Scroll down, to see a video of the senior night festivities and full game video
Article By Carson Carrell
Last Friday, the Nordonia Knights went against the Highland Hornets in a close game that led to overtime. The Knights were missing one of their key defenseman, Mike Westbrooks, who was out due to an injury he had received in the game prior. Westbrooks absence was felt on the defensive line while battling the Hornets.
The first quarter was looking good for the Knights. Nordonia was able to score a touchdown on their first drive of the night when Billy Levak threw a perfect pass to Matt Hayes who then ran it in for a touchdown. Nordonia was able to keep the score 7-0 for the rest of the quarter.
At the beginning of the second quarter the Hornets were able to score their first touchdown tying the game at 7-7. Nordonia answered back when Sal Perrine got great yardage bringing the Knights into Highland territory. It was Sal Perrine who ran it in for a touchdown putting Nordonia in the lead once again with a score of 14-7. This was followed by a touchdown from the Hornets tying the game for a second time at 14-14. With 13.7 second left in the second, the Hornets decided to go for a 3 point kick which was good putting them in the lead with a score of 17-14.
Nordonia started off the third quarter well when Sal Perrine once again was getting great yardage for the Knights. Levak then gave a perfect pass to Joel Jones who was able to run it into the end zone for a touchdown making the game 21-17. On the following drive however, Highland was able to run it in for another touchdown getting back in the lead at 23-21.
All photos by Dennis Champa – see more here
Shortly into the fourth quarter the Hornets were able to run it in for another touchdown making the game 30-21 gaining an even larger lead on the Knights. Nordonia’s Billy Levak was able to sail a pass to Cooper Rusk for a touchdown bringing Nordonia within three pints to win with a 28-30 score. Nordonia then took a risk and went for an onside kick which was a success giving Nordonia possession. The strategy proved fruitful after Billy Levak ran it in for a touchdown giving Nordonia the lead at a score of 35-30. Toward the end of the fourth it was getting really close when Nordonia failed to recover an onside kick meaning the Hornets were in a good scoring position. Highland then scored another touchdown making it 38-25 after a successful 2 point conversion. Luckily as time expired Nordonia was able to kick for 3 points tying the game and sending it into overtime.
Unfortunately the Hornets crossed the goal line first in OT. The Knights were unable to score during their possession bringing OT to an end. The volley of lead changes made it a true nail-biter for the fans. Nordonia put up a terrific fight and it was an exciting game to watch. Make sure to tune into the next Knights game and as always…Go Knights!
Carson Carrell is a Senior at Nordonia Hills High School and plays on the Varsity Hockey Team. Carson is also a Police Explorer for Sagamore Hills PD.
SENIOR NIGHT AND FULL GAME VIDEO
We would like to take this time to thank some people that helped with the football game live streaming.
– Bryan Mravec from Inagen Productions who gave us some instrumental advice on streaming.
– Shane Romeo, a recent Nordonia graduate spent most of the day getting things set up just right and ran the show
My student crew:
– Max Zuschin our play-by-play guy
– DJ Resch was on the video camera and took pictures
– Ben Hersh was on the video camera and did the score board
– Photographer, Dennis Champa was on the field taking pictures (you will find them on page 5, 9 and 10).
Thank you to the athletes, staff, parents, students and everyone that watched the game!
