KIRTLAND, Ohio — The defending Division VI state champions looked every bit the part on a cold, wet Friday night in Lake County. Top-seeded Kirtland overwhelmed visiting Brookfield 50-0 in a Division VI, Region 21 quarterfinal on Friday, Nov. 6, rushing for 324 yards, holding the Warriors to just 27 yards of total offense and scoring 37 points before halftime to move one win from another regional championship game.
Senior Tommy Caimi scored three touchdowns — two on the ground and one on a 28-yard interception return — to lead the Hornets (10-1), according to Ohio Varsity’s game report. Kirtland, the No. 1 seed in Region 21, won its eighth straight game and recorded its fifth shutout during that stretch, while No. 8 seed Brookfield saw its season end at 8-4.
The Hornets set the tone at the line of scrimmage from the opening possession. Mario Lorber opened the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run, and Zander Perko added the two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead. The defense doubled the margin moments later, when Caimi dropped into zone coverage, read Brookfield quarterback Jaxson Bayus and returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown, Ohio Varsity reported. Marko Valentic’s extra point made it 15-0 after one quarter.
Kirtland broke the game open in the second quarter. Caimi scored on runs of 8 and 2 yards, and Perko capped the half with a 13-yard touchdown run that sent the Hornets to the locker room ahead 37-0. By halftime, Kirtland had scored five touchdowns — four on the ground and one on defense — while Brookfield had managed almost nothing against a front that controlled every snap.
Caimi told Ohio Varsity the miserable weather suited Kirtland just fine. “We love the bad weather,” he told Ohio Varsity. “Teams that throw the ball and try to get fancy can’t get much going against us. The O-line and the defensive front all played great. Just be more physical than them.” On his interception return, Caimi told Ohio Varsity he dropped back in zone, saw the throw and made the play, crediting his teammates’ blocking for clearing his path to the end zone.
The ground game never needed help from the passing attack. Kirtland attempted just two passes and completed none, because it never had to put the ball in the air, according to Ohio Varsity’s statistics. The Hornets spread their 324 rushing yards among nine ball carriers and averaged more than nine yards per attempt. Perko led the way with 91 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, Matt Rus added 73 yards and a score on six attempts, Sebastian Becker contributed 60 yards on just four carries, and Caimi finished with 52 yards and his two rushing touchdowns on seven attempts.
Brookfield’s offense, meanwhile, never found room to breathe. The Warriors produced only three first downs, rushed for 22 yards on 15 carries and completed 5 of 11 passes for five yards, converting just one of eight third-down tries, Ohio Varsity reported. Bayus threw the interception Caimi returned for a score, and Rico Smith led Brookfield with seven rushing yards and three catches for six yards in a night when the Warriors never seriously threatened to break the shutout.
Kirtland kept its foot down after halftime. Rus scored on an 11-yard run in the third quarter, with Valentic’s fourth extra point stretching the lead to 44-0. Freshman Griffin Gabriel finished the scoring with an 18-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Performances like this have become the trademark of head coach Tiger LaVerde’s program, as Ohio Varsity noted. Kirtland is the defending Division VI state champion, and Ohio Varsity’s team history lists eight state titles for the Hornets — 2011, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023 and 2025. The Hornets also went a perfect 6-0 through the Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division this fall on their way to the region’s top seed and a first-round bye.
Kirtland’s only loss came back on Sept. 4, a 31-10 defeat at Perry. Since that night, the Hornets have outscored eight opponents 373-17, including regular-season shutouts of Conneaut, Crestwood, Beachwood and Fairview before Friday’s blanking of Brookfield — the profile of a team peaking at the time of year it has owned for a decade.
For Brookfield, the loss closed a strong season in Trumbull County. The Warriors entered as the No. 8 seed and opened the playoffs with a 49-0 win over Columbiana before running into the region’s standard-bearer. Brookfield finishes 8-4.
What happens next is a meeting of 10-1 teams with a berth in the regional final on the line. Kirtland hosts No. 4 seed Hillsdale in the Region 21 semifinal on Friday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. at Kirtland High School. The Falcons advanced with a 52-14 win over Mineral Ridge on Friday. The winner moves on to the regional final on Friday, Nov. 20, with the state semifinals set for Nov. 27 and the finals Dec. 3-5 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. “It’s great,” Caimi told Ohio Varsity. “We’ve been waiting for this playoff atmosphere all year. We will always bet on each other out there.”
Photo: SilentMatt Psychedelic, CC BY-SA 4.0