CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — Nordonia finally beat the team that has owned this matchup. The third-seeded Knights held off No. 2 seed Walsh Jesuit 23-21 on Friday night, November 13, at Conway Memorial Stadium in an OHSAA Division II, Region 5 semifinal, according to the Akron Beacon Journal’s live game report. The Columbus Dispatch’s statewide scoreboard and High School On SI’s statewide scoreboard both confirmed the 23-21 final.
The finish was tense to the last possession. Nordonia led 23-14 with 10:22 left in the fourth quarter, the Beacon Journal reported, before Walsh Jesuit trimmed the lead to 23-21 with 4:55 to go. The Knights’ defense made that two-point margin stand the rest of the way.
History said this should have gone the other way. Walsh Jesuit held a 15-1 advantage in the all-time series, the Beacon Journal reported, and the Warriors won last year’s playoff meeting between the schools 49-18. This time, the rematch of that second-round game from a year ago flipped.
Both teams arrived with one loss in their last nine weeks of work around a first-round bye. Nordonia (10-1 entering) beat Eastlake North 37-21 in the regional quarterfinal on November 6, and Walsh Jesuit (8-2 entering) beat rival Archbishop Hoban 20-7 behind four interceptions, according to Your Sports Network’s reports of those quarterfinals.
Nordonia’s only loss this season came in September, a 23-21 setback against Highland — the very team waiting in the regional final — according to Your Sports Network. That gives the Knights a chance, one week later, to avenge their lone defeat with a regional championship on the line.
Walsh Jesuit’s season ends at 8-3. The Warriors were making their 24th playoff appearance and had controlled this series for years, the Beacon Journal reported, but Friday night they could not close a two-point gap in the final five minutes.
The other Region 5 semifinal was a rout: Highland shut out Mayfield 32-0 on Friday, according to the Beacon Journal’s Summit County scoreboard. Highland enters the final unbeaten in this matchup pairing since September, and Nordonia enters it on an eight-game winning streak since that September loss.
What happens next: Nordonia (11-1) meets Highland in the Division II, Region 5 final on Friday, November 20, at a site the OHSAA announces on Sunday, November 15. The winner advances to the state semifinals on November 27.
Photo: SilentMatt Psychedelic, CC BY-SA