SOLID NUMBERS IN AMHERST WIN
By Dom DiPasqua/Staff Writer
Sunday morning, October 5, 2014
BRECKSVILLE – Coming into Friday nights Southwestern Conference game at Amherst, Bees head coach Jason Black was concerned about several things. His team would be facing any number of “firsts”. Brecksville-Broadview Heights answered all his questions. It passed the test. Give the Bees an A.
The only thing preventing an A+ grade was the touchdown that host Amherst Steele scored very late in the game. It came with literally no time remaining.
Check mark number one: The final score was the Bees 36, the Comets 6.
Check mark number two: The Bees took their longest bus ride of the season, an hour’s journey on their first “true” road trip this fall, and came home with a victory.
Check mark number three: The Bees played on grass for the first time since September 27, 2013 at North Olmsted. That is 53 weeks without the feel of Mother Nature’s carpet underfoot. They proved they could do it.
Check mark number four: The Bees played in the rain for the first time all season and for the first since playing at Berea-Midpark last October 25th. They passed the test, literally, with flying colors.
Check mark number five: The Bees were down to their third running back after Josh Underwood and Joey McGonegal suffered season-ending ankle injuries. Junior Zach Venesile answered the call by picking-up 35 yards on eight carries in his first varsity start in the offensive backfield.
An Impressive Performance
Brecksville (5-1, 3-0 SWC) reaps the rewards of passing this weeks test by sharing the top spot in the Southwestern Conference standings with Berea-Midpark. The Titans are also 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the loop.
The Bees jumped on top of Amherst Steele early and kept the pedal to the metal. They put of 387 yards of total offense and did not turn the ball over. Their passing game was prolific despite the rain. Brecksville’s defense held the Comets to just five first downs. And four of those came on their last drive of the game when they marched 92 yards in a little over five minutes to score.
It was a total team effort. And a solid win.
On offense Luke Strnad was the young man who engineered the attack. He completed his first nine passes and finished the night with a 16 of 22 performance (.727). Strnad, a sophomore, threw four touchdown passes to three different receivers. He had 213 yards passing by halftime and ended-up with 276. He was not intercepted. “I saw open guys and I found them,” Strnad said.
Strnad also ran for a touchdown and was the Bees leading ground gainer with 45 yards on 17 carries. Not bad for his first varsity start in a conference game on the road.
Brecksville had 111 yards rushing, which were enough to keep Amherst honest. They scored the first four times they had the ball en route to a 29-0 halftime lead. The Bees picked up ten first downs and only punted twice.
Defensive Domination
Beeville amassed 227 more yards than Steele who had 48 on the ground and 112 through the air. 92 of those 160 total yards of offense came in the games meaningless last possession. Which means that the BBHHS defense held the hosts to just 68 yards in the games first 43 minutes. That type of performance will win you some football games.
Considering the climate the Bees and the Comets played a game that had only one turnover. That was a third quarter interception by Brecksville’s Niall Lewison.
Senior linebacker and co-captain Joe Dimitrijevs led the hit parade with ten tackles, three of them were solo pops. Eddie Sternad added eight. Jon Linden chipped in seven and Ryder Seballos and Victor Bierman each contributed a half-dozen.
“We just went out there and played our game. We were more physical than Amherst. We were faster. And we played harder,” said Seballos.
The Bees defense, which was incredible last year in allowing less than ten points per game through the regular season, faced more questions than an ACT test coming into the campaign. Week-by-week John Shirilla’s unit has passed the test. It has matured and has gained confidence.
Throw the Hudson game out the window as an outlier only because no one has come remotely close to stopping the Explorers. And suddenly you have a group that has become one that Coach Black can depend on without the least bit of concern.
“Our defense practices their butts off. They work really hard on what they are doing. And what you see are a lot of helmets on the football. I see a lot of people at the point of attack. And good things happen when you have people at the point of attack,” Black said.
“Catching On” Big Time
Lewison, who caught a touchdown pass, also broke-up a Comets aerial. Tyler Tupa was the Bees leading receiver for the sixth straight game. He caught seven balls for 115 yards. His pair of TD receptions gives him 12 on the year.
Garrett Patterson had three snags for 94 yards. None was more impressive than his 59-yard catch down the right sideline for a touchdown that put the game out of reach, at 29-0, early in the second quarter.
“We knew we had to get out quick and put some points on the board,” Tupa said.
Danny Shirilla, a two-way junior back, caught four passes for 22 yards. Shirilla has outstanding hands and knows Brecksville’s offense as well as anyone. He is a versatile athlete who can fill many roles on both sides of the ball. And he usually does, as evidenced by the pair of two-point conversions he threw to Venesile in the games first eight minutes.
The game was penalty-marred. Amherst was flagged 11 times for 77 yards in negative real estate. Brecksville was penalized seven times for 59.
BEE BUZZ:
The week-five computer rankings came out last Tuesday. In Division II, Region 3 the Bees climbed from sixth to third because of their come-from-behind 33-29 victory over North Olmsted. That dropped the Eagles from third to seventh place in the region. The top eight teams reach the post-season playoffs.
In having fun with scenarios, that mean absolutely nothing at this points of the season, Brecksville would host Cleveland Rhodes in a first-round payoff game if the season were over. In reality there is much football to be played.
Amherst (1-5, 0-2 SWC) has now lost five straight games since defeating Cleveland John Hay 13-7 in its season opener.
The six points that the Comets scored Friday night were the least allowed by the Bees defense so far this season. North Royalton, a team that has struggled to score points this fall, tallied eight in the week-two Golden Shoe game.
Brecksville, who has won three games in a row since a 48-14 non-league loss to Hudson, is 3-0 on the road this season. They are averaging 27.5 points per game and allowing 20.8.
SOUTHWESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS:
BBHHS ….. 3-0 ….. 5-1.
Berea-Midpark ….. 3-0 ….. 5-1.
North Olmsted ….. 1-1 ….. 4-2.
Westlake ….. 1-2 ….. 3-3.
Olmsted Falls ….. 1-2 ….. 2-4.
Amherst Steele ….. 0-2 ….. 1-5.
Avon Lake ….. 0-2 ….. 1-5.
Next Story: Monday nights preview of the Bees home game this Friday with Avon Lake.
See You At The Bee Hive!
To contact: Ddipa67834@aol.com.
Follow the Lady Bees volleyball team on the web at: beesvolleyball.com.
Brecksville hosts Berea-Midpark Tuesday night. It will be Senior Night. The Bees senior players are Dani D’Anna and Megan Kruze.
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