BEES EDGE BEARS, 7-0
By Dom DiPasqua/Staff Writer
Friday night, October 9, 2015
BROADVIEW HEIGHTS – Talk about finding a way to win. The Bees made a late first quarter touchdown stand up, and their defense bounced back to post a shutout, as Brecksville-Broadview Heights got past arch rival North Royalton, 7-0, in a Suburban League National Division squeaker here tonight in Community Stadium.
Tyler Tupa hauled in a perfect spiral from Danny Shirilla with 2:23 remaining in the first quarter for the games only score.
The victory enables Brecksville (6-1, 3-1 SL) to maintain possession of The Golden Shoe and to hang on to a second place tie in the circuit with Hudson. The Explorers lost to Stow-Munroe Falls last night, 17-10.
For the games last 38-plus minutes it was an offensive, not defensive struggle. Neither team could get anything going with the football. “It was futility in running tonight. They couldn’t run the ball. We couldn’t run the ball. It was just run to keep the other team honest more or less,” said veteran BBHHS head coach Jason Black.
The Bee Hive’s scoreboard, which normally gets a workout, got a breather on this cool autumn evening. “It never crossed my mind at that point that that would be the only touchdown of the game. I was prepared for a few more touchdowns. Or at least opportunities to score. It just didn’t materialize,” Black said. “But at the end of the game we had one more touchdown than they did. And we won the football game. It’s a rivalry game. Throw everything out the window and let’s go play.”
And play the Bees and the Bears did, without scoring another point.
Bearly Denied
North Royalton (2-5, 1-3 SL) had two chances to put points on the board. The Bears took possession at Brecksville’s 47 with 1:02 remaining in the half. Four pass plays, mixed in with a spike to stop the clock, got them to 28 with nine seconds left. On a third and five play junior quarterback Nick Coberly lofted a pass into the end zone that was intercepted by Joey McGonegal to end the half.
McGonegal, a junior two-way player, tore a ligament in his left thumb late in the Bees 49-34 loss to Nordonia. The injury was put in a cast last weekend. It didn’t stop McGonegal from sitting out this week.
“The plays before the last one they were throwing short so I knew at some point that they were going to have to go deep because time was running out,” McGonegal said. “I saw their guy just running a straight fade so I just got back on it, stayed over the top, and caught it with my chest because I couldn’t with my cast on.”
The Bears, following a fumbled punt return by the Bees which was recovered by Sam Tarnowski, took over at the Brecksville 22 with 7:10 left to play in the game.
Royalton was only able to gain five yards and lined up for a 34-yard field goal on fourth down with 5:22 to go. The snap was bobbled and holder Jack Miklos took off running to his right. The Bees Niall Lewison was there to make sure he was stopped short of the first down marker.
Forget Last Week
It was a nice bounce back win by Brecksville, whose staunch defense was blistered for an unlikely 49 points the week before. “Our coaches challenged us this week to step-up. We had to come out hard for this one. We were aggressive and having fun out there,” said senior tackle Eddie Sternad. “Last week we didn’t play with confidence or aggressively. This week were were going after it. We were flying around and hitting. That was the difference between last week and this week.”
NORO was whitewashed for the second consecutive game. The Bears have scored only 7 points in their three SL defeats since slipping past Twinsburg, 23-18, on the road in their conference opener. It is as though its offense has abandoned them.
But Royalton’s defense did a masterful job of limiting the Bees, who came into the trophy tilt with close to a 34 points per game average, to just a single score.
Short Scoring Summary
A 15-yard pass from Shirilla to Tupa. And a 19-yard dash by senior running back Josh Underwood on Brecksville’s first possession was followed by an 8-yard scamper by Shirilla from the Bears 25 to the 17 late in the opening period.
The Bees called time out. And when they do it is usually because either Tyler Tupa or his dad, Tom, the teams offensive coordinator, see something that they like.
“Our line gave Danny time. I was able to beat my guy with an out hint and then I got past him inside. Danny delivered a perfect pass,” Tyler Tupa said of the games lone TD. “I thought our offense came out hot. I thought we could get a couple of more scores. But Royalton gave us a fight.”
Shirilla started his first game at quarterback since the 2014 season opener against Holy Name. He filled in for the injured Luke Strnad who was sidelined late in the first quarter last Friday against Nordonia.
“I thought that we would build some momentum off of our first drive. Our line blocked great and our receivers ran great routes. Everything seemed a lot more clear on that first drive,” said Shirilla. “I would have never thought that would be the last score of the game.”
The contest, at least after the Bees first scoring drive, looked like it was going to go decidedly in the hosts direction. “On our first drive we did okay with everything. And our last possession we moved the ball when we had to. It was those 7, 8, 10 drives in between that we didn’t do very well on,” Black said.
Danny Delivers
Following Royalton’s botched fourth frame field goal attempt Brecksville had to move the chains to secure the win. In the games final 5-plus minutes Shirilla was able to do just that. He picked up three crucial first downs, all on the ground. Shirilla moved the sticks, made the clock tick, and won his first game as a starting quarterback in 58 weeks.
“Danny picked up a few of those first downs by the skin of his teeth. But that doesn’t matter. He got the first downs. Danny stepped up. He’s a senior and a heady player. He led us in a clutch situation,” said Black. “It’s like you expect him to do that in those situations. Playing football is a hard game. But on our last possession he made it look very easy.”
Shirilla, who has played a multitude of positions in his three-year varsity career and played them all well, should have no trouble getting to sleep tonight.
“Danny is also a kid that never came out of the game defensively at corner. He’s a kid that played quarterback the entire game. He only came out on a couple of special team plays. So Danny basically played 95% of our plays tonight,” said Black. “Danny has a lot of pride in what he does. He showed a lot of courage and gutted this one out. He is a very good corner and quarterback.”
Since taking over for Strnad, Shirilla has led the Bees to 34 points in a little over seven quarters of work behind center. When called upon Shirilla will do whatever the team asks.
“I told Danny all week. ‘There is nothing wrong with you as our quarterback. You are a great high school quarterback. Just have confidence in yourself. You’ve got people to back you up,” Tupa said.
Bees Dee is Back
The victory was vindication for Brecksville’s defense, which hardly needs any because this was its fourth shutout in seven ballgames. It is a unit that came up strong and pinned its ears back against the Bears.
“The shutout tonight is great for confidence. Last week was just a blip on the radar. That’s bound to happen at times. Someone is going to be that much better than you are. But what’s best about this is that the guys were able to respond by pitching a shutout in a rivalry game,” said Black. “North Royalton was never able to get chunk yardage plays against us. So it always felt like we were in control of the game offensively. The nice thing to know is that if we have a bad game offensively the defense is still capable of putting a zero on the board. That’s great to have.”
Brecksville’s defensive players take a lot of pride in shutting down the position. What Anthony Perrine and the Knights did to them a week ago did not sit well. It left a sour taste for six long days.
The Bees had a solid plan coming in. And it was executed. They were able to put pressure on Coberly and bottle up the Bears running game. “Coach (John) Shirilla did a great job with the game plan. He strategically called the blitzes to get us in the backfield. And then it worked out well for us,” junior linebacker Nick Zakelj said. “The defense stepped up a lot. The offense just had a slow day. But they’ll get it going. We have the play makers on offense to get it going. On defense we did what we preach. And that is if they don’t score they can’t win. That came true tonight.”
GOLDEN MOMENTS:
The Bees senior class has defeated North Royalton in all four years at the high school level. In its three varsity wins to retain possession of the coveted Golden Shoe Brecksville has registered two shutouts of the Bears. And has outscored its neighboring rival, 61-8.
QUOTES OF THE NIGHT:
“It’s Royalton. You want the bragging rights. We’re playing them now twice in basketball and twice in girls basketball. So you want that bragging right to walk into their gym and know that you beat them.” – Jason Black.
“It did touch The Shoe. I got a picture with it.” – Joey McGonegal.
“We played for respect and pride out there. All the credit to our team. Especially Danny Shirilla. He stepped up big time for our offense.” – Luke Strnad.
“A win is a win.” – Assistant coach Dan Schreiber.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
BEARS 0 0 0 0 = 0
BEES 7 0 0 0 = 7
SCORING SUMMARY:
1 ….. BEES ….. Tyler Tupa, 17-yard pass from Danny Shirilla. Sammy Kraguljac kick. 7-0 Bees (2:23). 12 plays, 69 yards, 5:46.
See You At The Bee Hive!
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