H.S. Football: Wadsworth falls to Hudson

WADSWORTH — The Wadsworth football team did some nice things, especially on defense, but the Grizzlies didn't do enough of them. In an old-school defensive slugfest, Hudson dominated field position and time of possession Friday to register a hard-fought 17-7 win over the Grizzlies in Suburban League National Conference play. The Explorers, who entered ranked 14th in The Associated Press Division II state poll, improved to 5-0, 2-0, while Wadsworth dropped to 3-2, 1-1. "We played hard, but that goes without saying on our team," Grizzlies safety Brayden Probst said. "You play hard or you don't play. The goal this week was to be a physical team. We had to match them or better them. Unfortunately, we didn't come out on top." Rushing to the line and running a play every five to seven seconds early and taking their time when up late in the game, the Explorers got off 76 plays from scrimmage for 355 yards. Thirty-six of those plays were carries — most on stretch handoffs — by running back Ian Ludewig, who finished with 133 hard-earned yards rushing and caught two passes for 40 yards. Wadsworth ran only 49 plays for 237 yards, with Kyle Figuray rushing 17 times for 84 yards and a touchdown and gutsy 5-foot-10, 165-pound quarterback Will Stack finishing 9-for-17 passing for 92 yards and two interceptions and carrying 14 times for 61. Davis Nye added five catches for 64 yards for the Grizzlies. "We put our defense in bad spots the whole night because we couldn't get anything going offensively," Wadsworth coach Justin Todd said. "Our defense held together." Hudson looked like it was going to score on the first possession of the game, but Ludewig fumbled a pitch left on third-and-goal from the Wadsworth 2-yard line and the Grizzlies' Ian Kaufman recovered at the 5. Wadsworth, however, could not get a first down and a 22-yard punt gave the Explorers the ball at the Grizzlies 36. This time, it took Hudson just three plays to score, with Jagger Pallay (10-for-15, 142 yards, INT) finding Trey Sharp (4 catches, 56 yards) all alone behind the Wadsworth defense for a 31-yard touchdown. It was still 7-0 at halftime — Hudson missed a 39-yard field goal — after the Grizzlies came up empty on their best — and last — drive of the first half. Held to 66 yards over its first four possessions, Wadsworth executed its two-minute offense to perfection under Stack and marched 57 yards to the Hudson 23 in 1:04, but the junior quarterback was intercepted by Jack Jenkins. Behind a big offensive line, the Explorers seemed to take control when Ludewig scored from 6 yards to make it a 14-0 game with 7:50 to play in the third period, but the Grizzlies quickly responded with their only scoring drive of the night. Suddenly running through gaping holes, Figuray and Stack accounted for 62 yards on the ground as Wadsworth went 69 yards in 2:33 to make it a 14-7 game, with Figuray going the final 2. The Grizzlies, however, had trouble converting on third down most of the night. That led Todd to blame himself for poor play calling, which he often does when his team loses a close game. "I did a poor job of getting us into a rhythm offensively," he said. "I'm proud of the kids' effort, but I'm disappointed with the way I called the game. We had our chances." Behind Kaufman's fumble recovery, an interception by freshman Gavin Madigan, a sack by Maverick Blackburn and tackles for loss by Probst and freshman Calix Lemp, the Wadsworth defense gave its offense chances, but the Grizzlies couldn't capitalize. That defense finally tired a bit down the stretch, and the Explorers went 57 yards on 14 plays and ate 7:02 off the clock before D.J. Ashe essentially clinched the win with a 22-yard field goal with 3:42 to play. "They were able to grind it out," Todd said. "You have to be almost perfect offensively against them. You have to take advantage because they limit your opportunities." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on Twitter. Hudson 17, Wadsworth 7 HUDSON 7 0 7 3 — 17 WADSWORTH 0 0 7 0 — 7 First H — Trey Sharp 31 pass from Jagger Pallay (D.J. Ashe kick), 6:56. Third H — Ian Ludewig 6 run (Ashe kick), 7:50. W — Kyle Figuray 2 run (Jack Dinwiddie kick), 5:14. Fourth H — Ashe 22 field goal, 3:42. H W First downs &emsp;18 13 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;56/193 32/145 Rushing average 3.4 4.5 Passing &emsp;&emsp;11/16 9/17 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;162 92 Total offense 76/355 49/237 Punting &emsp;&emsp;3/36.3 6/32.0 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;4/30 4/30 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;2/1 0/0 Individual statistics RUSHING: Hudson — Ludewig 36-133, Gio DePompei 4-42, Pallay 12-22, Team 4-(-4). Wadsworth — Figuray 17-84, Will Stack 14-61, Nathan Metzger 1-0. PASSING: Hudson — Pallay 10-15-142-1, Sharp 1-1-20-0. Wadsworth — Stack 9-17-92-2. RECEIVING: Hudson — Sharp 4-56, Jack Jenkins 2-51, Ludewig 2-40, DePompei 2-10, Nolan Tanner 1-5. Wadsworth — Davis Nye 5-64, Aaron Keating 2-14, Figuray 1-7, McGuire Hiscock 1-7. MISSED FIELD GOALS: Hudson — Ashe 39 (WR).