View more pictures – photos by Garvas: https://photos.garvas.org/stow2022
Keep chipping away. That’s what the Knights had to do on Friday night after surrendering 3 straight 2nd quarter touchdown drives. Resilience, determination, and desire could have easily been the theme of the halftime discussions after being down 21-13 to the Stow Bulldogs. In a half that saw Nordonia drive the ball 98 yards for their first score, it would have been easy to think that the Knights were ready to come out swinging and put the Bulldogs away early. However, the Knights wouldn’t cross the goal line again that half as they watched Stow capitalize on all 3 of their 2nd quarter drives.
The game started with Stow’s first drive stalling just across midfield, where they punted the ball deep in the Knights territory, all the way to the 2 yard line. QB Joey Palinkas would then orchestrate a drive going the entire length of the field that would see 4 different players carry the ball and have 5 different Nordonia receivers catch a pass, culminating with a 15-yarder to WR Israel Petite for the score.
The second quarter would see the Knights offense begin to struggle a bit, unable to turn good field position into anything other than field goals. Starting drives from midfield and then from the 40-yard-line of Stow, the only offense they could put together came from Connell Rafferty being able to sandwich a pair of successful field goals from 25 and 28 yards around a Stow touchdown drive.
The tables were definitely turned when the teams came back out for the second half. The Knights would only allow Stow to touch the ball four times the entire half, their defense forcing the Bulldogs to end their first 3rd quarter drive after only 3 plays. Nordonia’s defense played strong in the second half, allowing no more than 3 pass attempts to go over 10 yards. Although the Knights defense didn’t force any turnovers in the 2nd half, the Bulldogs QB Jacob Harrington was either sacked or incomplete on 60% his pass attempts. The run defense played well, not allowing a single ball carrier a run longer than 5 yards. The front 7 of the Knights played a spirited half, tallying several tackles for loss and Asher Wilson adding a sack.
The Knights clearly had a different offensive game plan in the second half, as they would run the ball on 29 of 36 plays. Even though only 3 of those runs went for more than 10 yards, it was evident that the Knights were going to secure control of this game by pounding the ball at Stow and grinding out tough plays on the ground. Six separate ball carries ran the ball for Nordonia in the second half, with Gino Perrine and Rocco DeLorenzo earning a majority of the carries. Brenden Hermensky would add a 1-yard rushing touchdown to go with his 6 solo tackles. Eating up small chunks of yardage little by little, Nordonia would go on three separate scoring drives of 6, 13, and 13-play drives, ending with Rafferty adding his 11th point of the night on a 21-yard field goal.
Next week will see the Knights (6-2) at home against the Bees of Brecksville-Broadview Heights who are coming off of a 27-13 loss to the Twinsburg Tigers.
