years. Because you don’t want to go 10-2 and then 2-8 to get back to 10-2,” Black said. “You want to stay ‘up’. You want to keep projecting yourself on an upward trajectory. The guys believe they can win. And they have put themselves in a position where they can always win.”
That fact was not lost on center Doug McArtor. As the only senior on what was a very green offensive line coming into this season McArtor, who is a first-year starter himself, has anchored the unit with maturity, leadership and by his steady performance on Friday nights. “Making the playoffs again is special because it means we didn’t have an off year,” McArtor said last Friday at Westlake. “We created continuity for the program by going to the playoffs in back-to-back years.”
And as Coach Black said when looking ahead toward Friday nights big stage in eastern Lake County, “Now the challenge to our players is to not be satisfied with just being there. Let’s go out and give our best effort and win. Survive and advance,” he said.
BBHHS PLAYOFF APPEARANCES (9):
1983 – Division II state champions.
1988 –
1997 – Defeated Amherst Steele at B-W, lost to Defiance at Huron. (Division II)
2000 – Defeated Amherst Steele at B-W, lost to Olmsted Falls at B-W. (Falls won state championship.)
2006 – Lost to Warren Harding at home. (Division I)
2008 – Lost to Glenville at Bedford. (Division I)
2010 – Lost at Solon. (Division I)
2013 – Defeated Painesville Riverside at home, lost to Madison at Mentor.
2014 – at Madison.
MADISON’S SCHEDULE/RESULTS:
Aug 29 … Chagrin Falls … won 36-0.
Sept 5 … Pickering-Ajax (Ont, Can.) … won 56-6.
Sept 12 … Perry … won 40-7.
Sept 19 … University School … won 35-7.
Sept 26 … at Chardon … won 14-0.
Oct 3 … at Eastlake North … won 33-7.
Oct 10 … Willoughby South … lost 35-25.
Oct 16 … at Geneva … won 38-7. (Thursday night game.)
Oct 24 … Ashtabula Lakeside … won 48-13.
Oct 31 … at Painesville Riverside … won 56-35.
Non-conference record: 3-0.
Premier Athletic Conference record: 6-1 (2nd place).
Overall record: 9-1.
Home record: 5-1.
Road record: 4-0.
Common Regular Season Opponents: None.
Head Coach: Tim Willis.
Athletic Director: John Dragas.
MADISON HIGH SCHOOL:
Is located at 3100 Burns Road in Madison (44057). It is a 55-mile one-way trip from the Bee Hive. The basic directions are to take I-90 east to Route 528 and go north.
See You At The Bee Hive!
To contact: Ddipa67834@aol.com.
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