TURNOVERS, TD PASSES BEAT BEARS
By Dom DiPasqua/Staff Writer
Friday night, September 5, 2014 (Updated Sunday, September 7, 2014 at 10:34 am).
NORTH ROYALTON – In big games such as this it usually comes down to turnovers. Tonight they were glaring.
Brecksville-Broadview Heights took advantage of three North Royalton mistakes and racked-up three touchdowns because of them on its way to a 26-8 non-conference win over the arch rival Bears here in front of a large crowd at warm and windy Serpentini Stadium.
With the win the Bees maintain possession of The Golden Shoe Trophy. In fact the red and gold has won four of the last five Golden Shoe games. The triumph gives Beeville a 2-0 start to the season. They have won 12 of their last 14 games. Meanwhile the Bears slip to 0-2.
The Brecksville defense forced three turnovers, including two second quarter fumbles that helped them to a 19-0 lead at the half. A third quarter interception set-up the visitors final tally. The Bees marched 80 yards on 16 plays in 6:57 on their game-opening possession to get the much-anticipated contest underway.
“It was a great effort. Our guys did a good job,” said veteran BBHHS head coach Jason Black when just about everyone else had left the stadium.
Sophomore quarterback Luke Strnad, in his first varsity start, hurled four scoring passes for Brecksville. He was effective on long drives, medium drives and short strikes following turnovers. Strnad now has seven touchdown passes in his first two varsity ballgames.
Landing The First Punch
The Bees got things started with a methodical march where they evenly balanced the run and the pass. They were ultimately able to do more damage, however, in the air against the Bears. That set the tone for the annual tussle for bragging rights between these two longtime Southern Hills rivals.
Strnad completed a pair of passes each to junior wide receivers Tyler Tupa and Danny Shirilla on the drive. He also scrambled for 14 yards and a first down on a second and seven play.
The key play of the series came when senior wide receiver Garrett Patterson did an acrobatic job of coming down with his feet in bounds while tight-walking the far sideline. That catch was good for nine yards on a third and two play and it gave Brecksville a fresh set of downs to work with at the Royalton 20.
Jared Schott, a senior wide out and the Bees captain of the week, picked-up five on a hand off. Strnad would go for three more. Then the Bears defense stiffened. On a fourth and goal at the NORO three Strnad found Tupa on a post pattern for the games first score.
David Steward, a sophomore defensive end, blocked the extra point.
The teams exchanged the ball on the next four possessions. The Bears were forced to punt both times. The Bees had a pass on a fourth and six try from the hosts 15 sail out of bounds. They punted on the latter series.
The Turning Point
Royalton took over at its own 24. On its first play Victor Bierman, a sophomore defensive end, shed his block and stripped the Bears ball carrier of the apple. Senior defensive back Troy Walter recovered the ball and the Bees were in business.
Strnad fired to Patterson and to Shirilla on back-to-back plays to move the sticks to an inch inside the Bears 20. On first down Strnad faded back. Tupa was streaking down the left sideline and Strnad would drop the pigskin right into Tupa’s hands. The wow-factor 20-yard pitch and over-the-shoulder in-stride catch gave Brecksville a 12-0 lead with 3:44 remaining in the half. It took all of three plays and accounted for 31 yards in just 41 seconds.
Brecksville missed the extra point.
Starting at their own 20 the Bears shot themselves in the paw when they fumbled again. This time it was Bierman who came up with the ball.
“Ryder and Soko got to the quarterback and stripped him of the ball. I saw it go lose and I dove on it,” Bierman, playing in his first Golden Shoe game, said. “They were lose with the ball and we took advantage of it. We did a great job on defense.”
The Bees went for the jugular. On first and ten at the Royalton 18 Strnad hit Patterson in-stride down the left sideline for a touchdown. Senior Jakob Nypaver added the point-after and Brecksville was on top 19-0 with 3:29 remaining before band time.
“Didn’t you expect Coach (Tom) Tupa to throw that wheel route over the top,” Black asked.
With nothing to lose and playing with confidence the Bees defense pinned its ears back and went after Bears quarterback TJ Hoffman. On a second and ten play Hoffman was tripped-up by Zach Venesile and was polished off by Joe Mandato and Ryder Seballos.
The Bears would be forced to kick the ball away. The Bees returned the favor. With 1:07 left before intermission Royalton was content to run out the first half clock, go in and regroup.
Another Solid Performance
For the second consecutive game Brecksville’s defense continued to bring it. On NORO’s opening possession of the third quarter Hoffman was chased out of the pocket on a third and eight play from the Bees 46. Before he could get safely to his own sideline he was clocked by Nick Sokolowski on a play that will surely draw the same oohs and aahs during Saturday’s film session that it did on the visitors sideline in real time.
The Bees were unable to move the ball and booted it back to N-R. On second down Hoffman passed to Jeffrey Rozek for a chain-mover to their own 25. Hoffman went back to pass again. This time he was intercepted by Walter who notched his second turnover of the game and fourth of the young season.
“Good things happen to good people when they are around the football. Troy is around the football all the time. And when you are there good things happen to you. Troy is example 101 of that,” Black said of Walters uncanny ability to make big plays from his DB position.
Brecksville turned the Bears misfortune into gold yet again. With Shirilla now at quarterback he found Tupa on a slip screen for a 13-yard gain that gave the Bees a first down at the Royalton 13. At some point between first and third down Strnad re-entered the huddle. And on a third and six from the nine he slung a pass out to Patterson on the right side. G-Pat out ran the defenders and dove for the pylon for a touchdown.
That gave Brecksville a 26-0 lead with two seconds remaining on the third quarter clock after Nypaver booted the bonus point.
“We ran two guys over on the right side. I went on a flat route. Tyler went on a slant. Two guys went after Tyler and tried to knock him out. That left me wide open. No one was within 15 yards of me,” Patterson said.
Going Out With a Growl
Hoffman, a sophomore, moved the Bears. Despite taking a 12-yard sack at the hands of Seballos he picked 15 back up when he drilled a dart to 6-5 tight-end Joey Davidson. Hoffman then scrambled for 11 yards to the Bees 39 and a first down. Suddenly the Royalton offense had emerged from hibernation.
Hoffman was replaced by fellow sophomore Nick Coberly. On third and 17 from the Brecksville 35 Coberly came under pressure from Niall Lewison. Coberly eluded the rush and scampered 25 yards to the Bees 10 where he was grounded by Shirilla.
On second and goal from the seven Coberly fired into the end zone. His pass was broken-up by Steve Klaus. On third down the Bears, who were blanked at Brecksville (28-0) a year ago, finally found pay dirt when junior running back Shane Tyson went seven yards for a touchdown.
Coberly made the most out of a broken play when the exchange between the long snapper and he as the holder went awry. Coberly got to his feet scrambled to his left and connected with senior tight end Adam Kantor for the two-point conversion.
The Bears 16-play, 80-yard drive was impressive. The bad news was that it ate up 6:27. The end result made the score 26-8. There was 5:35 left to play.
The Bears attempted an onside kick that didn’t travel the required ten yards. The Bees could do nothing but punt. Coberly remained at quarterback. The Bears continued to move the ball. But their second attempt at making the score respectable was thwarted by Shirilla who broke-up Coberly’s pass on fourth and four from the Brecksville 21.
The Bees went to victory formation for the final 90 seconds and its red-clad crowd thrilled in counting down the final seconds. “Golden Shoe! Golden Shoe!” the BBHHS cheering section chanted as a hug party was taking place in the Beeville bench area.
Calling The Signals
Brecksville’s plan from the get-go this season was to use both Strnad and Shirilla at quarterback. Shirilla started the season opening 28-13 win over Holy Name. Strnad got the nod against the Bears. To Black it’s all the same. “Situations. I know that’s a terrible answer to give you guys,” Black explained to a small gathering of media. “But we were looking for situations to capitalize on and Luke was able to do that.”
Strnad got the majority of snaps tonight. His four TD passes give him seven for the season. Meanwhile that allowed Shirilla to apply his trade as the leader of the Bees defense from his secondary position. “We needed Danny so much on defense,” Black said.
Black has said several times that it matters little as to whom plays quarterback. If it isn’t broke don’t fix it. There is nothing wrong with being 2-0. “Both our quarterbacks didn’t try to do too much on every single play. We just went with whoever is open throw them the ball and we’ll see what happens. When they do that the game becomes very simple for them. We don’t ask them to do too much,” Black said.
What were the odds of the Bees first eight touchdowns of the season all coming via the pass? “The bottom line is however it gets into the end zone doesn’t matter. Whatever works,” said Black.
Strnad has taken the whirlwind of the last two weeks in stride. Given the magnitude of tonight’s victory he still had his poker face on well after the final gun. “The seniors took me in. This team is a family. They have my back. I have theirs,” Strnad said about settling into bright lights and responsibility of the position. “It’s getting easier and easier each week. I’m getting the hang of it now. Things are rolling now.”
In The Grand Scheme of Things
Fans, players and coaches were hoping for a second straight shutout of the Bears. When Coberly entered the fray it sent the Bees defense, which had game-planned for Hoffman, into a bit of a tailspin. As it is Brecksville has outscored its arch rival, 54-8, in the last two meetings for The Golden Shoe.
It would have been nice to record a shutout but Black wasn’t about to lose any sleep over it. “When you play your rival you don’t want to give them an inch. But a win is a win. You take it any way you can get it,” Black, who planned on riding the team bus back to the Bee Hive instead of walking this time, said.
Moments after Tyler Tupa ran toward his teammates with The Golden Shoe Garret Patterson summed it all up. “This was huge,” G-Pat said. “It’s four wins in the last five years for The Golden Shoe. It’s our senior year and we are keeping The Shoe for the second year in a row. This is fun and it’s easy to get excited about this kind of stuff.”
LINE SCORE:
BEES (2-0) …….. 6 13 7 0 = 26
BEARS (0-2) ….. 0 0 0 8 = 8
SCORING SUMMARY:
1) – B ….. Luke Strnad 3 pass to Tyler Tupa. Kick blocked. 6-0 Bees (5:03).
2) – B ….. Luke Strnad 20 pass to Tyler Tupa. Kick failed. 12-0 Bees (3:44).
2) – B ….. Luke Strnad 18 pass to Garrett Patterson. Jakob Nypaver kick. 19-0 Bees. (3:29).
3) – B ….. Luke Strnad 9 pass to Garrett Patterson. Jakob Nypaver kick. 26-0 Bees (00:02).
4) – NR ….. Shane Tyson 7 run. Nick Coberly pass to Adam Kantor. 26-8 Bees (5:35).
Please stay close to the Bees football website this weekend. On Saturday the notes and quotes column will be posted, followed by Sundays look inside the stats.
See You At The Bee Hive!
To contact: Ddipa67834@aol.com.
Follow the Lady Bees volleyball team on-line at: beesvolleyball.com. Brecksville plays a non-conference match Saturday at 12-noon at state-ranked North Royalton.
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