GRANGER TWP. — For one night, Tyler Zelinski, Sam Jenkins and Taran Treb felt like royalty.
Highland quarterback Tyler Zelinski throws under heavy pressure from Brunswick’s Sam Sottosanti during the second quarter. AARON JOSEFCZYK/GAZETTE
The Highland football team successfully ignored the hype Friday, as Zelinski connected with Jenkins for two long touchdowns and Treb and the defense sparkled to lead the Hornets to a 17-7 non-league victory over neighboring Brunswick in the first game at North Gateway Tire Field.
More than 5,500 fans were in the house to witness Highland’s first win over Brunswick since 1984. It was the teams’ first meeting since 1986.
“This is just awesome,” said safety Treb, who had an interception and tackle for loss in his first career start. “We’ve been aiming for this since the beginning of summer. We always want to be the kings of Medina (County). At least that’s how I looked at it.
“This was our chance to put ourselves out there against a Division I team, Brunswick. We hope it will be a rivalry for the long term. It’s awesome right now. I can’t even describe it.”
The Hornets began the second half up 14-0 after 70- and 35-yard TD passes from Zelinski (6-for-15, 212 yards; 13 carries, 62 yards) to Jenkins (51 rushing yards, 111 receiving), but Brunswick made a few offensive adjustments — notably inserting 6-foot, 215-pounder Alex Gillespie at fullback — and made the game interesting.
Treb, Jacob Scavuzzo, Chris Petrilla, Michael Oriti and Co. had other plans when their backs were against the wall, as Brunswick had drives end on the Highland 31-, 15-, 32- and 28-yard lines. The final one proved key, as Treb intercepted Nick Horton with 11:30 to go.
The physical 6-0, 190-pound Horton had 110 yards on 24 grueling carries and accounted for eight of the Blue Devils’ 12 first downs. Fullbacks Zach Snyder (8 carries, 24 yards) and Gillespie (4, 18) had quiet nights, while wingbacks Marc Davis, Jacob Martin and Jordan Sadler combined for 21 yards on 13 carries in what amounted to a busted debut for the flexbone offense.
Brunswick’s lone score came when Horton ran a speed option left and pitched to reversing wide receiver Victor Talley, who lofted a pass to a wide-open Sadler for a 62-yard TD with 7:52 left.
Factor that out and the Blue Devils averaged 3.5 yards per play.
“If you looked at our scouting report, it had two things it said we had to do: We couldn’t give up big plays and we needed to be more physical,” said Brunswick coach Luke Beal, whose team was 3-for-13 on third-down conversions. “Those were the two glaring things that we did not do.”
“It’s a lot to prepare for,” Highland coach Mike Gibbons said. “It looks like our defense went out there and swarmed pretty well, but it was a work in progress. All summer long we attacked that option — tackling the dive, tackling the quarterback, tackling the pitch.”
Even so, Highland had to put away the game after the trick play and wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire with a dormant rushing attack.
The offensive line, Jenkins and Zelinski picked up the intensity, however, and marched 56 yards in 11 plays, burning 4:33 off the clock and setting up a 26-yard Charles Howe field goal. Key plays included Zelinski scampering 23 yards on second-and-21 and Chris Burnside getting a first down on third-and-inches with 265-pound sophomore Joey D’Amico as the lead blocker out of the stack-I.
Highland’s Ethan Suran then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, and Zelinski soon thereafter took a knee inside the red zone to end the game.
“We executed plays better than they did,” said Zelinski, who nailed James Rogers for a 70-yard gain on the second play from scrimmage. “We did exactly what we were supposed to do. Now we’re going to celebrate for the next 20 minutes and then off to next week.”
The Hornets took the 14-0 lead 15 minutes into the game using the same play call on each score. Zelinski initiated by faking a jet sweep to a wide receiver, allowing running back Jenkins, normally a lead blocker, to slip into the flat and bolt up the sideline.
No one was in the zip code. Zelinski connected on probably the easiest TD passes of his life and Highland had a two-score lead 15:41 into the game.
Brunswick adjusted and saw sophomore safety Seth Clark intercept Zelinski in the end zone when the Hornets tried the play a third time, but the long TDs put the Blue Devils’ inconsistent offense behind the 8-ball.
“You’ve got to go one play after another,” said Zelinski, who also averaged 43.8 yards on six punts. “Our coaches kept telling us, ‘Don’t even think about the crowd, don’t think about the TV, don’t think about the reporters. Just focus on what we have to do and do it right.”’
In the end, that Hornets did enough right to walk away a winner.
“I think it’s just our atmosphere as a team,” Treb said. “It’s heart over everything else, and every man has each other’s back. It’s always been like that and it’s always going to be like that at Highland.
“The ‘H’ resembles what we are as a family and we have everyone’s back.”
Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.
Highland 17, Brunswick 7
BRUNSWICK 0 0 0 7 — 7
HIGHLAND 7 7 0 3 — 17
First
H — Sam Jenkins 70 pass from Tyler Zelinski (Charles Howe kick), 7:25.
Second
H — Jenkins 35 pass from Zelinski (Howe kick), 8:19.
Fourth
B — Jordan Sadler 62 pass from Victor Talley (Tim Dick kick), 7:52.
H — Howe 26 field goal, 3:19.