The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Teamwork brings victories to Falcons
Denney, Strader carry the load in backfield
Following his team’s 33-point loss to state-ranked Edison in Week 1, Firelands coach Mike Passerrello said what any coach would say.
“He pretty much said if we don’t work as a team, we’re going to get our butts kicked every game,” said running back Nick Denney.
Since then, the Falcons have been playing as a team, and the results have been quite favorable.
Behind a balanced rushing attack and a stingy defense, Firelands has rattled off four straight wins. The Falcons (4-1) have outscored their opponents, 158-31, during the streak, averaging 39.5 points a game while allowing just 7.7 points.
“We hit a bump in the road early and the kids have really worked together offensively, defensively and on special teams,” Passerrello said. “Our starters
have gotten more comfortable with experience.” It’s shown. Denney and Logan Strader, both juniors, have been a one-two punch in the backfield, rushing for 1,136 of the team’s 1,553 yards this season. Denney leads Firelands with 735 yards and 10 touchdowns on 57 carries, while Strader has totaled 401 yards and five scores on 45 carries.
“It’s been fun. It’s been like that growing up with [Strader],” Denney said. “If I’m having a bad game, I can always count on him to get yards. We knew we were going to have to run the ball a lot.”
Especially after the team lost quarterback and All-Ohio honoree Brad Thrasher to graduation.
Of the Falcons’ 1,775 yards of total offense this season, only 222 have come through the air by way of junior quarterback Michael Bansek.
“At the beginning of the year, it was rough because we were trying to transition and find a quarterback,” said middle linebacker Larry Verhovec. “Edison was a hard game to open up with, especially when you’re trying to figure out who’s going to play quarterback.”
But, as Firelands has seen, some things have a way of working out.
“Since Week 1, our offense has been able to do what our offense was expected to do, and our defense has been lights out,” Verhovec added.
After giving up seven touchdowns (six rushing) to Edison, the Falcons’ defense has clamped down the last four weeks by allowing just three rushing touchdowns combined.
Just how dominant has the defense been?
In their games against Brooklyn, Clearview and Oberlin, the Falcons allowed a total of 294 yards of offense, 98 yards fewer than what they gave up in the season-opener.
Senior defensive lineman Landon Peterson leads the team with 41 tackles, including 16 tackles for loss and four sacks. Verhovec has 39 tackles, seven for
loss and a forced fumble.
“It’s really special what we have going,” said senior outside linebacker Brad Soltis. “We’ve just been showing up every day and working hard in practice. They’re a good group of guys to be around. We all work together well.”
Passerrello has taken notice.
“Overall, our defensive line has been able to do a great job of stopping the run,” Passerrello said. “And our DBs are doing a great job cleaning up things and being able to play pass coverage. They’re just playing together as a unit and doing a great job of it.”
For Verhovec, it goes back to having trust in the team.
“Our defense has a family mentality where if one gets knocked down we’re always going to be there to pick you up,” he said. “We’re all going to gather to make sure everything gets done the way it needs to get done.”
And the Falcons have been getting it done on both sides of the ball.