The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCORES »
Hornets, Wickliffe both headed for Week 11 after CVC Valley tilt
• Geneva 48, Chagrin Falls 33 • Perry 41, Harvey 0 • Orange 35, Beachwood 7 • Cardinal 28, Berkshire 8
• Kirtland 34, Wickliffe 7 • Richmond Hts. 30, Fairport 0 • Mentor 48, Elyria 0 • Akron Hoban 31, NDCL 0
• Madison 35, Brush 6 • Kenston 40, South 25 • Riverside 14, Mayfield 6 • Chardon 42, North 6
Winning a conference championship is certainly not a new experience for the Kirtland football program. However, that doesn’t lessen the accomplishment.
On Oct. 27, the Hornets wrapped up the CVC Valley Division championship with a 34-7 win at Wickliffe. Its twopronged running attack came up big once again, with Joey Torok racking up 147 yards and three TDs in 17 carries, and Jake Neibecker adding 116 yards and a score on 16 attempts.
The Blue Devils (8-2, 6-2) would have shared the title with the Hornets and Cuyahoga Heights had they won. Instead, Kirtland (10-0, 7-0) wrapped up its eighth outright league title and seventh undefeated regular season in the last nine years, while Wickliffe comes in third. However, both teams are in the postseason.
“Today was for the conference,” said Kirtland coach Tiger LaVerde, who has guided the Hornets to three straight titles and three more appearances in the state final. “They were 8-1, so we always want to win the CVC. We want to make the playoffs. (That’s) two goals accomplished.
“We want a home field next week (in the Division VI playoffs), so we got that accomplished. Now we’ve got to take it a minute at a time, one day at a time, find out who we play and have some fun.”
The game was close at the break, as De’Narre McRae hauled in a 27yard pass from Brad Dieterich on the final play of the half to cut the deficit to 14-7. However, the Hornets took total control after the intermission, converting drives of 62, 73 and 90 yards into touchdowns on their first three possessions of the half.
The second of those three marches, which was capped by Neibecker’s four-yard run, was really the clincher. The 14play possession, all on the ground, not only extended the lead to 28-7, but took 7:39 off the clock.
“We’ve got so many guys going both ways. I think they just wore us down (on that drive),” Wickliffe coach Marce Porcello said.
“Our guys up front did a nice job,” LaVerde said, while also relating he thought his team wore the Blue Devils down. “It was a matter of hanging onto the football. We had a couple of holding penalties that killed drives in the first half. (We didn’t punt) the whole game.”
Tommy Powers (6-of-8, 112 yards) threw to Mason Sullivan for a 15-yard touchdown to finish the scoring. Powers’ pass in the left flat to Luke Gardner went for 51 yards and set up the second score of the contest.
Torok gave credit to the offensive line.
“Every time Jake and I or whoever gets the ball, the hole is always there,” Torok, who scored on runs of 39, seven and three yards, said.
On defense, Kirtland completed a regular-season campaign in which it never gave up more than seven points in any game. Dominic Capretta had a pair of interceptions as well as various tackles.
“Their kids played hard. You’ve got to give them credit,” LaVerde said. “They came out and battled. They didn’t let us do what we wanted to do. They tackled hard. Right until the end they tackled hard and they tackled well and they didn’t miss many tackles. Coach Porcello had them ready to roll.
“They’re in the (Division V) playoffs. They’re going to have a tough game next week, and I think this will help them get ready for next week.”
“I think it was a good game to prepare us for Week 11,” Porcello said. “It was a good physical game for us.”