The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Wildcats’ rout of Nordonia halted in first half
Being sent home early was a kind of bittersweet experience for Mayfield.
But as Coach Ross Bandiera said, “It’s better to be up, 27-0, than down, 27-0.”
For sure. But because lightning halted play at Mayfield with 5:06 left to go in the first half Sept. 13, it isn’t a victory. That cannot happen until Nordonia returns to resume play at 6 p.m. Sept. 14.
“It’s a varsity football game,” Bandiera said. “We’ve got to be ready to play. Our kids are mature enough, I think, to be ready to go (Sept. 14) and take care of business as long as they need to.
“If that’s five minutes and six seconds and then we go to a running clock (with a lead of at least 30 points), then that’s five minutes and six seconds that they’ve got to be ready to play. If (the Knights) get a few on us, and they’ve got to go the full 2½ quarters, then they’ve got to be ready to play.”
What happened Sept. 13, anyway, was not close. Mayfield scored four of the six times it had the ball, as it racked up 248 yards of total offense and 14 first downs.
Following the opening kickoff, Mayfield drove 65 yards, with Joey Suchy taking it in from the 2. The Wildcats fumbled away their next possession, but needed just two plays to take it 54 yards for their second score, as Michael Huss (8-of-12, 116 yards) threw to Ben Sherlock for a spectacular 35-yard reception and then found Billy Guzzo in the end zone from 19 yards.
The teams then traded interceptions, but after Mayfield held Nordonia on downs, Joey Isabella ran it in from 23 yards to cap a 65-yard possession, making it 20-0 early in the second quarter. The Wildcats then pushed the Knights back to their own six, forcing a short punt. Clay Cunningham scored from the 3 seven plays later.
Mayfield then stopped Nordonia on downs again, this time at the Wildcat 30.
That was when lightning lit the sky and play was stopped.