Nordonia’s early-season picture: football grinds out another home win, volleyball stacks up five straight, and soccer steadies itself.
Football (5-1)
Friday’s 34-25 win over North Royalton at Boliantz Stadium was the sixth straight home win for the Knights, dating back to last season. It came on the coldest Friday night of the season so far. The offense had three scoring drives early, with Brock Barwidi and Steven Fakult both finding the end zone. Late in the second quarter, John Koran added a 15-yard score, and Braden Myers ran one in after halftime. Dominick Jackson then put the game away with a 15-yard touchdown early in the fourth. Karsen Fisher’s interception in the third quarter stopped a North Royalton push. The Bears kept it interesting, though. They cut the lead to 9 late, and Nordonia had to grind out the final minutes with short, hard-earned gains.
RELATED Nordonia Knights Beat North Royalton 34-25, Improve to 5-1
The Season So Far
- Aug. 21: 49-7 over St. Vincent-St. Mary
- Aug. 28: 46-12 over East
- Sept. 4: 41-39 over Villa Angela-St. Joseph
- Sept. 11: 23-21 loss at Highland, the only blemish
- Sept. 18: 23-9 over Hudson
- Sept. 25: 34-25 over North Royalton
The Highland Loss and What’s Next
The Highland loss was a strange one. Fakult threw for 297 yards and three touchdowns on 21-of-32 passing, but also had two picks. Before that game, this was a pass-first team, averaging about 263 passing yards and 131 rushing yards per game, with Fakult spreading touchdowns to seven different receivers. Grant Kaminski led the way with 21 catches for 213 yards and two touchdowns, and Jackson had 10 catches for 199 yards and two scores. The Knights are sixth in Division II, Region 5 and 35th in MaxPreps’ Ohio rankings. Next up is Solon on Friday at 7 p.m.
Volleyball (10-3)
The Knights have won five straight. Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Kenston went the distance, with sets of 22-25, 25-22, 25-19, 24-26, 15-11. Jules Ebert ran the offense with 46 assists, and Ava Chuppa was steady on serve. Thursday at Mayfield, they dropped the first set and then took the next three (23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-12). Copley is next, Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Soccer
One Nordonia soccer team beat Shaker Heights 2-0 on Saturday to improve to 4-4-2. Twinsburg comes to town Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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