West Geauga defense dominates NDCL in 7-0 rivalry win

This story first appeared onOhioVarsity.com

MUNSON — The West Geauga Football team entered the season believing its defense could be special.

Two games in, the Wolverines’ defense has yet to allow a point.

West Geauga forced three turnovers and repeatedly turned away NDCL Football on Friday night as the Wolverines earned a 7-0 rivalry victory over the Lions to improve to 2-0.

“Our defense just stayed tough, and they just kept believing,” West Geauga coach Rossi Santo said. “We told them we don’t care. That offense is very good. We said just keep driving. They got cute, and they started chucking the ball at the five-yard line, and we just made plays.”

The Wolverines needed only one of their own.

After a scoreless first quarter, Vinnie Vecchio broke loose up the right side for an 88-yard touchdown run that gave West Geauga a 7-0 lead.

It turned out to be all the offense the Wolverines needed.

NDCL mounted several second-half threats, but the Wolverines stopped the Lions twice on downs and came up with another crucial takeaway when Johnny Beclay forced a fumble that Arthur Alt recovered.

West Geauga’s approach offensively became simple: protect the football, move the chains when possible, and trust the defense.

“We just had to keep it simple. Our team’s very vanilla,” Santo said. “We have a bunch of kids that are unselfish. Mickey Keenan is an unbelievable leader. We just told the guys not to have any turnovers, get a couple of first downs, and that we were OK with punting because we knew our defense could stop them, and our kids just believed in it.”

That belief has produced quite a start.

The Wolverines opened the season with a 27-0 victory over Fairview, meaning West Geauga has posted consecutive shutouts to begin the year.

Friday’s result carried even more significance because of the opponent.

NDCL is a neighborhood rival, and West Geauga had not defeated the Lions since 2006.

“This is a big rivalry win for our kids,” Santo said. “There’s a lot of kids from Chesterland that go here, so this was a huge win for our program. Coach Will Lopotta called an unbelievable game on defense. It was all around a great game. Great win for this program.”

Vecchio provided almost all of the offensive fireworks as he finished with 97 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, with 88 of those yards coming on the game’s only scoring play.

Keenan added 30 yards on nine carries.

The Wolverines’ defense produced impact plays throughout the game.

Matteo DeNigris intercepted an NDCL pass in the first half, while Alt recorded a second-quarter interception before recovering the game-sealing fumble in the fourth quarter.

Through two games, the West Geauga Wolverines have outscored their opponents 34-0.

West Geauga will put its unbeaten record and shutout streak on the line when it visits the Chagrin Falls Tigers for the Battle of 306 on Sept. 4.

The Lions will look to rebound when they host Kenston.