High school football: Wadsworth rallies to beat Twinsburg

Teetering on the brink of an upset loss to open Suburban League National Conference play Friday, the Wadsworth football team made key plays on offense and defense to escape with a come-from-behind 35-24 victory over Twinsburg. "We knew they were really improved, and we'd been preaching that all week," Grizzlies coach Justin Todd said. "Twinsburg always has good athletes and big kids. "I talked to their coach (Charles Saulter) before the game and said kudos to them because their kids are fighting now. There is no quit in their team. We knew that coming in and expected a four-quarter battle." The Grizzlies (3-1, 1-0) fell behind 24-21 in the third quarter when Norrel Nichols connected on a 35-yard field goal for the Tigers (2-2, 0-1). The Wadsworth defense then stepped up and got a three-and-out to finally stop rugged quarterback Joey Pollock and Co., setting the stage for Kyle Figuray to take over. The bruising senior running back had been a decoy to that point, barely running the ball as Wadsworth elected to keep veteran Tigers linebackers Major Grant and Payton Jones honest with quick passes. This time, however, quarterback Will Stack faked to running back Nathan Metzger, ran left and quickly pitched to Figuray two-handed for a 37-yard touchdown that gave the Grizzlies the lead for good. A questionable call on the ensuing possession helped Wadsworth set up the insurance score. Pollock threw left to open receiver C.J. Lyden, who leaped and caught the pass but saw the ball slip out of his hands before his feet touched the ground. The officials ruled a catch and safety Gavin Madigan recovered the fumble on the Twinsburg 39-yard line. Stack converted a critical fourth-and-4 from the 33, taking a counter and diving for the first down. Figuray then went up the middle, bounced off right guard Brady O'Connor, swept right and rumbled 25 yards to the 4, where he scored on the next play behind key blocks from left guard Gabe Ludtke and right tackle Eli Kaufman. Twinsburg's last gasp came when Nichols missed a 37-yard field goal in the final minutes. Figuray converted on third down and Stack kneeled the clock. "Once we got a lead, we were going to ride (Figuray) home," Todd said. "He's a three-year starter and our workhorse. We probably should have went to him earlier, but when we dialed his number, he was ready." Figuray finished with 15 carries for 139 yards, including more than 100 yards in the second half. Stack added 12 carries for 51 yards and touchdowns of 11, 4 and 3 yards and completed 14-of-18 passes for 161 yards, with the top target being senior Drew Jones (3 catches, 64 yards). Pollock was a load for Twinsburg, rushing 21 times for 63 yards and two scores, but the Grizzlies stepped up with three key sacks over the final 1½ quarters. Pollock also completed 25-of-33 passes for 213 yards, but only one completion covered more than 18 yards. "Chrimany," Todd said of Pollock. "We're watching the film right now and how in the world, he's a really physical kid and exceedingly fast. We're a pretty good tackling team, but not tonight with him." While there were a combined 39 completions in the game, none resulted in touchdowns. "We made some good adjustments at halftime and played much better in the second half," Todd said. "We were more physical in the run game. We didn't play well in the first half. We played good enough to keep it a game and came back in the second half and put our foot on the gas a little bit." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Wadsworth 35, Twinsburg 24 TWINSBURG &emsp;&emsp;14 7 3 0 — 24 WADSWORTH&emsp;&emsp;7 14 7 7 — 35 First W — Will Stack 11 run (Jack Dinwiddie kick). T — Joey Pollock 1 run (Norrel Nichols kick). T — Aiden Stuczynski 2 run (Nichols kick). Second W — Stack 4 run (Dinwiddie kick). W — Stack 5 run (Dinwiddie kick). T — Pollock 4 run (Nichols kick). Third T — Nichols 35 field goal. W — Kyle Figuray 37 run (Dinwiddie kick). Fourth W — Figuray 4 run (Dinwiddie kick). &emsp;&emsp;T &emsp;&emsp;W First downs &emsp;&emsp;20 &emsp;&emsp;16 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;39/116 29/190 Rushing average &emsp;&emsp;3.0 &emsp;&emsp;6.6 Passing &emsp;&emsp;25/33&emsp;&emsp;14/18 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;213 &emsp;&emsp;161 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;72/329 47/351 Punting &emsp;&emsp;1/32.0 3/37.0 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;3/15 &emsp;&emsp;9/81 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;1/1 &emsp;&emsp;0/0 RUSHING: Twinsburg — Pollock 21-63, Stuczynski 14-37, Team 2-13, Rob Herndon 1-3, LeConte Matthews 1-0. Wadsworth — Figuray 15-139, Stack 12-51, Nathan Metzger 1-4, Team 1-(-4). PASSING: Twinsburg — Pollock 25-33-213-0. Wadsworth — Stack 14-18-161-0. RECEIVING: Twinsburg — C.J. Lyden 4-69, Jaden Dye 7-60, Cam Wright 4-33, J.D. Okuma 5-25, Stuczynski 3-19, Rob Cocroft 2-7. Wadsworth — Drew Jones 3-64, Figuray 2-39, Ryan Keaton 4-26, Caden Shriver 3-25, Tyler Probst 2-7. MISSED FIELD GOAL: Twinsburg — Nichols 37.