The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
WHERE’S THE D?
Die hard Bulldogs fans are ready for the Olmsted Falls game against the Amherst Comets on Sept. 28. Olmsted Falls topped Amherst, 27-2, to hand the Comets their first loss of the season. Both teams are now 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the Southwestern Conferenc
Olmsted Falls has always been known for its rough and tough physical play up front.
The Bulldogs reminded all of Northeast Ohio on Sept. 28 as they shut down the undefeated Amherst Comets, 27-2, in a pivotal Southwestern Conference matchup at Charles A. Harding Memorial Stadium.
Make no mistake, this one was won in the trenches.
The Bulldogs (5-1, 4-1 SWC) manhandled the Comets’ vaunted offensive line, leaving virtually no running room for senior running back Khennedy Scagliozzo. The
versatile playmaker, who came into the game with over 1,000 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns, was held to 80 yards on 22 carries.
The daunting task of slowing down the best tailback in Lorain County was taken, and emphatically achieved, by the Bulldogs defense.
“Yeah, we really did execute our gameplay well,” Bulldogs coach Tom DeLuca said. “The kids were excited to play against another great player. They know how good he is, they know how good Amherst is.
“Our senior class has played in a lot of football games, a lot of big football games...We’re accustomed to a big game. We didn’t flinch. We came out and did our thing.”
Olmsted Falls took it right to the Comets (5-1, 4-1 SWC) defense, busting open huge holes for a pair 25 and 30 yard runs on the opening drive of the game. It was a harbinger of things to come as the Bulldogs offensive line bullied Amherst backwards, culminating in a four-play, 72-yard drive that ended in a 13-yard touchdown run from Jack Spellacy.
Spellacy put the Bulldogs up in less than a minute and a half, but he was far from done.
The senior plowed his way through all evening, spearheading the ground-andpound attack with 25 carries for 135 yards and two touchdowns.
He was quick to credit his offensive line for their stellar night.
“The credit goes to our offensive line and our coaches,” Spellacy said. “Without them I wouldn’t be anything. The triple option offense is super hard to defend, and our offensive line did a great job to make everything execute.
Spellacy tacked on another score with 22 seconds left in the first quarter, this time a five-yard run into the endzone, giving the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead.
The Comets had their chances throughout the night, including two fourth down attempts in Amherst territory and recovering a fumble at midfield in the opening minutes of the second quarter. But the Bulldog defense sunk their teeth in and refused to budge.
The defense was led by senior, Trae Henderson. The 6-foot-4, 247 pound defensive lineman was ready for the challenge of slowing down the high-powered Comets.
“We had been looking over the past five games for Amherst, and what teams had been doing to stop their run,” Henderson said. “Our defensive coordinator created a scheme to stop Scagliozzo and to fill in our gaps and do our responsibilities to help us win this game.”
The Comets tried to add a 32-yard field goal to slice the lead before half, but were denied as Erik Henderson’s kick went low, sailing into the Bulldogs defense.
With this being touted as Amherst’s “get over the hump” game, coach Mike Passerrello was understandably upset with performance.
“They really didn’t do anything out of the ordinary,” Passerrello said. “They beat us up front and they allowed their linebackers to get to Khennedy. We didn’t control the line of scrimmage.”
In the opening minutes of the third quarter, Olmsted Falls picked up right where it left off as senior quarterback Teddy Grendzynski connected with fellow senior Braden Galaska for a 24-yard touchdown pass, boosting the lead to 21-0.
Grendzynski went 0-for-3 in the first half but finished 5-of-11 for 50 yards and one touchdown.
The Bulldogs kept a comfortable lead throughout, but ran into frustrating penalties in the third quarter, including two touchdown that were called back. One of them, a 96-yard touchdown to Galaska that was negated on a personal foul near the line of scrimmage.
Even having delivered the biggest win of the season thus far, the penalties still irked DeLuca
“We just have to take care of our penalties,” DeLuca said. “I’m not happy with that. Our kids play hard, but we have to clean that up and not put ourselves in a bad position. The holds, the false starts and then the two personal fouls. We just have to clean that up.”