Plenty of high school drama on the gridiron

Kenton registers a 32-24 win over rival Chagrin Falls, while NDCL knocks off West Geauga in overtime, 13-12.

Kenston’s junior- and sophomore-laden team garnered a little bit of recognition with its opening-night 41-13 pasting of Streetsboro on Aug. 25. That’s a Streetsboro team that rebounded to beat Crestwood, 67-0, incidentally.

After Sept. 1, Coach Jeff Grubich’s youthful crew should have the full attention of its future opponents — particularly its fellow members of the Western Reserve Conference.

The 60th renewal of the Bombers’ crosstown rivalry with Chagrin Falls, also known as the Battle of Route 422, brought with it all the heat and intensity the matchup always does despite a two-year hiatus.

It also provided an opportunity for the young Bombers to show poise and maturity beyond their years, and they passed that test with flying colors. Falling behind by four points in the second quarter, Kenston rallied to take the lead going into halftime, took advantage of six turnovers and took control for good in the second half and went on to prevail, 32-24.

Grubich thought his team just needed to shake off its early jitters.

“I think it was just (us) settling in,” Grubich said in regard to the key factor in the victory. “This is a big rivalry game, and both sides were amped up to start the game. We had a lot of young pups playing in this game for the first time. We came in at halftime and just told them to settle down, just trust your coaches, keep making plays, and good things will happen.”

The Bombers followed their coach’s advice on both counts.

Leading, 19-17, to start the third quarter, sophomore Tyler Mintz picked off a Chagrin Falls pass on the first play of the second half. It took Kenston (20) 12 plays to cover the 36 yards between it and the end zone. The Bombers finished the drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass on fourth down from sophomore quarterback Jonathan Tomcufcik to senior Kee-Shaun Merrill. A twopoint conversion attempt failed, but the touchdown put the Bombers up, 25-17.

Chagrin Falls (0-2) responded with a 12-play drive. Mintz broke up a fourth-down pass at the goal line.

Kenston’s running attack, which had been mostly bottled up by the Tiger defense for the first three quarters, broke through in the fourth. Sophomore Jack Porter (150 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries) broke off a 36-yard run on first down from the Bomber 15, and three plays later had a dazzling, tackle-breaking, 39-yard touchdown run through the Tiger defense that made the score 32-17.

Senior QB Christoph Sontich led Chagrin Falls 80 yards in 13 plays to score on a 4-yard run by sophomore Kyle Zaluski that narrowed its deficit to 32-24 midway through the fourth, but the Bombers burned 6:07 off the clock by pounding away with Porter on the ground. The Tigers took over on downs with 40 seconds remaining from their own 34, but could advance no further than the Kenston 46 as time expired.

“It was huge,” said Tomcufcik, who completed 14 of 22 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns. “This was my first time playing in this rivalry, and it was awesome getting the win for the seniors.”

The game started off as though it would be a wild shootout. Tomcufcik found junior Bransen Stanley (four catches for 117 yards) in the flat on the first play of the game, and Stanley took it 81 yards for a score.

Chagrin Falls responded behind Sontich to go ahead 17-13 with 1:06 remaining in the half, but the Bombers rallied to take the lead for good just before the half on a 44-yard strike from Tomcufcik to Mintz.

“We locked in, read our keys and just made sure to bend but not break,” Kenston junior linebacker Matt Iklodi said of his team’s defensive effort that held the Tigers to one score in the second half.

For Chagrin Falls, six turnovers (three fumbles, three interceptions) and missed opportunities led to a second close, frustrating loss, but Coach Mark Iammarino was encouraged by the fight his team showed and believes better things are in store as the season progresses.

Sontich passed for 147 yards and ran for 78, and Mick Lawrence added 67 yards on the ground and 57 yards on seven receptions.

“There’s really nothing more to say, but I’ll salute our football team,” Iammarino said. “We have a good football team, we really do. We have a tough nonconference schedule that will get us ready for the conference. Our kids battled. I’m not sure how many offensive plays we had, but we had a lot. But when you go on the road and you turn it over six times, you’re really handicapping yourself.”

Chagrin Falls will travel to Woodridge on Sept. 8. Kenston hosts West Geauga.