Medina County football notes: Week 5

Black River PREVIEW: Bruising fullback Xavier Hendon (72 carries, 776 yards, 11 TDs) spearheads Columbia's high-octane flexbone offense that averages 362.3 yards on the ground. Peyton Liedtke has 271 yards and three scores on only 17 carries, while quarterback Logan Menge has rushed for 175 and passed for 332. Wesley Sanders (8½ tackles for loss, 1½ sacks), Hendon (6½, 2) and Ambrose Beach (4½, 2½) lead the 3-4 defense.l The game tonight will air live on WEOL.com.STAT PACK: Kayden Hendershot had a career-high 123 rushing yards last week, launching him from outside of the top 10 to fourth in Medina County with 221 on the season.l Dom Bell's 246 passing yards last week rank fifth in school game history. The sophomore also increased his career total to 2,507, moving past Jeff Nixon (2,402; 1991-93) and Kyle Clark (2,451, 2000-03) and into second place behind Eric Groesser (2,796, 2020-23).l Hendershot led the defense last week against Clearview with 13 tackles that included a sack. Jack Vancooney starred in the second half with a sack among seven stops, Kage Petruzzi, Bell and Hunter Varney broke up passes and Varney recovered a fumble and returned an interception 47 yards for a touchdown. Trenton Delesky, who also made his debut at punter, posted a tackle for loss.l Hendershot has at least 10 tackles in each game this season. The senior has overtaken Highland's Evan Foust 45-43 atop the Medina County season leaderboard.l Black River has averaged 5.8 yards per rush over the last two games.LW: W, 41-28 vs. Clearview. TW: at Columbia (4-0, 1-0; 4-13 all time). NW: vs. Keystone (3-0, 0-0). Brunswick PREVIEW: Shaker Heights is riding a three-game losing streak that includes falling 33-3 to Riverside in the Greater Cleveland Conference opener. The Raiders, who are coached by Andre Griffin, son of Ohio State legend Archie Griffin, are led offensively by Saint Crawford (396 passing yards, 107 rushing yards), Jacob Scales (41 rushes, 180 yards), Deonte Robinson (10 catches, 163 yards) and Keon Staten (9, 172), while R'Shyne Hester has six tackles for loss.l Fantastic50.net is bullish about Brunswick's Division I, Region 1 playoff chances, giving the Blue Devils 21% even in the highly unlikely event that they lose out. Those numbers increase to 60% with three wins and 87 with four.STAT PACK: With 1,018 passing yards, Connor Jamison needs 608 to crack the Brunswick season top 10.l Ajay Rebraca led the defense with eight tackles last week at Mentor. Gavin Ballok added six, followed by Tyler Burk with five. Rebraca and Braxtyn DeMoss had the only tackles for loss and Ben Heilman broke up a deep pass.l A block by wide receiver Adin Evert sealed the edge for Maxx Eicher to score on an 8-yard jet sweep at Mentor. The TD cut the deficit to 21-12.l The 63 points allowed at Mentor are tied for fifth most in school history and highest since Euclid scored 78 on Oct. 13, 2017.l Despite not playing last week, Logan Matousek remains in the Medina County top 10 for tackles, ranking tied for seventh with 28. Rebraca is fourth with 36.LW: L, 18-63 at Mentor. TW: vs. Shaker Heights (1-3, 0-1; 6-4 all time). NW: at Lorain (1-3, 0-1). Buckeye PREVIEW: Lakewood got off to a 3-0 start against a weak schedule before getting hammered by heavy Cleveland West Conference favorite Rocky River 49-7 last week. Reigning CWC Lineman of the Year Jackson Comer (6-foot-3, 285 pounds) is an Air Force recruit, sophomore receiver Lukas Stoll (17 catches, 375 yards, 5 TDs) already holds offers from Kent State and Miami of Ohio and tight end Riley Verderber (6-6, 230) committed to Michigan State for baseball on Monday.l Buckeye has won all six meetings against Lakewood by an average score of 37.5-6.8.l The Bucks remain in solid shape to make the Division IV, Region 14 playoffs despite an 0-3 start, needing five wins to all but clinch a berth. Those odds would drop to 54% with four wins, according to fantastic50.net.STAT PACK: Preston Ware led a balanced defense last week against Bay with two sacks, his first two solo tackles of the season. Brenden Murphy and Liam Phillips had interceptions, Grady Giles forced a fumble, Denis Shevchenko recovered a fumble and Aiden Mangin broke up a pass in the end zone.l Buckeye converted 7-of-9 third downs against Bay, making it 13-of-21 over the last two games.l The Bucks are averaging a Medina County-high 313.5 rushing yards, putting them on pace to break the 1979 school record of 305.9.l Bay had minus-13 rushing yards, the fifth fewest allowed by Buckeye in a game all time.LW: W, 33-18 vs. Bay. TW: at Lakewood (3-1, 0-1; 6-0 all time). NW: vs. Valley Forge (0-4, 0-1). Cloverleaf PREVIEW: Springfield has lost 45 straight league games dating to a 21-18 win over Coventry on Sept. 27, 2019.l The Colts are in stellar position to qualify for the Division III, Region 10 playoffs, needing only two more wins to have a 95% chance, according to fantastic50.net.STAT PACK: Last week against Cuyahoga Falls, Isaac Smith joined Robby Buckwald (Oct. 28, 2011 at Highland) as the only players in school history with a passing touchdown, rushing touchdown and receiving touchdown in a game.l Jimmy Tolley joined Devin Cunningham (4, Oct. 19, 2012 at Revere) and Nick Soika (3, Sept. 23, 2016 at Norton) as the only Cloverleaf players with three receiving touchdowns in a game.l Elliot Jordan led the defense against Cuyahoga Falls with a sack among three tackles for loss. Brayden Beier and Aiden Gilbert combined for another TFL, Grady Porter intercepted a pass and Kellen Price broke up a pass. James Gray starred in the second half with four tackles and a pass breakup and Xavier Lyons added a TFL.l Cloverleaf has forced a turnover in 14 of its last 15 games.l The Colts' 446 yards total offense against Cuyahoga Falls are their most since 464 against Coventry on Oct. 14, 2022.l The victory last week moved coach Justin Vorhies past Phil Hahn (53-55-72, 1968-78) for second place on the Cloverleaf list behind Bob Lake (67-102, 1986-99, 2012-14).LW: W, 51-7 vs. Cuyahoga Falls. TW: at Springfield (0-4, 0-1; 9-3 all time). NW: at Streetsboro (3-1, 1-0). Highland PREVIEW: The Hornets and Medina met each year from 2017-19 in non-league play. Highland won the first meeting 35-0 before the Bees countered 24-7 and 31-0.l The Hornets have started 3-1 or 4-0 10 times in 12 seasons under coach Mike Gibbons, who is 99-32 at the school (.756).STAT PACK: Jonah Kowza's three field goals last week against Nordonia tied the school game record shared by Justin Tepes (Oct. 4, 2019 at Revere), Joe Simonis (Oct. 19, 2012 vs. Nordonia) and Eric Duale (Sept. 26, 2008 at Green). The senior now has 12 career field goals, tying him for 10th place in Medina County history.l Kowza has made 4-of-5 field goals this season, with the lone exception being blocked. The other six Medina County schools combined have made only 3-of-9.l Evan Foust needs 71 receiving yards to become the ninth player in school history to reach 1,000 in a career. The senior also has 206 career tackles (29 for loss).l Lukas Grillis led the defense against Nordonia with three sacks to extend his Medina County lead to 5½. Isaac Demming added a sack among a career-high nine tackles, Jake Weber and Foust picked off passes and Chatham Phillips broke up a pass.l Highland is averaging 19.9 yards per completion this season, higher than 2025 (19.4) but behind the school-record 20.4 set in 2024.LW: W, 23-21 vs. Nordonia. TW: at Medina (1-3, 1-0; 1-2 all time). NW: at Stow (2-2, 0-1). Medina PREVIEW: The Bees and Highland met each year from 2017-19 in non-league play. The Hornets won the first meeting 35-0 before Medina countered 24-7 and 31-0.l Due to the remaining six opponents boasting a 19-5 record heading into tonight, Medina only needs two more wins to give itself a 41% chance of qualifying for the Division I, Region 1 playoffs, according to fantastic50.net.STAT PACK: Evan Colon had the game of his life last week against Stow with a Medina County season-high 22 tackles (2 for loss) and a pass breakup. Jamari Powell (15 tackles, 2½ sacks), Marshal Owings (12, pass breakup), Korde Carey (11) and Brayden Pidgeon (10) also had double-digit tackles on a night when the Bees put up 94 overall. Max Hilvert added a sack, while Nicholas Morano had a ½.l The last two games have had 508 combined penalty yards. The opposition has 335.l Kaden Patrick became the eighth Medina player to throw for at least four touchdowns in a game last week against Stow, while Cooper Sokolowski became the 13th player with at least three TD receptions.l Bishop Burch had kickoff returns of 41 and 78 yards last week.l Medina is last in the county with 26.2 punting average.l The Bees have allowed at least 300 yards total offense in 12 consecutive games.l Medina has at least 20 rushing attempts in 16 straight games.l The win last week was Medina's first in overtime since beating Strongsville 30-27 in triple-OT on Oct. 7, 2011.LW: W, OT, 46-40 vs. Stow. TW: vs. Highland (3-1, 1-0; 2-1 all time). NW: at Wadsworth (4-0, 1-0). Wadsworth PREVIEW: North Royalton is running a modern spread offense under first-year coach Judd Lutz that features quarterback Daniel Piper (56-for-87, 640 yards, 8 TDs, 2 INTs) tossing to Enzo Gajewski (15 catches, 228 yards, 3 TDs), Ryan Kinney (18, 221, 4) and Lincoln Lee (17, 135, 1). Bryce Defendorf (42 carries, 163 yards) and Rory Hannah (35, 100, TD) have split the rushing duties.l Wadsworth owns a 17-5 advantage all time against North Royalton, but the last six meetings have been split.STAT PACK: Brysen Hall's 16-yard touchdown pass to Jay'len King last week against Solon moved his career yardage total to 5,740, passing Brunswick's Darian Miskewycz (5,734, 1993-95) for third place in Medina County history behind Medina's Danny Stoddard (9,713, 2021-23) and Drew Allar (9,103, 2019-21).l The defense had a season-high seven pass breakups and forced two turnovers against Solon, led by Jude Haller's 10 tackles (1 for loss) and pass tip that was returned by Crew Eddy to the Comets 5-yard line. Anderson Tetzel recovered a fumble forced by Luke Kinser, Adam Neville broke up three passes and Brandon Dishauzi had four solo tackles and a pass breakup. Karsen Caldwell also starred with a thunderous tackle on kickoff coverage.l The Grizzlies are allowing 220.3 yards per game, on pace to be their lowest figure since 2001 (218.9).l Wadsworth had 37 rushing yards against Solon, its fewest since 34 against Nordonia on Aug. 29, 2008.LW: W, 42-8 vs. Solon. TW: at North Royalton (3-1, 0-1; 17-5 all time). NW: vs. Medina (1-3, 0-1).