View more pictures – photos by Garvas: https://photos.garvas.org/brecksville2020
The Nordonia football team played host to the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Bees on Friday night, and the play of the Knights was almost as bright as the outfits worn by the fans that were there to celebrate neon night. In a game that saw the offense put 45 points on the scoreboard, the defense played equally well, holding the Bees to only one first quarter touchdown. In addition to allowing the Bees only 141 yards of total offense, they intercepted QB Colin Seibert twice and had a staggering 11 tackles behind the line of scrimmage as they held Brecksville to only 22 yards rushing. Logan Villamagna and Vince Natali both had interceptions for the Knights, and Israel Petite chipped in to help lead the way with 5 solo tackles.
After seeing the two teams trade punts to start the game, Brecksville was able to work the ball 75 yards down field for their only score of the game on a drive that was aided by a 3rd down pass-interference penalty that kept the drive alive. Nordonia responded by driving 59 yards of their own that used an equal mix of pass and run, capping the drive with a 28-yard field goal from Connell Rafferty. After intercepting the Bees quarterback on the ensuing drive, the Knights were able to cash in with a 27-yard TD catch from QB Joey Palinkas to Nolan Cribbs.
The second quarter saw the Knights taking possession of the football at midfield after holding the Bees to only 2 yards on 3 plays. Nordonia was able to put the ball in the end zone, aided by an 18-yard run by Palinkas and 20-yard catch by WR Devin Tufts. Brenden Hermensky punched the ball in from the 1-yard-line for the 17-7 lead. Brecksville couldn’t do much on their next drive, again having to kick the ball back to the Knights after Nordonia’s defense held them to another offensive series that lasted only 3 plays. Mike Ebert made a 51-yard catch and run for Nordonia as part of another drive that ended with a touchdown, this time from 11 yards out to Craig Aiken. The party kept going, as Vince Natali intercepted a pass on Brecksville’s first offensive play and returned it 33 yards for a TD and a 31-7 lead.
The Knight’s offense continued to fire on all cylinders to start the 2nd half as they took the opening kick and marched the ball 75 yards. Palinkas and Aiken connected on 4 straight plays that covered 61 yards before a Rocco DeLorenzo TD run upped the score to 38-7. Palinkas would leave the game after going 21 of 29 for 314 yards and 2 TD’s. After again holding the Bees to a 3-and-out, QB Ben Chesser took over the reigns of the offense and led the Knights on a 42-yard TD drive that included a 4th down conversion. RB Gino Perrine would run the ball in from 5 yards out to end the scoring for both teams for the evening at 45-7.
Next week will see the Knights travel to Benedictine to close their regular schedule against a non-conference opponent. The Tigers of Benedictine are 0-9 after falling this past weekend to Archbishop Hoban 48-0.
