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Wolverines, Tigers still perfect Orange, Kenston drop to 1-1 in
(by Tony Lange - September 28, 2011)
Wolverines, Tigers still perfect
Orange, Kenston drop to 1-1 in CVC
By TONY LANGE
Chagrin Falls and West Geauga improved to 5-0 including 2-0 Chagrin Valley Conference Chagrin Division records with wins last Friday.
Kenston and Orange dropped to 1-1 in the CVC.
Meanwhile, Aurora and Wickliffe improved to 1-1. Perry and Harvey dropped to 0-2.
Chagrin Falls 48
Kenston 28
After Kenston (2-3, 0-1) rushed for more than 300 yards against Wickliffe in week four, Chagrin Falls (5-0, 2-0) was determined to stop the Bombers' run game last Friday.
Kenston is predominantly a running team, Chagrin Falls head coach Mark Iammarino said.
"I was happy to make them go to the pass," he said. "But, when you do that, you've got to stop it."
Kenston's Austin Zachem threw for 340 yards, including two touchdowns to Darryl Richards, and rushed for 70 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown. Richards received six passes for 215 yards, including 76-yard and 41-yard touchdown catches.
With two lost fumbles and an interception on back-to-back-to-back possessions in the first half, however, the Bombers quickly lost control of the game as the Chagrin converted those turnovers into touchdowns and jumped out to a 35-7 lead.
After Chagrin's Tommy Iammarino scored the first touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run, Kenston had an 82-yard touchdown drive off two 41-yard passes to tie the game at 7-7.
Then, the Tigers pulled a trick play out of their back pocket.
On a double reverse, Anthony DeCamillo, a wide receiver, threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Michael Hageman for the 14-7 lead.
"We've kind of been really conservative and tried not to pull that play out," DeCamillo said. "When we were out on the field, we didn't expect it at all and coach just yelled it from the sideline and obviously it worked out perfectly. I threw that ball better than I did in any practice and obviously Mike made a great catch in the end zone."
On Kenston's ensuing possession, Chagrin Falls' Everett Dishong and Matt Markley stripped Kenston of the ball on what would have been a first-down run and Bradley Munday picked it up and ran 53 yards to put the Tigers up 21-7.
"To tell you the truth, I was in the right place at the right time," Munday said. "I just followed the play and one of those two stripped him on the tackle, and it bounced right up in my hands and I had an open field for the touchdown."
After Kenston fumbled the ball a second time, Kurt Vidmer was able to score a touchdown on a 5-yard run.
Chagrin Falls' Michael Munday then intercepted a Kenston pass and Bradley Munday had a 35-yard pass from Tommy Iammarino in the second quarter to put the Tigers up 35-7.
Kenston tightened it to 35-14 with Nick Lombardy's 5-yard touchdown run before halftime.
Come out of the locker room, the Tigers were in a zero-zero mindset, Chagrin Falls' lineman Mike Tozzi said.
"What we do in the first half, whether we're up or down, you know we've got to come out the second half like there's no score on the board," Tozzi said. "I've always believed to just move on to the next play regardless of whether it's a big play or not."
In the third quarter, Iammarino connected to DeCamillo on a 17-yard pass and Jack Campbell had a 45-yard touchdown run for the Tigers.
There was no scoring in the fourth quarter.
West Geauga 18
Perry 10
Winning the turnover battle 2-0, West Geauga (5-0, 2-0) was able to defeat Perry (2-3, 0-2) in a CVC battle last Friday.
It was an ugly win, but a W to say the least, said head coach Lou Cirino.
"One thing I told our guys was practice during the week wasn't our best," he said. "So, I think they're starting to understand the value of practices."
At the same time, the Wolverines needed to play with more emotion, intensity and passion for the game, Cirino said.
"That's something we've got to bring more of," he said. "At the same time, our defense played really well, only giving up one touchdown and our offense didn't turn the ball over. And that's the difference in the game, we won the turnover battle."
Leading the scoring effort for the Wolverines, Joe Ziccardi ran 62-yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.
Nick Cuthbert had a 23-yard touchdown reception from Zak Kucera in the second quarter for the Wolverines' 12-0 halftime lead.
Also in the first half, Nolan Widing had an interception.
"We did not score on that," Cirino said. "Perry played a very physical, great defensive game. We scored on the first drive and last drive of the half and that was it for our offense."
After Perry scored on a 22-yard pass to cut the lead 12-7 in the third quarter, Ziccardi had a 73-yard interception for a touchdown in the fourth.
"The most important guys to block when you intercept the ball are the quarterback and the intended wide receiver," Cirino said. "If you watch the film, we executed that play the way that we should and we scored a touchdown."
While Perry's kicker nailed a 23-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, West Geauga's kicker was absent because of a soccer game and the Wolverines were unsuccessful on all three of their two-point conversion attempts.
Aurora 52
Orange 15
Simply outmatched, Orange (3-2, 1-1) didn't have an answer against Aurora (4-1, 1-1) last Friday night as the Lions lost in front of their home crowd.
Aurora's Zach Quinn had three first-quarter touchdowns and two second-quarter touchdowns to help the Greenmen get out to a 42-7 halftime lead.
Orange's head coach Adam Bechlem said it was a complete team effort for Aurora.
"They're just an outstanding team with an outstanding program," he said. "They just had us overmatched in all areas."
Scoring for the Lions, Josiah Rogers had a 4-yard carry in the second quarter to make it a 21-7 ball game.
That scoring drive was the most successful Orange had the entire night, Bechlem said.
"We moved the ball better than we did against Perry," he said. "We had more first downs, so we did some nice things, but they're a gigantic,| methodical team and we're not. We're a small and fast team. So, it was hard for us to do much with the size and strength they had up front."
Also scoring for Orange was Julian Tuner on a 3-yard pass from Dominic Vitali in the fourth quarter.
"It just went down to giving them the credit because their program is outstanding right now," Bechlem said. "If they don't go far in the playoffs, I'll be surprised."
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