SOT: Game of the Week- Olmsted Falls comes back to beat Brecksville-Broadview Heights 28-18.

Brecksville, Ohio –  It is finally here, high school football season is back in Northeast Ohio and with that brings the Sports On Tap Podcast’s Game of the Week .  Our game this week saw the Olmsted Falls Bulldogs traveling the to Brecksville-Broadview Heights to take on Bees in an non conference match up between two programs who were in the playoffs in 2016.

The Action started quickly for Brecksville when Freshman QB Joe Lebas  connected on a 60 yard reverse pass to Senior WR Sam Wiglusz for a Touchdown, Wiglusz also caught  pass on the 2 point conversion to put the Bees up 8-0 early in the first quarter.  Olmsted Falls answered with a 65 yard touchdown drive capped off by a 5 yard TD run by Junior RB Jack Spellacy, a missed extra point by the Bulldogs made the score 8-6 in favor of the Bees.  Brecksville’s Labas and Wiglusz hooked up again, this time for  55 yd touchdown pass, and the Bees took the lead 15-6 to close out the 1st quarter.

Olmsted Falls’ offense could not  get on track in the second quarter, and it appeared as though the bees were going to add to their lead as  they were  deep inside the bulldog territory early in the 2nd quarter.   Good defensive pressure by the Bulldogs forced Bees QB Joe Labas to fumble the ball on the bulldog 8 yard line, stopping the Bees from increasing the  15-6 lead heading into halftime.

Brecksville’s defense was able to force a punt on the Olmsted Falls drive to open the second half.  The Bees Offense was able to take advantage of some solid running from Senior RB Alec Buckley and get the ball into field goal range , where Junior kicker Zach Bahr was able to nail a 35 yd field goal to put the Bees up 18-6 halfway through the 3rd quarter.

Olmsted Falls’ offense began the next drive on their own 12 yd line and marched 82 yards and was capped off by a 10 yard touchdown pass from Junior QB Teddy Grendzynski to Jack Spellacy, and the bulldogs closed the gap 18-13 with 11:54 to play in the game.  The momentum shifted the bulldogs way even further after a botched long snap on a Brecksville punt resulted in excellent field position.  Olmsted Falls quickly capitalized with a 16 yd TD run from Grendzynski, just like that the bulldogs were now up 21-18 with 9:18 left in the 4th quarter.  Olmsted falls would score again late in the 4th on a 1 yd TD plunge by Senior RB Luke Lombardo,  the late touchdown essentially put the game out of reach for the Bees, the final score showing Olmsted Falls winning 28-13.

We caught up with Olmsted Falls Head Coach Tom Deluca who pointed to the botched snap by Brecksville as the turning point in the game for his team.  Coach Deluca went on to praise his defensive unit for keeping the team in the game and helping secure a hard fought week 1 road victory to start the 2017 campaign.

STATS:

Brecksville QB Joe Labas was 9 for 16 passing with 191 yds, 2 TDs , 1 INT, and lost fumble. WR Sam Wiglusz Hauled in 5 catches for 149 yds and 2 TDs.  Olmsted Falls QB Teddy Grendzynski was 8/14 passing with 78 yds  1 passing TD, 1 Rushing TD; RB Luke Lombardo had 15 carries for 86 yards , 1 TD.

Olmsted Falls RB Jack Spellacy had 12 carries for 41 yards and 1 rushing TD , 1 Rec for 10 yds and 1 TD, a performance that  earned him Player of the Game honors.