STREETSBORO, Ohio — The No. 1 seed’s season ended the way its night began: with the ball on the ground. Fifth-seeded West Geauga upset top-seeded Streetsboro 14-7 on Friday night, November 13, in an OHSAA Division IV, Region 13 semifinal, according to the Akron Beacon Journal’s game recap. The Mansfield News Journal’s statewide scoreboard, The Columbus Dispatch’s scoreboard and High School On SI’s statewide scoreboard all confirmed the 14-7 final.
West Geauga announced itself on the opening kickoff. The Wolverines opened with a short pooch kick that Streetsboro mishandled, and West Geauga recovered deep in Rockets territory, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. The Wolverines cashed the mistake in with a 9-yard touchdown run at 8:29 of the first quarter to lead 7-0, according to the Beacon Journal. (The game’s two recaps name different scorers on that opening touchdown, so NewsForce247 is not naming one.)
Ball security had been Streetsboro’s foundation all season. The Rockets had not turned the ball over more than once in a game since a three-turnover opener against Copley, the Akron Beacon Journal reported — and then, on the biggest night of their season, the number three came back: three Streetsboro turnovers against the Wolverines.
Streetsboro’s ground game still muscled the game level before halftime. Logan Fincham carried the load — Kee On Sports credited him with 136 rushing yards and 36 receiving yards — and Noah Hodge capped a 63-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to tie the game 7-7 with 1:19 left in the half, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. Two Streetsboro field-goal attempts sailed wide in the first half, the Beacon Journal reported, misses that loomed larger with every scoreless minute that followed.
Kee On Sports reported that snow fell after halftime and both teams leaned on their rushing attacks against stacked defenses. The breakthrough came in the third quarter: Anthony Dzurilla broke a 22-yard run down to the Streetsboro 1-yard line, then plunged in from a yard out on the next play for the only score of the second half, Kee On Sports and the Akron Beacon Journal both reported. West Geauga led 14-7, and its defense took the game from there.
“In a game in which you were so close, you feel for the kids,” Streetsboro coach Pete Thompson told the Akron Beacon Journal. “Uncharacteristically, we made too many mistakes tonight, starting with the opening kickoff. We turned the ball over three times. That is the most we turned the ball over [since Week 1] and our red zone offense was not great tonight. They were well-prepared and hats off to them for the job they did.”
The closing minutes matched the quote. Streetsboro drove for nearly seven minutes across the late third and fourth quarters, only to miss on a fourth-down pass to the corner of the end zone, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. West Geauga then gambled on fourth-and-1 from its own 26, and Dzurilla plowed for three yards to keep the clock moving. Streetsboro’s final drive reached the West Geauga 42 before a completed pass was jarred loose and recovered by the Wolverines with 1:38 left, the Beacon Journal reported, and West Geauga ran out the clock.
Kee On Sports credited West Geauga running back Vincent Vecchio with 105 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, and its report noted the Wolverines’ defense produced two fourth-down stops in the fourth quarter. For a program that lost to Streetsboro 35-21 in the second round of last year’s playoffs, the Beacon Journal reported, Friday was the avenging win: same opponent, same stage of the season one round deeper, opposite result.
Region 13’s other semifinal was tighter than its seeding, too — West Branch beat unbeaten Rocky River 21-12 — which means the regional final pairs the two road-tested winners. The northeast’s Friday also produced the thriller covered in Nordonia Holds Off Walsh Jesuit 23-21 to Reach Regional Final, another visiting team that survived on takeaways and a fourth-quarter stand.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on: the Region 13 final pairing is set, West Geauga (11-2) against West Branch (11-1) on Friday, November 20, but the site is not — the OHSAA announces regional-final sites on Sunday, November 15, according to the Canton Repository’s bracket report. What is settled: Streetsboro’s season ends at 9-3, with its three turnovers Friday matching its season-worst total from Week 1, and West Geauga has beaten the region’s top seed while scoring two touchdowns — proof its defense travels.
The standard for a November defense in the northeast was set Friday by the shutout covered in Highland Shuts Out Mayfield 32-0 for Fourth Straight Regional Final Trip. West Geauga’s seven points allowed, against a 9-2 team on its own field, belongs in the same conversation heading into championship week.
What happens next: West Geauga (11-2) faces West Branch (11-1) in the Division IV, Region 13 final on Friday, November 20, at a site the OHSAA announces Sunday, November 15. The winner advances to the state semifinals on November 27, one win from the state championship game in Canton.
Photo: Dfreedom30, CC BY-SA