High school football: Familiar issues sink Medina against Solon

An otherwise meaningless regular-season finale did, in fact, have something on the line Friday, as the Medina and Solon football teams were battling to see who would sneak into the Division I, Region 1 playoffs. The start was fantastic for the Bees after Jackson Schreiber recovered a surprise onside kick and an Adam Barr pass bounced off a defender and into the arms of Collin Gonzalez for a 22-yard touchdown, but familiar season-long issues were too much in a 29-21 Suburban League National Conference loss. Medina (2-8, 2-5) dropped to the 13th seed in Region 1 and is headed to the offseason, while the Comets (5-5, 3-4) qualified No. 11 and will travel to sixth-seeded Strongsville (7-3) next week. After the Comets cut to 6-3 on the first of Brady Sulzer's three field goals, Solon took a lead when Miami of Ohio recruit Brady Bush caught a 10-yard touchdown. The Bees responded when Bishop Burch caught a pass down the sideline, juked a defender and scampered 54 yards to paydirt, but it was all downhill from there. Solon's Bryer Pickana muffed the ensuing kickoff but gathered the ball in stride and sprinted 81 yards untouched for a 17-13 advantage. Sulzer tacked on another field goal just before halftime to extend to 20-13. Another Sulzer field goal moved the ante to 23-13 in the third quarter, then Jack Sanders scored from 4 yards to put Medina in a serious bind. Burch caught a 7-yard TD from Barr — Cooper Soklowski snared the two-point conversion — to cut to 29-21 and Medina moved from the 2-yard line all the way into Solon territory on its next possession before Barr was picked off to end the rally. Barr finished 21-for-37 for 226 yards, three TDs and two interceptions — Medina also lost three fumbles in the first half — with Burch (6 catches, 92 yards), Sokolowski (6, 50) and Noah Brown (7, 45) his top targets. The Bees rushed just 12 times for 8 yards — Barr was sacked three times — and converted only 2-of-10 third downs to drop to 30-of-123 (.244) on the season. Solon recorded 290 yards but had an effective 1-2 running punch of Pickana (21 carries, 84 yards) and Sanders (21, 81), who combined to carry 42 times for 125 yards. The Comets converted 11-of-17 third downs — three of the failures still led to field goals — to overcome 11 penalties for 80 yards. Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Solon 29, Medina 21 SOLON &emsp;&emsp;3 17 3 6 — 29 MEDINA &emsp;&emsp;6 7 0 8 — 21 First M — Collin Gonzalez 22 pass from Adam Barr (kick failed). S — Bradyn Sulzer 24 field goal. Second S — Brady Bush 10 pass from No. 25 (Sulzer kick). M — Bishop Burch 54 pass from Barr (Cusick kick). S — Bryer Pickana 81 kickoff return (Sulzer kick). S — Sulzer 36 field goal. Third S — Sulzer 32 field goal. Fourth S — Jack Sanders 4 run (kick failed). M — Burch 7 pass from Barr (Cooper Sokolowski pass from Barr). &emsp;&emsp;S &emsp;&emsp;M First downs &emsp;&emsp;18 &emsp;&emsp;9 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;46/158 &emsp;&emsp;12/8 Rushing average &emsp;&emsp;3.4 &emsp;&emsp;0.8 Passing &emsp;&emsp;13/21&emsp;&emsp;21/38 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;132 &emsp;&emsp;226 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;69/290 50/234 Punting &emsp;&emsp;1/47.0 2/29.0 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;11/80 &emsp;&emsp;5/39 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;4/2 &emsp;&emsp;3/3 RUSHING: Solon — Pickana 21-84, Sanders 21-81, Brock Stone 1-1, Team 3-(-8). Medina — Sokolowski 2-6, Barr 8-3, Gonzalez 2-(-1). PASSING: Solon — No. 25 13-21-132-0. Medina — Barr 21-37-226-2, Sokolowski 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING: Solon — Torey Allen 4-60, Spencer Kramer 4-25, James McMeechan 2-23, Bush 2-15, Miguel Sierra 1-9. Medina — Burch 6-92, Sokolowski 6-50, Noah Brown 7-45, Gonzalez 1-22, Ashton Knowles 1-17.