GRANGER TWP. — With its Suburban League American Division title hopes hanging in the balance Friday, Highland’s football team turned to a pair of unlikely heroes on senior night.
Highland’s Ethan Suran (29), Chris Burnside (5), Tyler Frederick (50) and Joey D’Amico (71) gang tackle Barberton’s Brandon McCall during the first quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
Cornerback Jake Mall had the game of his life and running back Manny Dela Cerna burst through the line like a mad man in the first half — both players are technically backups at those positions — as the Hornets dominated Barberton 24-12 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicates.
Already in prime position to make the Division II, Region 4 playoffs, Highland (6-3, 4-1) will clinch a share of the inaugural SL American title with a victory at Kent Roosevelt (3-6, 1-4) next week.
“We wanted this one,” Dela Cerna said. “All the underclassmen, they knew how much this meant to us (seniors).”
The biggest storyline was Mall, who became the object of the Magics’ game plan after the Hornets’ defensive line of Tyler Frederick, Joey D’Amico, Zach Filips, Jacob Scavuzzo and Kyle Duale kept 1,500-yard rusher Brandon McCall (20 carries, 75 yards) from getting anything going.
A junior who started two games earlier in the year when free safety Taran Treb tore ligaments in his hand, Mall got the nod at corner Friday in place of injured sophomore Evan Kasulones (groin).
The 6-foot-1, 150-pounder was everywhere.
Mall finished with two pass breakups on fourth down and another on a near-interception in the end zone. He also got McCall in the backfield for a 2-yard loss, had textbook coverage on five deep incompletions, an interception that was negated by penalty, a tackle on the opening kickoff and recovered an onside kick attempt by the Magics.
“Coaches have been helping me out, (Dela Cerna), the other corner, he’s been teaching me up,” Mall said. “I just kept my head up from the bad games and kept going on.
“(Being thrown at), it motivates me. If they want to come after me, I’ll play defense.”
Mall spearheaded a second straight standout effort by the defense, as Barberton had only 125 yards total offense — McCall had 12 carries for 26 yards — when Highland went up 24-0 late in third quarter.
Solid coverage also flustered up-and-coming Barberton quarterback Zane Ries, who was 10-for-34 for 159 yards and two garbage-time TD passes to fellow sophomore Garrett Turnbaugh (5 catches, 110 yards).
Frederick had another big game with two sacks and a blocked extra point, Filips added two hurries and linebacker Michael Oriti had an acrobatic interception.
Barberton converted only 2-of-17 third downs and saw McCall stuffed on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with the Magics trailing 14-0 and 49 seconds left in the first half.
“All week Coach (Mike Gibbons) has been telling us, ‘Play all 48 minutes, nothing stops. They can’t stop us if we swarm to the ball,’” Filips said. “We all gave maximum effort the entire game and that really brought it together for all of us.”
The Highland offense was rolling early behind Dela Cerna, though it went lifeless once the big lead was obtained, much like in earlier victories over North Royalton (21-7) and Revere (28-20).
Dela Cerna was a terror in the first quarter, taking read-option handoffs from Tyler Zelinski (18 carries, 3 yards; 5-for-9, 68 yards, TD), running downhill behind All-Ohio center Frederick and violently breaking tackles for extra yardage. Dela Cerna entered the night with 16 carries for 35 yards, but had 10 totes for 88 yards in the opening 12 minutes.
The senior started in place of injured Sam Jenkins (ankle), who was cleared to play but not 100 percent. Dela Cerna finished with 25 carries, 132 yards and two short touchdowns, including one where he jumped over the pile after getting a deep handoff out of the stack-I formation.
Barberton’s stellar linebacker duo of Toriq Ingol (2½ tackles for loss) and Antoine Brown (2 TFL, strip sack, fumble recovery) cooled Dela Cerna in the second half, but Charles Howe booted a career-long 43-yard field goal and Zelinski nailed a wide-open Joe “Tree” Wiencek for a 10-yard TD to put Highland up 24-0 with 4:16 left in the third.
“I didn’t leave anything out on the field,” Dela Cerna said. “I gave it my all. I knew this was going to be my last game (at North Gateway Tire Field), so I wanted to sell out as much as I could.
“I thanked my O-line for blocking so well and my coaches for coaching me up. I didn’t have that much experience as a running back, but with the help (Jenkins) gave me and my coaches gave me, I had all the tools.”
The night was far from perfect for the Hornets, as interceptions by Mall and Dela Cerna and a fourth-down stop were negated by penalties, an illegal formation called back a 52-yard Dela Cerna TD and Zelinski was pounded in the pocket to the tune of 10 rushes for negative yardage.
The bottom line, though, was Highland got to have an honorary moment for injured tight end/linebacker Brad Kohmann (knee), who trotted out on the field and was the deep man when Zelinski took two knees out of the victory formation.
“We were playing for the seniors,” Mall said. “We wanted to take (the Magics) out.”
Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.
Highland 24, Barberton 12
HIGHLAND 0 14 10 0 — 24
BARBERTON 0 0 0 12 — 12
Second
H — Manny Dela Cerna 1 run (Charles Howe kick), 11:18.
H — Dela Cerna 3 run (Howe kick), 5:01.
Third
H — Howe 43 field goal, 8:27.
H — Joe Wiencek 10 pass from Tyler Zelinski (Howe kick), 4:16.
Fourth
B — Garrett Turnbaugh 13 pass from Zane Ries (pass failed), 7:07.
B — Turnbaugh 26 pass from Ries (kick blocked), 2:58.
