High school football: Brunswick defense stands strong to preserve win over Euclid

The biggest play in years for the Brunswick football team was made by All-Ohio defensive end Eli Nichols. On the brink of a second-half collapse against Euclid on Friday, the Blue Devils defense was facing fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 16 seconds remaining. Dante Darby Jr. lined up in the Wildcat formation, took the snap and looked to power through behind 315-pound left guard Tufani Douglas and two other lead blocks. Nichols had other plans. The senior sliced underneath a down block from the backside and swallowed Darby at the 5, preserving a thrilling 17-16 Greater Cleveland Conference victory that now puts suddenly surging Brunswick (4-3, 3-1) in prime position for a Division I, Region 1 playoff berth. The Blue Devils were in that position after dominating the opening 2½ quarters until the Panthers (3-4, 2-2) realized they had three-star recruit Ke'Shjuan Telfair on their team. The future D-I college player caught fire with highlight-reel 17- and 24-yard touchdown receptions in a 3:05 span — he also had a two-point conversion — to cut a 17-0 deficit to 17-16 in the blink of an eye. Brunswick's defense was reeling, and the power running game that had carried the offense stalled. That's when Brunswick made its first stand. Euclid got the ball back early in the fourth quarter, moved across midfield and eventually had first-and-10 from the Brunswick 15. The Panthers imploded, however, committing multiple penalties that put them behind the sticks to set up fourth-and-15 from the 20. Quarterback Dion Russell (21-for-31, 237 yards, 2 TDs) looked for a skinny post to Sincere Hamilton, but that was blanketed by four defenders in zone coverage. Russell stepped up in the pocket and angled toward the left sideline, but Brunswick safety Brayden Miles flew up from 2 yards deep into the end zone to cut Russell's legs and send him into the air. Linebackers Drew Dempsey and Ajay Rebraca then finished the job at the 6, 1 yard shy of the marker. The drama was far from finished, as the Blue Devils were inches from disaster when a shotgun snap dribbled off a motion man's foot at the 1. Brunswick recovered but was soon forced to punt, giving Euclid the ball back at the 30 with 3:33 on the clock. Russell did what we could, hitting checkdowns and a screen to Telfair before a 7-yard jet sweep by Hamilton brought up first-and-goal from the 7. Colby Orr rushed to the 6, while two Darby off-tackle attempts moved the ball to the 1 to set up Nichols' theatrics. A thrilling ending certainly didn't feel plausible for the opening 28½ minutes, as Brunswick played effectively on both sides of the ball. The highlight was a power running game built around veteran right tackle Andrew Hayes, who paved the way for the three-pronged attack of quarterback Sean Barnett (21 carries, 101 yards), Nichols (10, 47) and Gavin Ballok (10, 31) to control the clock and field position. Brunswick got on the board with a Vincenzo DiTeodoro 34-yard field goal, moved to 10-0 on a Barnett 6-yard run and took control when Barnett ran through three defenders and carried three more on an 11-yard run to the 7, where Nichols finished the job with 7:31 left in the third quarter. Euclid wasn't going down without a fight and hitched its wagon to the 6-foot-1, 175-pound Telfair in the screen game. On his first TD ,Telfair caught a screen, juked the initial defender, stutter-stepped to set up a block and sprinted to the house from 17 yards with 5:34 remaining in the third. His second was even better, as he caught a short screen, back-juked a defender, sliced behind a block and bounced off another would-be tackler to tip-toe the sideline from 24 yards just 3:05 later. Telfair was without a catch until 6:08 left in the third quarter but finished with seven for 92 yards. The running game was largely ineffective, however, as Euclid finished with only 17 carries for 75 yards. Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Brunswick 17, Euclid 16 EUCLID &emsp;&emsp;0 0 16 0 — 16 BRUNSWICK &emsp;&emsp;3 7 7 0 — 17 First B — Vincenzo DiTedoro 34 field goal, 4:49. Second B — Sean Barnett 6 run (DiTeodoro kick), 10:38. Third B — Eli Nichols 8 run (DiTeodoro kick), 7:31. E — Kei'Shjuan Telfair 17 pass from Dion Russell (Telfair pass from Russell), 5:34. E — Telfair 24 pass from Russell (Dashun Williams pass from Russell), 2:29. &emsp;&emsp;E &emsp;&emsp;B First downs &emsp;&emsp;16 &emsp;&emsp;17 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;17/75 45/199 Rushing average &emsp;&emsp;4.4 &emsp;&emsp;4.4 Passing &emsp;&emsp;21/31 &emsp;&emsp;5/10 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;237 &emsp;&emsp;33 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;48/312 55/232 Punting &emsp;&emsp;3/30.7 3/30.3 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;9/62 &emsp;&emsp;5/38 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;0/0 &emsp;&emsp;2/0 RUSHING: Euclid — Russell 7-42, Sincere Hamilton 2-19, Marcellus Thompson 3-10, Colby Orr 2-3, Dante Darby Jr. 3-1. Brunswick — Barnett 21-101, Nichols 10-47, Gavin Ballok 10-31, Cohen Easa 2-24, Team 2-(-4). PASSING: Euclid — Russell 21-31-237-0. Brunswick — Barnett 5-9-33, Gavin Moore 0-1-0-1. RECEIVING: Euclid — Telfair 7-92, Ky'Mari Frieson 4-61, Thompson 3-25, Hamilton 2-20, Ja'Mario Ligon 1-15, Orr 2-14, Chris Jones 1-5, Jaevaune Boone 1-5. Brunswick — Anthony Gamboa 1-19, Moore 1-5, Ballok 1-5, Easa 2-4.