NORDONIA RUNS WILD

PERRINE PUMMELS BEES DEFENSE

By Dom DiPasqua/Staff Writer

Friday night, October 2, 2015

BROADVIEW HEIGHTS – Anthony Perrine was a one-man wrecking crew. Perrine, Nordonia’s junior running back, rushed for 338 yards on 40 carries and scored 6 touchdowns as the Knights ran all over Brecksville-Broadview Heights and spoiled the Bees Homecoming with a 49-34 Suburban League (National Division) victory here tonight in front of a huge crowd in Community Stadium.

Perrine, 5-10, 207 pounds, scored on runs of: 3, 1, 16, 32, 25 and 8 yards. He appeared to run harder as the game went on. Four of his touchdowns came in a 15:12 ball carrying clinic after intermission.

The Bees, who dropped their first game of the season, slip to 5-1 overall. They are now 2-1 in the SL. The Knights broke into the conference win column at 1-2. They evened their season slate at 3-3.

“From what we saw of them on film this season they had been about a 50/50 run/pass team. Tonight Nordonia had a great game plan and they exploited us. I feared that they would tee it up and come right at us. And they were able to do that,” veteran BBHHS head coach Jason Black said after the game. “They have a big, physical offensive line. They used their two Division I tackles well. They blocked the edge and sealed. Nordonia has size and strength and it won out over our speed.”

Brecksville had been giving up a miserly 4.6 points per game. Through its first five contests the Bees allowed only 23 points. Nordonia scored 28 by the 8:53 mark of the third quarter.

The Bees took the opening kickoff and went 80 yards in 7 plays to register the games first touchdown. Quarterback Luke Strnad hit Joey McGonegal with a 14-yard touchdown toss. And Sammy Kraguljac booted the point-after.

Niall Lewison intercepted Nordonia quarterback Justin Post on his second attempt of the game. Three plays later Brecksville gave it right back on a fumble. Post finished the evening with a 4 for 21 passing performance. His right arm was not needed. Mr. Perrine saw to that.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Anthony Perrine 

Perrine’s 3-yard run and left-footed Trey Crockett’s first of 7 extra point kicks tied the game at 7 midway through the first frame.

Perrine and Tye Evans both scored on 1-yard runs in the second stanza. They sandwiched a beautiful 17-yard scoring strike from Danny Shirilla to Tyler Tupa.

Shirilla replaced Strnad, who left the game with a little over 3 minutes remaining in the first period. On a third and goal at the Nordonia six, Strnad twisted his right knee and fell to the turf virtually untouched. He left the game and did not return.

The Bees drive came up empty. They had to settle for a 32-yard field goal attempt which Kraguljac left just a tad short and to the left of the crossbar.

Brecksville stayed in the hunt. A stop by its defense, and a late hit out of bounds penalty on the Knights who tackled Shirilla on a scramble right near the track, provided the hosts with a first and goal from Nordy’s 10-yard line. Senior running back Josh Underwood displayed some shifty moves on his 10-yard jaunt to the house. Devon Soltis blocked the extra point. That left the score at the half, 21-19, Knights.

A Game For 36 Minutes

Perrine added a pair of third quarter touchdowns. Underwood bulled in from a yard out with 5:50 left to play in the third. Shirilla then found Tupa for a much needed two-point conversion.

Through it all the Bees only trailed 35-27 heading into the final frame. And Shirilla had long settled into the quarterback position. “I really liked the way Danny stepped up for us and what he did at quarterback tonight,” said Black. “The last time we put him at quarterback was in practice in August. For him to come in and give us that effort is incredible. What a great kid.”

Perrine broke off a 25-yard scoring scamper early in the fourth. Defensive tackle Alec Camelli recovered a Brecksville fumble. And Perrine put the punctuation mark on his remarkable game by scoring from 8 yards out with 5:01 to go.

Underwood would score his single game career-high third touchdown on a 1-yard pile drive up the middle. Kraguljac’s point-after was the final margin. “Josh ran hard tonight. He stepped up and had great numbers,” Black said.

One Man Gang

But the story of this game was Perrine. He was an implement of destruction the Bees defense had no answer to. “Defensively my frustration was the mental errors and the physical errors. We would either miss an assignment or do our assignment and then not get off blocks,” said Black.

The Knights were the bigger, stronger and more physical football team from beginning to end. “We were inconsistent on both sides of the ball,” Black said. “Say, in a 5-play series, we would be consistent for three plays and then miss assignments on the other two. Sometimes those would happen on back to-back plays. On others, they would happen at the beginning or at the end of a series. You can’t have that. We have to have a consistent effort, attitude and intensity on every play.”

 

GAME NOTES:

The Bees scored their average of 34 points. Their defensive scoring average rose from 4.6 to 12. Turnovers and mistakes were hurtful, as were missed opportunities. Strnad will be re-examined this week. The Knights are scoring 30.5 points per contest and are allowing 31.8.

 

SCORE BY QUARTERS:

NORDONIA                07          14          14          14         = 49

BRECKSVILLE         07          12           08        07         = 34

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1 … BEES … Joey McGonegal 14-yard pass from Luke Strnad. Sammy Kraguljac kick. 7-0 Bees (8:35). 7 plays, 80 yards, 3:25.

1 … NORD … Anthony Perrine 3-yard run. Trey Crockett kick. 7-7 tie (6:18). 2 plays, 4 yards, 00:24.

2 … NORD … Anthony Perrine 1-yard run. Trey Crockett kick. 14-7 Knights (11:55). 11 plays, 85 yards, 2:48.

2 … BEES … Tyler Tupa 17-yard pass from Danny Shirilla. Kick failed. 14-13 Knights (8:33). 8 plays, 49 yards, 3:22.

2 … NORD … Tye Evans 1-yard run. Trey Crockett kick. 21-13 Knights (7:29). 6 plays, 65 yards, 1:04.

2 … BEES … Josh Underwood 10-yard run. Kick blocked. 21-19 Knights (4:47). 4 plays, 56 yards, 1:13.

3 … NORD … Anthony Perrine 16-yard run. Trey Crockett kick 28-19 Knights (8:53). 10 plays, 65 yards, 3:07.

3 … BEES … Josh Underwood 1-yard run. Tyler Tupa pass from Danny Shirilla. 28-27 Knights (5:59). 10 plays, 73 yards, 2:48.

3 … NORD … Anthony Perrine 32-yard run. Trey Crockett kick. 35-27 Knights (1:15). 12 plays, 80 yards, 4:40.

4 … NORD … Anthony Perrine 25-yard run. Trey Crockett kick. 42-27 Knights (10:57). 5 plays, 58 yards, 00:49.

4 … NORD … Anthony Perrine 8-yard run. Trey Crockett kick. 49-27 Knights (5:01). 3 plays, 39 yards, 1:35.

4 … BEES … Josh Underwood 1-yard run. Sammy Kraguljac kick. 49-34 Knights (1:35). 1 play, 1-yard, 00:04.

FINAL: 49-34, Nordonia.

 

See You At The Bee Hive!

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