Highland Hornets Route North Royalton Bears in Lopsided 42-14 Victory

By Gabby Ortiz

NORTH ROYALTON, OHIO – The Highland Hornets spoiled The North Royalton Bears season home opener, putting an end to the Bears two game winning streak in a Hornets runaway 42-14 win.

The Bears suffered their first home loss of the season and struggled to find their rhythm offensively.

The Bears struggled from the start of the game by allowing the Hornets to score their first touchdown of the game at the 10:39 mark in the first quarter with a 4-yard touchdown by Hornets running back Brent Ponikvar.

With 4:57 left in the first quarter the Bears made their first drive of the game that resulted in a missed field goal attempt by kicker James Osborne.

The Hornets took a 14-0 lead by 10:44 in the second quarter, led by wide receiver Jake Rogers, who scored on a 20-yard touchdown reception.

From that point on the Bears would continue to struggle, committing two holding penalties and a 5-yard penalty in the second quarter.

Defensive woes cost the Bears to go down three scores by allowing a second touchdown to be scored by Hornets wide receiver Rogers with a 4-yard touchdown to put the Hornets up 21-0 with 7:33 left in the second quarter.

The Bears did not score their first touchdown of the game until the 5:57 mark in the second quarter, which was a 50-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Joe Marousek to wide receiver Adam Barrett.

By the end of the first half, the Hornets led the Bears 28-7 off a quarterback draw by Hornets quarterback Matthew Earnest.

Bears quarterback Joe Marousek threw two interceptions by the start of the third quarter and was sacked twice throughout the game.

The Bears quarterback struggled throughout the game thanks to Highland’s strong defense causing the quarterback to over throw and miss wide open receivers.

The Hornets scored another touchdown, taking a commanding 42-7 lead in the 3rd quarter. The Bears would score their last touchdown of the game with 11:47 left in the fourth quarter with a 60-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver, Miles Strnad who finished the game with 139 all-purpose yards.

The Hornets played a great game from start to finish. The Hornets allowed the Bears to only score two touchdowns, and made it extremely tough for the Bears to get stops on the defensive side of the ball. This caused both the offense and the defense of the Bears to collapse.

The North Royalton Bears will head back on the road to face Stow-Munroe Falls on September 15th at 7:00pm.