BEES DEFENSE MAKES A HIT
By Dom DiPasqua/Staff Writer
Sunday morning, September 27, 2015
TWINSBURG – Talk about a swarm. The Bees defense notched 12 tackles for a loss, including four sacks, broke-up 5 Tiger passes and blocked a punt Friday night in Brecksville-Broadview Heights’ 27-0 Suburban League victory in Tiger Stadium.
Those numbers, plus forcing Twinsburg to punt a half-dozen times, illustrate how dominant the performance was. Senior captain Niall Lewison led the Bees ‘Red Swarm’ defense with 11 total tackles. Six of them were solo shots. Lewison also caused a fumble.
Sophomore Michael Graham added 10 tackles. Nick Zakelj, Steven Klaus and Victor Bierman each tallied 7. Bierman, who blocked a Tigers punt which Klaus scooped up and returned 16 yards, registered 4 tackles for a loss.
Active and Aggressive
In flipping back through the steno pad from Friday night it was noted that Lewison and Bierman were all over the field in several places.
The Bees harassed speedy Twinsburg quarterback Jalen Tucker on a regular basis and sacked him 4 times. Lewison and Zakelj were credited with sacks. As were safety Tyler Tupa and tackle Nick Sokolowski.
Brecksville (5-0, 2-0 SL) has not allowed a passing touchdown this season. However Tucker did throw for 168 yards by completing 16 of 28 aerials. The 168 yard performance was the most allowed by the Bees this season. That said, the defense still posted its third shutout in five games.
Twinsburg (0-5, 0-2 SL) ran the ball for 66 yards on 38 carries with Tucker picking up about half of those yards. The Tigers had 234 yards of total offense.
Defense wins games. Offense puts people in the stands. And the Brecksville offense entertained by playing long ball Friday night in Tiger Town.
Taming The Tigers
Senior wide receiver Tyler Tupa stole the show with a 6 catch, 189-yard, 3 touchdown performance. He scored on pass plays that covered 68, 30 and 64 yards. Twinsburg had no answer for him. I’ve yet to see a team that has.
Danny Shirilla and Joey McGonegal each caught a pair of Luke Strnad passes as well. But it was Tupa who gave the Tigers secondary fits.
Junior quarterback Luke Strnad was 10 of 17 for 228 yards. He suffered his first two interceptions of the season. Both came in the first half.
Brecksville ran ball 29 times for 132 yards. Senior Josh Underwood had 11 carries for 57. Strnad kept the apple 10 times and gained a net of 38.
It all added up to 360 yards of total offense. That number is 16 yards below the teams season average.
The Bees picked up 11 first downs to the Tigers 14. Despite being forced to punt six times Twinsburg did move the ball. Tucker made the offense go. And that was more than a footnote in Brecksville’s defensive game plan coming in.
Both teams were penalized 4 times for roughly the same amount of yardage. Sammy Kraguljac successfully connected on 3 of the Bees 4 extra point kicks. Muddle-huddle took a hiatus.
It has been nearly 20 years since Brecksville began a season with a 5-0 ledger. Shutting down three opponents is a big reason why the 2015 club is off to such a solid start.
See You At The Bee Hive!
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