From the Coronavirus to Mother Nature’s opening night shenanigans, high school football teams have had their share of obstacles to clear.
When that opening whistle finally blew—for most teams—those players went out and competed hard with many turning in memorable performances.
At Berkshire, a freshman quarterback subbed in for the injured starter and scored the game-winning touchdown. Meanwhile, in Geneva, a 27-yard field goal as time expired gave the Eagles an exciting victory over a crosstown rival.
Kirtland traveled five miles north to win its first-ever matchup with Lake Catholic and Perry, well, the Pirates kept their scoreboard operator busy, again. Wickliffe had two running backs eclipse the 100-yard mark in a big win and Trinity saw its playmaker score in nearly every way imaginable.
Here’s a look at each of the matchups in the Chagrin Valley Conference on opening night:
Berkshire 27, Cardinal 21 (OT)
An injury forced Miles Miller into the lineup at quarterback and he delivered with a 20-yard touchdown run in overtime to lift the Badgers past the visiting Huskies, 27-20. Berkshire took an early 7-0 lead but the Huskies rallied to take a 21-7 advantage into the fourth quarter on three Joey Soltis touchdown runs. Jake Brown then threw a 15-yard TD pass to Josh Brown and Jack Kuehn added a two-yard score to tie the game. Soltis ran for a game-high 160 yards while Jacob Brown finished with 115 for the Badgers.
Chagrin Falls 16, Harvey 6
Sophomore Donny Hardy ran for 103 yards on 11 carries with one touchdown and Owen McClintock also scored for the Tigers. Andrew Kirkpatrick added a 27-yard field goal for the Tigers. Rick Coleman scored on a 64-yard screen pass for Harvey’s only points.
Crestwood at Rootstown
Postponed until Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
Cuyahoga Heights at Independence
Postponed until Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
Geneva 17, Madison 14
Ethan Yost’s 27-yard field goal with three seconds left in the game propelled Geneva to its second straight win over Madison. Charles Taylor added 107 rushing yards on 18 carries and Ben Scibona and Brady Peet both scored touchdowns for the Eagles.
Ethan Yost kicks the game-winning field goal for a 17-14 victory over Madison! Way to overcome adversity and grind out the win Eagles! 🦅 pic.twitter.com/NFTmfEaInx
— @GHSGridiron (@ghsgridiron) August 29, 2020
Grand Valley at Conneaut
Postponed until Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
Kirtland 31, Lake Catholic 15
The Hornets scored the first 31 points of the game on the way to recording their 11th straight season-opening win. Mason Sullivan ran for 105 yards and a touchdown and Liam Powers added two rushing scores.
Liam Powers of @kirtlandFB Talks about the Hornets win over Lake Catholic tonight. pic.twitter.com/BWRIpIIauG
— News-Herald preps (@NHPreps) August 29, 2020
Perry 50, Edgewood 0
If freshman Brayden Richards was nervous about his first varsity start, he didn’t show it. Richards completed 11-of-14 passes for 190 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Pirates to a big win.
Javin Richards opened the scoring with a 62-yard TD reception and later added a 45-yard scoring run. The Pirates also scored a defensive touchdown when Layomi Sunmonu recovered a fumble in the end zone.
Trinity 25, Brooklyn 14
Zion Owens caught a touchdown pass, returned a fumble for another and closed out his night with a kickoff return for his third score in leading Trinity to the win over Brooklyn. Trinity scored the first 25 points of the game.
West Geauga at Lakeside
Postponed until Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
CVC TV Game of the Week
Wickliffe 41, Lutheran West 0
Chase Fortkamp accounted for 203 of Wickliffe’s 469 rushing yards and he scored three touchdowns as the Blue Devils opened with a rout. Mason Bala added 184 yards on the ground and scored twice.
