The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Heads up! Kirtland can throw it too
The Kirtland football team showed a wrinkle on Sept. 7 that might make the rest of the teams on their schedule lose some sleep. The Hornets can throw the ball.
With host Geneva doing a decent job of gumming up the Hornets’ run game, senior quarterback Tommy Powers completed 11 of 14 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns in Kirtland’s 35-0 win at SPIRE.
“Tommy Powers had a great game,” Kirtland coach Tiger LaVerde said. “We’ve got to take what (defenses) are going to give us. If teams are going to load up the box, we’ve got to be able to throw it.”
So Kirtland did. While the Hornets did run for 228 yards on 31 carries for a nice 7.4-yard average, if you take away the 62-yard touchdown run Joey Torok had in the second quarter, the Hornets averaged a much more manageable 5.5 yards per carry.
With the Geneva front seven jamming the box, LaVerde went to the air. Powers, who missed last season with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, connected with sophomore Mason Sullivan on a 38yard crossing pattern in the first half.
Then midway through the fourth, Jake Neibecker took a pass from Powers in the flat, broke a few tackles and didn’t stop running until he crossed the goal line 56 yard later.
The Hornets don’t throw much, but when they do, they make it hurt.
“Our run game opens up everything,” Power said. “Plus, with the blocking we’re getting, everything opens up and make things a lot easier for us.”
Geneva coach Chip Sorber was relatively happy with how his team defended Kirtland’s running game. He could do
little more than shrug his shoulders at Kirtland’s ability to throw the ball, too.
“They certainly have the ability to do that,” he aid. “I think they had to. We slowed their run down a little bit. They have good balance.”
Geneva, 0-3 after a rugged non-conference schedule that included Madison, Mogadore and Kirtland, missed a golden opportunity to jump on the Hornets early. When Kirtland fumbled near midfield on it opening possession, Geneva had good field position.
But the Eagles punted, and Kirtland took the next drive down for a 2-yard touchdown run by Neibecker (9 carries, 93 yards).
Geneva was driving on its next possession, but was
called for a motion penalty and punted again. The Eagles were in position to get a stop on fourth-and-3, but Joey Torok took it around right end for a 62-yard score.
Torok celebrated his 18th birthday by rushing 12 times for 103 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a 3-yard scoring run in the third.
Then the Powers-to-Sullivan hookup made it 21-0 at the half.
“I really thought if we could have gone in at the half down 14-0 and getting the ball to start the third, we’d be OK,” Sorber said. “That touchdown pass was really the stinger that got us.”
Torok’s second touchdown run of the game midway
through the third made it 28-0 before the Powersto-Neibecker pass made it a running clock game in the fourth.
Six different Kirtland player caught passes, with Michael Bottesch’s three catches leading the team.
“It’s going to be hard (to defend us) because we are mainly a run-first offense,” Powers said. “If we pop one deep, teams aren’t going to expect it. That’ll up the run even more and make us a more dynamic offense.”
Kirtland outgained Geneva, 426-119, despite the Eagles holding a sizable advantage in time possession, 27:29-20:31.
Charles Taylor ran for 32 yard and Blake Peet ran for 32 to lead Geneva.
“I still believe we can make some noise in the CVC,” said Sorber, whose team opens Chagrin Division play next week against Harvey. “We have a good football team. We played a cleaner game tonight. I think it’s one of the tougher games Kirtland has had this year.”
Kirtland, which opens Valley Division play next week against Cardinal, has outscored Chagrin Falls, Columbia and Geneva by a combined score of 125-7.
“This is a group that competes every day,” LaVerde said. “They know what it’s going to take to go all the way. They take every day seriously. They don’t waste any day. But we’ve got to get a lot better in a lot of areas.”