View more pictures from the game: https://photos.garvas.org/2022northroyalton
Don’t look now, but the Nordonia Knights varsity football team is quickly becoming one of northeast Ohio’s top teams. Friday night’s 37-14 win over the North Royalton Bears moved Nordonia to 4-0 overall going into their matchup next week with the crosstown rival Tigers from Twinsburg (1-3).
Friday’s win was paced by a 20-point explosion in the second quarter with equal participation from the special teams, the arm of senior quarterback Joey Palinkas, and the legs of senior running back Zach Zender. Junior Israel Petite started the 2nd quarter scoring off with an 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The Knights responded to the ensuing touchdown drive by North Royalton with an 80-yard catch and run by wideout Tucker Rusk on their first play from scrimmage.  After holding the Bears to 6 yards on 3 plays, the Knights next series resulted in a 6-play 70 yard drive culminating with a 1-yard run by Zender to end the half.  The Knights evening was highlighted by 21 of 27 passing by Palinkas for 358 yards as well as a rushing touchdown, 56 yards from scrimmage by Zender, and junior Connell Rafferty going 4-4 on extra points and adding a 29-yard field goal in the first quarter.
The Knights used several different ball carriers throughout the evening in their pursuit of racking up 75 yards on the ground. Although Zender was the workhorse, Israel Petite (2 carries, 5 yards) and Rocco DeLorenzo (4 carries, 5 yards) helped pave the way. 9 different receivers caught passes for the Knights, led by Rusk (3 receptions, 103 yards), Petite (5 receptions, 83 yards), and Devin Tufts (6 receptions, 64 yards). Craig Aiken finished the scoring in the 4th quarter by catching an 8-yard touchdown pass. The offensive linemen played a perfect game in pass protection, not allowing the Bears to get credited for a single sack on the night and allowing only 1 tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Knights were led by Logan Villamagna and his 7 tackles (2 for loss) and 2 sacks. Other leading tacklers were Jeremy Olszko (6 solo, 3 for loss, 2 sacks), Jordan Jackson (4 solo) and Brenden Hermensky (4 solo). Vinnie Schiavone pitched in with 1.5 tackles for loss, and both Petite and Blake Allen added additional tackles for loss. The defense held the Bears to only 120 yards passing—allowing only 2 separate receivers to accumulate positive yardage—and held North Royalton’s standout runner Sayed Abuhamdeh to 113 yards on the night.
