Bulldogs’ big plays put game away in 1st half

Olmsted Falls’ 42-point first half was enough to vanquish Westlake, 4926, on Sept. 8, thanks to a dominating performance on both sides of ball.

Looking to flush out last week’s lackluster loss to Avon, Olmsted Falls came out focused against a Westlake squad that possesses a lot of speed.

Forcing a three-and-out in Westlake’s first offensive series thanks to winning the battle up front with a mean front seven, Olmsted Falls scored on the second play from scrimmage on a Teddy Grendzynski 42-yard touchdown run.

Once the Bulldogs forced another short series out of the Westlake offense, Olmsted Falls embarked on a 10-play, 89-yard touchdown drive fueled by Luke Lombardo that put the Bulldogs up, 14-0.

“It felt really good to see our offense picking it up because last week we got stopped at the line a lot,” Lombardo said. “So to see our line blocking, making the big holes just to make mine and Jack (Spellacy)’s job easier, it’s really good to see.”

Spellacy made his own job look easy with the help of his line as on the Bulldogs’ third series, Spellacy ripped off a 77-yard touchdown to go up, 21-0, in the first quarter.

Olmsted Falls coach Tom DeLuca said he believes having a deep depth chart makes everyone better by allowing players to stay fresh.

“The good thing for us is the depth. One guy if he’s gassed a little bit and he’s on D and Luke’s on D, then Jack can come in and spell him there,” DeLuca said. “We just rotate them a series and they are both really, really good runners and we have some good slot backs that can take it to the house at any time. So I feel good about our backfield.”

Bulldogs backs tallied a total of 392 yards on the ground, led by Lombardo with 144 yards and two scores while Spellacy added 128 yards and two scores as well.

“I’ll go out there and I’ll do what I have to do and when I need a break, I don’t have to worry when Jack goes in,” Lombardo said. “He’s going to do what he has to do, and we kind of just go off each other like that.”

Adding to the mix was Grendzynski with 63 yards and the score, junior Michael Howard with 42 yards and a key 19-yard score with nine seconds left before the half and a nice day by junior Nick Daily with 37 yards on two carries.

Having the weapons they need on offense, the special teams got in the mix as a second quarter punt return by Braden Galaska from 40 yards out had Olmsted Falls ahead, 28-0.

But when all was said and done, the big guys up front earned the game ball for the win.

“We did a good job in the trenches and that definitely was the difference in the game tonight,” DeLuca said. “Our running backs ran hard and it was back to basics for us this week. We came off a tough one and Avon is a really good football team, but our kids bounced back and had a really good week of practice and just really stayed focused.

“One play at a time, that’s our goal from here on out. Each team in our conference is good and there’s not ever a week off.”

On the other side of the field, the Demons and coach Jason Hall had plenty of opportunities to throw in the towel and call it a day. But that’s not Demon football.

Getting some momentum going in the second quarter, senior quarterback William Blood found James Coleman for an 11yard touchdown pass, Westlake never gave up and put up 28 points on a tough Olmsted Falls defense.

But in the end, the big plays and clock worked against Westlake

“We just do our best. They’re a big, physical football team,” Hall said. “They hit big plays early and it was just a struggle to respond to that. Our kids just kept fighting even when we got got a little dinged up. We don’t have tons of depth and they’re a good football team.”