High school football: Brysen Hall passes into record books as Wadsworth crushes Twinsburg

TWINSBURG — Behind a record performance from freshman quarterback Brysen Hall and an unrelenting defensive attack, Wadsworth smashed Twinsburg and opened up Suburban League National Conference play with a 55-10 win Friday. Hall's passing stat line for the night was a remarkable 23-of-30 for 327 yards and five touchdowns as the Grizzlies rolled up a whopping 553 yards total offense. He became the first freshman in Medina County history to throw for five scores and tied the Wadsworth (4-0, 1-0) school record. He joins Joey Baughman (Oct. 13, 2017 vs. Twinsburg, Nov. 3, 2017 vs. Sylvania Southview) and Mike Hoover (Sept. 17, 1999 vs. Revere) atop the list. "All week we've been studying film," Hall said. "Just kind of picking away at what we could execute this week. We worked on it all week and knew the spots we wanted to attack." The talented 5-foot-11, 180-pound quarterback doubled his passing touchdowns on the season and, if not for the running clock, might have done the same with his 470 passing yards entering the game. Hall showed incredible command of the offense while distributing the ball to nine receivers. He had scoring tosses of 18, 30, 26, 47 and 38 yards, matching the school record for TD throws in a game with the last one to Tommy Hohn (5 catches., 52 yards) before exiting the game early in the fourth quarter. "It feels pretty good, but I am on to Brecksville next week," Hall said. "It's a team game and I wouldn't have any of that without my line. They have been blocking great and our running backs have been running the ball great. I mean, nothing happens without our line." The other four scores were split evenly between blazing fast Calix Lemp (4 catches, 88 yards, 2 TDs) and H-back Jacob Earnest (6, 117, 2). Wadsworth started the game by scoring on six consecutive drives, with the seventh only being stopped by the halftime whistle, and led 42-10 at the break. "Monday through Thursday we put in the work," Earnest said. "We put in the work and we prepare the right way. Good teams win on Friday because they are talented. Great teams put in the work Monday through Thursday. That is how you dominate and that's what we did tonight." Not all the offense came through the air, as the run/pass ratio was nearly even at 24-23 as the Grizzlies rolled up another 226 yards on the ground and averaged 9.4 yards per carry. Junior Gavin Madigan had multiple physical, tackle-breaking runs and finished with 131 yards and a TD on just 10 carries. Cooper Gray also had four totes for 45 yards and a score. The offense only faced third three times in the first half and converted all of them. While the Wadsworth offense was efficient, the defense was stifling. Twinsburg was 0-for-8 on third down, 0-for-2 on fourth down and ran just 24 offensive plays for 125 yards. "I think we might have the best defense in the league," Wadsworth sophomore outside linebacker Boden Ballinger said. "It comes from hard practice. We've been practicing since last year. It takes a lot of grind, sweat and a little bit of blood. We are a family and we are really close. I think that is a big key to our defense. Overall, we got the mission done." Ballinger was all over the field for the Grizzlies, and along with Bryce Polczak and Madigan had tackles for loss. The Tigers (2-2, 0-1) got on the board with a field goal after a 73-yard kickoff return by J.D. Okuma to the Wadsworth 25 with 11:12 left in the second quarter. They then got more than half their offensive yardage for the game on a 64-yard pass from quarterback Dylan Fantone (10-of-18, 102 yards) to Rob Herndon (5 catches, 85 yards) down the sideline 40 seconds before the half. Fantone was thrust into the starting lineup due to Tigers star quarterback Joey Pollock having to sit out with a concussion. Twinsburg's remaining 23 plays totaled 61 yards, with the longest a 14-yard run by Lucas Kienzlen (14 carries, 23 yards). The Wadsworth defense held Twinsburg to just six first downs in the game. Three were due to Grizzly penalties. The yellow hankies that littered the field were the only thing that slowed Wadsworth, which was flagged 12 times for 100 yards. Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com. Wadsworth 55, Twinsburg 10 WADSWORTH 21 21 0 13 — 55 TWINSBURG. 0 10 0 0 — 10 First W — Jacob Earnest 18 pass from Brysen Hall (Jack Dinwiddie kick), 9:18. W — Earnest 30 pass from Hall (Dinwiddie kick), 5:07. W — Calix Lemp 26 pass from Hall (Dinwiddie kick), 1:26. Second T — Adam Heckel 22 field goal, 11:12. W — Gavin Madigan 13 run (Dinwiddie kick), 8:38. W — Lemp 47 pass from Hall (Dinwiddie kick), 6:16. W — Cooper Gray 18 run (Dinwiddie kick), 2:13. T — Rob Herndon 64 pass from Dylan Fantone (Heckel kick), 0:40. Fourth W — Tommy Hohn 38 pass from Hall (Dinwiddie kick), 8:27. W — Kyle Schmeltzer 7 run (no conversion attempted), 0:30. &emsp;&emsp;W &emsp;&emsp;T First downs &emsp;&emsp;21 &emsp;&emsp;6 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;24/226&emsp;&emsp;14/23 Rushing average &emsp;&emsp;9.4 &emsp;&emsp;1.6 Passing &emsp;&emsp;23/30&emsp;&emsp;10/19 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;327 &emsp;&emsp;102 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;54/553 33/125 Punting &emsp;&emsp;0/0.0 5/36.4 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;12/100 &emsp;&emsp;2/15 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;0/0 &emsp;&emsp;0/0 RUSHING: Wadsworth — Madigan 10-131, Gray 4-45, Schmeltzer 4-24, Hall 3-18, Lemp 1-10, Damian Jackson Jr. 2-(-2). Twinsburg — Lucas Kienzlen 14-23. PASSING: Wadsworth — Hall 23-30-327-0. Twinsburg — Fantone 10-18-102-0, Kyle Anello 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING: Wadsworth — Earnest 6-117, Lemp 4-88, Hohn 5-52, Zach Wise 2-20, Jack McNeill 2-16, Carlos Inestroza 1-14, Luke Maddox 1-9, Reece Simmons 1-8, Madigan 1-3. Twinsburg — Herndon 5-85, Evan Bleyl 1-6, Kienzlen 2-4, Anello 1-4, Cole Kramer 1-3.