Wadsworth, Ohio— Wadsworth Ohio was the scene as the Wadsworth Grizzlies (9-2) looked to defend their home field against the Medina Battling Bees (8-3). The Battling Bees won 22-19.
Wadsworth had great signs on both sides of the ball early. After forcing a turnover on downs they established their ground game. Will Stack scored the first points of the game with a two yard touchdown run.
Medina responded instantly with a kick return touchdown of over 60 yards for Jack Wojciak.
After giving up a fumble on the goal line to Medina, the Grizzlies forced an empty Medina drive. Set up on Medina’s 22, Wadsworth put together a quick drive ending with a 19 yard touchdown catch from Gavin Madigan. The touchdown put them up 12-7 with three minutes to go in the first.
Coming out in the second quarter Wadsworth was starting to put together a long productive drive converting multiple 3rd downs with a Colton Leavitt catch and Kyle Figuray run. An interception for Medina’s Tallen Hulvey turned the tide for the Battling bees.
After a short empty drive Medina fielded a punt on the Grizzlies’ eight yard line. The Bees capitalized with an eight yard touchdown from Cooper Josefczyk and a two point conversion run from Stoddard. Medina’s defense got them the ball back and they ended the half with a missed field goal attempt. Medina led 15-12.
The Grizzlies started out the second half really strong, Gavin Madigan caught an interception with around seven minutes to go. The Grizzlies capitalized with a long drive featuring multiple third down conversions from Kyle Figuray. It ended with a touchdown reception of over 20 yards for Caden Shriver. The quarter ended with the Grizzlies up 19-15.
After taking advantage of back to back Grizzly penalties Medina found themselves in the red zone. Danny Stoddard found Jack Wojciak for the red zone touchdown grab putting them up 22-19 with six minutes left.
From that point on Medina’s defense stepped up immensely closing the game out. Darnell Davis caught an interception around three minutes left and Aedyn Ruiz followed up with one to seal the deal. The Battling Bees Kneeled and took home a 22-19 victory.
When asked about the defense’s performance Ruiz said , “It came down to stopping the run.. obviously they have a really good running back in 28 (Figuray)..It just came down to stopping him.”
When speaking with Head Coach Larry Laird about their upcoming opponent he had this to say.
“It’s always exciting to play a league rival … they’re a good, physical football team. We have to be just as physical as we were tonight.”
Medina will be in action against Cleveland Heights in a Regional semifinal matchup on November 10th at 7 PM. The location of the game is TBA.