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Chagrin, West G, Hawken win going away
(by Steve Novak - September 10, 2009)
Chagrin, West G, Hawken win going away
By STEVE NOVAK
The second week of high school football finds three Chagrin Valley Conference teams with zeros in the right place as Chagrin Falls, West Geauga and Hawken School are undefeated with 2-0 records.
Chagrin Falls 35
NDCL 0
Chagrin Falls had its second straight week of scoring five or more touchdowns. Last Friday, the Tigers put up five unanswered touchdowns against Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin for a 35-0 victory.
Quarterback Chris Trinetti had two touchdown passes. He completed 13 of 20 passes for 193 yards. This added to his total from week one when he connected on passes for three scores. In that game, one of Trinetti's favorite receivers was Marc Geraci, who hauled in four catches for nearly 200 yards.
Geraci is a receiver who also plays cornerback on defense. Tigers coach Mark Iammarino has said he wants him to be on the field as much as possible.
The victory over NDCL was a turnabout from the 2008 season when the Tigers lost to the Lions, 33-27, in overtime. This week, the Tigers face Peninsula Woodridge, which also has posted a 2-0 record.
West Geauga 35
Riverside 14
After knocking off Chardon in the opening week, West Geauga overpowered Painesville Riverside last Friday by a convincing 35-14.
The Wolverines found the turf to theirs liking as they churned out 421 yards on the ground against Riverside. Anthony Catolioto, Andy Powers and quarterback Joe Drenski each rushed for more than 100 yards.
The 2-0 season mark was a reason for West Geauga coach Dave Bors to look back on the progress of his team.
"I've been here for three years and this is the first time we've been 2-0 at the beginning of the season," he said. "Our ground game was really working against Riverside, but we were still sloppy at times, and still getting too many penalties. We have to keep getting better."
The Wolverines next opponent is Eastlake North, which defeated Akron East last Friday, 59-35. "This is a team which just gained about 400 yards through the air," Bors said about North. "We're going to have to be ready for them."
Hawken 42
Lutheran West 7
Coach Cliff Walton's old and familiar wing-T offense has been rolling up points and yardage. The Hawks amassed 343 yards on the ground in a 42-7win over Lutheran West
Jake Willen rushed for 119 yards and John Wilson had 86 yards and scored three touchdowns.
The Hawks put points on the board in every quarter and didn't allow Lutheran West to score until the fourth quarter.
Saturday at 1 p.m., the Hawks travel to Gilmour.
Kenston 37
Chardon 19
Kenston, under coach Roger Vasey, came up with a much-needed victory last Friday, defeating Chardon, 37-19.
In week one, Kenston lost 38-0 to Kent Roosevelt. Vasey said the team showed poise in recovering from the opening-season loss.
"It shows how resilient they are, after losing in the first week of the season," he said. "They have been working very hard. We were able to rush the ball this time."
Running back Pat Porter gained 142 yards in 21 carries and had 13 tackles on defense. Quarterback Kyle Wenninger completed 11 passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns.
Kenston plays at Nordonia Friday night. Last year, the Bombers lost to Nordonia, 38-3.
Midpark 22
Orange 6
First-year Orange head coach Adam Becklam has found the going a little rough so far as the Lions dropped to 0-2 following a 22-6 loss to Midpark last Friday.
The Lions put up their lone score in the first quarter. With the ball on their 18-yard line, Orange quarterback Ryan Bitzer connected on a pass to Josh Rodgers and Rodgers did the rest with a coast-to-coast run for a score.
This week, Orange will try to break into the win column against visiting Wickliffe, which is 0-2.
VASJ 34
US 33
University School coach Jim Stephens and his team, trying to rebound from an opening-week loss to Hawken, played toe-to-toe with Villa Angela-St. Joseph's last Saturday.
But that was until VASJ had the final say in the matter with a 34-33 overtime victory at Euclid High School. The Preppers led by one point at halftime and then scored 13 unanswered points in the third quarter. VASJ brought the game to a deadlock with 14 points in the final quarter.
US quarterback Dan Frate completed 13 of 23 passes for 223 yards and four touchdowns. Tony Busa got things started for US with a 69-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
This week, US visits NDCL on Friday night.
Woodridge 42
Gilmour 7
Gilmour dropped to an uncharacteristic 0-2 last week with a 42-7 loss to Woodridge. It was the second time in as many weeks that more than 40 points have been scored against the Lancers.
First-year coach Matt Simon readily admitted that he has much more work to do in motivating his team to get back to its winning ways.
"There's a lot of room for improvement and it's up to me and the assistant coaches to get our kids to start making plays," Simon said.
He said that running back John Harper was the team's leading rusher in the contest. "He also played safety on defense and had a couple of quarterback sacks," he said.
On Saturday, the Lancers face red-hot Hawken in a Saturday afternoon contest.
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