High school football playoffs: Medina upsets Strongsville

STRONGSVILLE — The Medina football team picked the perfect time to play its best and most physical game of the season. Getting monster contributions in all three phases, the 11th-seeded Bees stunned No. 6 Strongsville 28-25 Friday night at Pat Catan Stadium. Next up for Medina (4-7), which lost 42-14 to the Mustangs (8-3) in the regular season, is a game next week at fourth-seeded Canton McKinley (8-2). "It's an unreal feeling," said Bees senior quarterback Beckett Vogrin, who completed 20-of-37 passes for 191 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions while also rushing 17 times for 66 yards in his fourth career start. "I can't even explain it. It gives me chills." Down 25-20, Medina looked to be in deep trouble when a fourth-and-9 slant from Vogrin to Jayden Tagalicod was marked a yard short of a first down, giving the Mustangs possession at their own 37 with 4:03 to play. Three running plays netted just 6 yards on what was an outstanding night for Jack Fletcher, Cliff Nicholson, Korde Carey, Dylan Pay and the rest of the Medina defense. With Max Jungeburge punting from his own 43, Fletcher extended his arm and deflected the kick, resulting in just a 6-yard boot and giving the Bees possession at the Strongsville 49 with 2:04 to go. Brian Wuchter's ninth, 10th and 11th catches of the night — he finished with 11 for 111 yards and two TDs — and two pass interference calls on the Mustangs gave Medina first-and-goal at the 3. Three plays later, the Bees faced fourth-and-goal at the 1 and each team called a timeout with 29 seconds to play. After the first timeout, Medina noticed Strongsville linebacker Storm Miller, a Texas A&M recruit, was lined up on the right side of the Bees offensive line, so coach Larry Laird decided to go left. With the normally five-wide Bees operating out of a full-house backfield, Vogrin handed off to John Nagel (2 carries, 0 yards), who followed left guard Dominic Matera and left tackle Tyler Johnson into the end zone. A two-point conversion pass from Vogrin to Sydney Lloyd put Medina up 28-25 with 26.6 ticks on the clock. "I was super nervous," Nagel said. "I knew I would have my teammates helping me out, and they helped me get into the end zone. I knew I had the will and the power to get in the end zone. Storm Miller is going to Texas A&M and (defensive lineman) Austin Adkins is going to Ohio U, and all respect to them because they're great players, but nothing was going to stop me. I had to get in." Medina, which gave up an 80-yard punt return for a TD in the first half Friday and a 91-yard kick return for a score in the first meeting, plus TD runs of 40, 73 and 80 yards in the initial meeting, squib kicked and Strongsville took over on its own 43 with 21.3 seconds left. Three plays later, an 18-yard completion put the Mustangs at the Medina 33 with 1.4 ticks on the clock. Going into the wind, Strongsville coach Jason Trusnik decided against a 50-yard field goal try in favor of a Hail Mary pass and the Bees batted it down in the end zone. "Beating a team we're not supposed to beat, being 3-7 and winning, it's just a great feeling," said Wuchter, who also went 2-for-2 on extra points in place of injured kicker Landen Cusick. Medina's win was not a fluke. The Bees ran 66 plays for 278 yards, almost equaling Strongsville's 55 for 300. Medina was most impressive against the Mustangs' vaunted running game, holding them to 152 yards on 39 attempts (3.9-yard average). Fletcher had two tackles for loss and Nicholson was a force when it came to clogging the middle against a massive Strongsville offensive line. "We just had to play physical," defensive back Pay said. "Our D-linemen filled gaps and our linebackers played amazing. It was the most physical game we've played all year." Medina took the opening kickoff and went 70 yards in eight plays, with Vogrin hitting Wuchter three times for 49 yards, including the last 8. By the end of the first quarter, Wuchter had six catches for 80 yards. "I was just able to make plays," said Wuchter, who did an excellent job high-pointing the ball on passes from Vogrin and running after the catch. "We practiced running our routes hard, but it really was all (Vogrin) getting me the football. "That drive was huge. We set the tone and let them know we weren't the same team as we were in Week 6. We were coming out to make a statement." Strongsville tied at 7 midway through the second quarter on the 80-yard punt return, then went up 13-7 after Vogrin threw a pick at the Medina 42. On the next play, Mustangs quarterback Jack Kasner hit a wide-open Alex Espay for a TD, but the extra point was no good. It didn't look like it would matter when Strongsville got the ball right back and went 46 yards in eight plays, with freshman running back Austin Tatulinski (23 carries, 83 yards) going the final 14 on a counter to make it 19-7 with 2:09 left in the first half. Medina responded with a pivotal 11-play, 68-yard drive that culminated with Vogrin, whose 59 yards rushing in the first half forced the Mustangs to respect the run, hitting Wuchter on a 7-yard fade in the right corner of the end zone with 21.7 seconds on the clock. Wuchter's point-after made it 19-14 at halftime, at which time the Bees had run 39 plays for 210 yards compared to Strongsville's 21 for 112. The Bees went back ahead late in the third quarter when Kasner overthrew a wide-open Brayden Alfred (4 catches, 65 yards) in the left flat. Carey deflected the ball up and back, where Pay caught it along the Strongsville sideline and raced 75 yards to put upset-minded Medina up 20-19. "Tips and deflections, we always have to have those," Pay said. "All credit to Korde Carey for tipping it. I just saw it go up, pulled it in and went into the end zone." To Strongsville's credit, it came back with a 15-play, 93-yard TD drive that featured two holding calls on the Mustangs. The big play was a great 37-yard catch by Alfred, who later had a 13-yarder to set up Tatulinski's 4-yard TD run. The two-point conversion run failed, leaving Strongsville up 25-20 with 7:41 to play. To Medina's credit, it didn't panic, even when it turned the ball over on downs on its ensuing possession. The Bees got a quick stop, deflected the punt and Vogrin and Co. did the rest. "It's natural instincts at that point," Vogrin said. "You can't think about the pressure. You've just got to think about delivering." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X. Medina 28, Strongsville 25 MEDINA 7 7 6 8 — 28 STRONGSVILLE 0 19 0 6 — 25 First M — Brian Wuchter 8 pass from Beckett Vogrin (Wuchter kick), 8:28. Second S — Colin Tobias 80 punt return (Vincent Roncone kick), 6:31. S — Alex Espay 42 pass from Jack Kasner (kick failed), 6:09. S — Austin Tatulinski 14 run (pass failed), 2:09. M — Wuchter 7 pass from Vogrin (Wuchter kick), 0:21.7. Third M — Dylan Pay 75 interception return (pass failed), 2:06. Fourth S — Tatulinski 4 run (run failed), 7:41. M — John Nagel 1 run (Sydney Lloyd pass from Vogrin), 0:26.6. M S First downs &emsp;&emsp;14 17 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;29/87 39/152 Rushing average 3.0 3.9 Passing &emsp;&emsp;20/37 9/16 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;191 148 Total offense 66/278 55/300 Punting &emsp;&emsp;3/38.3 31.6 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;6/60 9/99 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;0/0 0/0 Individual statistics RUSHING: Medina — Vogrin 17-66, Lloyd 2-11, River Blomquist 1-6, Korde Carey 7-4, Nagel 2-0. Strongsville — Tatulinski 23-83, Jevontae Freeman 5-24, Kendrick Boddie 6-22, Kasner 4-20, Nathan Rodak 1-3. PASSING: Medina — Vogrin 20-37-191-2. Strongsville — Kasner 9-16-148-1. RECEIVING: Medina — Wuchter 11-111, Lloyd 3-30, Jayden Tagalicod 3-21, Caleb Sherman 2-18, Ashton Knowles 1-11. Strongsville — Brayden Alfred 4-65, Espay 2-49, Jeremiah Petite 2-25, Austin Adkins 1-9.