Bulldogs sports roundup: Harrington shines despite Nordonia loss; Atkinson takes gold

It was a tale of two halves for the Stow-Munroe Falls football team Oct. 7 in a 31-21 loss at home on Senior Night to Suburban League National Conference rival Nordonia.

The Bulldogs slipped to 1-7 overall and 0-4 in the conference.

“In the first half, we did a really good job of executing on third down. We executed a couple touchdown passes on third down,” head coach Martin Poder said. “Nordonia had a lot of drives, but we did a good job of keeping them out of the end zone, making them kick field goals.”

In the first half, Nordonia scored on a 15-yard touchdown pass and two short field goals. SMF, meanwhile, scored three touchdowns, including 50- and 20-yard passes from freshman quarterback Jake Harrington to senior halfback Nate Boozer. Harrington gave the Bulldogs a 21-10 lead in the second quarter on a 15-yard run.

“I was really proud of Jake on that play,” said Poder, “because it was one of those plays at the 1-yard line where he and a senior opposing player met, and he put his shoulder down and got into the end zone. I was very happy to see that.”

Just before halftime, the Knights managed their second field goal, but the home team still led 21-13.

“We felt really good about how we were playing and executing,” Poder said. “But then in the second half, offensively we had a couple of chances but came away with no points. One time, late in the third quarter, we got inside Nordonia’s 7-yard line but ended up not executing down there and had to try a field goal but missed it, which would’ve put us up by three points.”

By that time, the visitors had tied the score 21-21 on a short touchdown run and 2-point conversion. Another short TD run in the fourth quarter gave Nordonia a 28-21 lead, but SMF drove inside the Knights’ 40-yard line with about seven minutes remaining.

“We didn’t execute on fourth down,” said the coach, “and then Nordonia had a 13- or 14-play drive to get a field goal that made their lead 10 points.”

Harrington wound up 14-of-23 for 216 yards with the two touchdown passes.

“We had a very precise game plan. Jake had to make the executions and the checks,” Poder said. “For his age and experience, he’s one of the smartest, most mature quarterbacks I’ve had in recognizing defenses and understanding the game plan. He did a great job. He’s starting to show everybody how special he’s going to be as he gets older.”

Senior running back Teddy Gregory, Jr., rushed the ball 26 times for 92 yards, including a 25-yard run.

“Teddy was very workmanlike,” said Poder. “If we’re going to get negative yards with Teddy running the ball, it’s because something colossal happened up front.”

Boozer had six receptions for 147 yards with the two TD catches.

“Nate is a very versatile guy,” Poder said. “He was in the quarterback competition during the summer, but he’s transitioned to the halfback position, where he’ll likely play in college. We had a lot of things executed in the game plan for him to get open when matched up on a linebacker, and he did very well in terms of catching the ball.”

Sophomore wide receiver Nick Hosey caught four passes for 40 yards.

Defensively, senior outside linebacker C.J. Seckinger had eight tackles.

The Bulldogs will play at National Conference rival Twinsburg at 7 p.m. Oct. 14.

Girls cross country: Atkinson runs to individual title as host SMF takes team crown at Bulldog Invitational

The girls cross country team captured the title at its own 11-team Stow Bulldog Invitational Oct. 8 at Silver Springs Park in Stow.

Stow-Munroe Falls finished with 44 points. Aurora finished second with 51 points, and Hudson was third with 115 points.

Junior Jayla Atkinson continued her remarkable season by winning the individual championship out of 89 runners with a time of 19 minutes, 3.08 seconds.

Junior Deena Ingrassia finished third with a time of 20:11.89, while classmate Ellie Brosch finished fourth with a time of 20:38.89.

Senior Lily Baker placed 13th with a clocking of 21:29.17, and junior Abby Dunmire was 23rd with a time of 22:15.86.

Boys cross country: Bulldogs miss out on title at own invitational by one point

The boys cross country team suffered a heartbreaking result in hosting the Stow Bulldog Invitational Oct. 8 at Silver Springs Park.

Stow-Munroe Falls finished second out of 11 teams with 59 points – just one point behind champion Hudson. Aurora finished third with 71 points.

Senior Connor Scarberry finished 10th overall with a time of 17:06.11, right behind a runner from Hudson in what turned out to be the difference between first place and second place team-wise.

“Connor and that runner from Hudson were kicking to the finish, and the Hudson guy got the better of that deal by one or two seconds,” head coach J.K. LeSeure said. “Had Connor beaten that kid, we would’ve won the meet.”

Overall, LeSeure was relatively happy with his team’s performance.

“It was a pretty solid day,” he said. “We ran well. I don’t think we ran as well as we can, though. We run Hudson for the [Suburban League National] conference championship next week, so if I’m going to beat them this week or next week, I’d rather it be next week.”

Senior Micah Bentley paced the Bulldogs by finishing second out of 104 runners with a time of 16:12.54.

“It was a real solid day for Micah. He continues to run quite well,” said LeSeure. “His time was either the fastest or the second fastest that a Stow runner has ever run on our home course, so he’s right there with the best that Stow has ever had.”

Senior Zach Shawala finished sixth with a time of 16:37.53.

“It was another solid day for Zach,” LeSeure said. “He has another Hudson guy in his sights, too. That will be a key matchup next week as well.”

Senior Trent Macura finished 20th with a time of 17:24.93. Zach Richards, his classmate, placed right behind in 21st with a personal-best clocking of 17:26.85.

“It was a solid day for Trent, not his best day, though,” said the coach. “There are three or four guys from Hudson right within 10 seconds of him, so that’s going to be a real key spot for us next week. Zach was right there with Trent.”

The conference championships will begin at 9 a.m. Oct. 15 at Silver Creek Metro Park in Norton.

Boys golf: Bulldogs place fourth at sectional tournament to advance to districts

Survive and advance.

That was the mantra of the boys golf team Oct. 3 in the Division I sectional tournament at Windmill Lakes Golf Club in Ravenna.

The top four teams advanced to the district tournament that was played Oct. 10 at Pine Hills Golf Club in Hinckley.

“I wasn’t worried about getting first, second or third,” head coach Chet Feldman said. “Be in the top four, and move on.”

And that is exactly what Stow-Munroe Falls did – the Bulldogs finished fourth out of 16 teams with a score of 323.

Hudson won the competition with a score of 305. Nordonia finished second with a score of 317, and Brecksville-Broadview Heights was third with a score of 321.

“I expected them to get out of sectionals, but it’s always tough, it’s always a grind, especially at Windmill,” said Feldman. “We had a pretty good cushion. It wasn’t like there were some big pressure putts or shots people had to hit. We just grinded it out and made it. We’re happy. I’m extremely proud of the kids.”

Senior Ben Skirpac led the way for the Bulldogs by shooting a 2-over-par 72. He tied for second out of 80 golfers.

“There was only one person in the whole tournament who shot under par, and that was Sam Fauver from Hudson,” Feldman said. “It was a great round by Ben. It was expected of him. That’s the type of player he is. For our team to advance, we need Ben to shoot those numbers.”

Senior Mitch Tyger tied for ninth with an 80, and sophomore Austin Wilhoit tied for 19th with an 82.

“Mitch was on pace to go well under 80, but he had a couple bogeys in a row. He was our last golfer, so he knew what he had to do. He didn’t press any shots,” said the coach. “Austin was struggling with his swing early on. I told him, ‘Correct this one little thing,’ and he did it. He played outstanding from that point on.”

Freshman Eddie Norman, Jr., tied for 40th with an 89, while junior Matt Kurtz tied for 44th with a 90.

“Eddie and Matt struggled,” Feldman said. “We can’t have an 89 or a 90 moving forward. They’re going to have to have the mindset that getting a bogey is OK. They always try to hit the perfect shot. They need to work on their putting, too. When you have four three-putts by one of them and five three-putts by the other, that’s a problem. You’re not scoring. That has to improve.”

Girls golf: Berlingieri sisters advance to district tourney as individuals

Sisters Gabby and Olivia Berlingieri have been doing it all season long for the girls golf team.

It was no different Oct. 3 in the Division I sectional tournament at Old Avalon Golf Course in Warren. Both Gabby, a junior, and Olivia, a freshman, qualified for the district tournament Oct. 13 at Brookledge Golf Club in Cuyahoga Falls. The top four golfers not on a qualifying team advanced to districts.

Gabby finished third out of 78 golfers by shooting a 76. Olivia tied for 12th with an 83.

“Gabby had a tough, little stretch from 10 through 12 where she was actually 4 over on those three holes, three of the tougher holes,” head coach Scotte Rorabaugh said. “Other than that, as she’s done all season, she’s been our most consistent player. She never really makes big mistakes. She’s just a good golfer. She’s definitely our hardest worker on the team, always working to get better at every part of her game, so she’s very deserving of her success right now and her opportunity to see what she can do at districts.

“For a freshman, I think Olivia has performed really well. A lot of times, coming into high school golf as a freshman, obviously you have people who are one, two, three years older than you, and sometimes that pressure weighs a lot on kids. But I don’t think Olivia is fazed by anything around her. She just focuses on her own game and keeps going. Unfortunately, she had a couple of double-bogeys and a triple-bogey but was still able to manage an 83. That just shows how she’s able to bounce back and be consistent in her game. She has an opportunity to show what she can do against some of the better players in our area Thursday at districts.”

Senior McKenzie Ickes tied for 24th with a 92, junior Ace Ades tied for 34th with a 96, and junior Jules Leffel-Elliott was 46th with a 104.

Stow-Munroe Falls missed qualifying for districts as a team by just one stroke. The Bulldogs finished fifth out of 17 teams with a score of 347. The top four teams qualified for districts. Boardman finished fourth with a score of 346. Had SMF scored one stroke lower, it would have won the fifth-place tiebreaker over the Spartans.

Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown won the competition going away with a score of 312. Aurora finished second with a score of 340, and Solon was third with a score of 345.

“As a group,” said Rorabaugh, “our goal at the beginning of every season is to perform well in our conference and hopefully advance from sectionals to districts and ultimately to state. We’ve been fortunate to be on the right side of that where we’ve advanced to districts. We did last year and in 2019 as well. Unfortunately, we missed by one stroke this year, by three strokes in 2020 and by two strokes in 2018, so we’ve experienced that before.

“The game of golf can be very rewarding at times, and it can also be very humbling. When you miss by a stroke, every player can go, ‘Ugh, if I could’ve only made that one putt or not have missed that one chip.’ At the end of the day, you applaud the team that beat you and work to get better. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for us this season. Hopefully, the girls will use that as motivation and look to have better success next year.”

Boys soccer: SMF puts together best game of season in 1-0 win over Twinsburg

The boys soccer team began the week with a sensational performance in a 1-0 win Oct. 4 at Twinsburg. Stow-Munroe Falls improved to 2-3 in the conference.

“It was our best defensive effort of the season,” head coach Kyle Kosmala said. “Twinsburg was 9-2 going into the game, so it was definitely our biggest win of the year.”

Junior central midfielder Reece Raymond-Smith scored the game’s only goal very early in the second half.

“Logan Seaman, a junior midfielder, took a corner kick, and Reece went to the back post and slam-dunked it in. It was a nice header goal,” said Kosmala.

Junior goalkeeper Josh Marcinick had seven saves.

“Josh had a real nice game,” Kosmala said.

Four days later, on Oct. 8, SMF lost 5-0 at Walsh Jesuit to slip to 6-8-1 overall. SMF trailed just 1-0 at halftime.

“In the second half, we had some breakdowns,” said the coach. “We gave up a corner kick goal ourselves, which we usually don’t do. Then we gave up a penalty kick and went down 3-0. Walsh is a pretty solid team.”

The Bulldogs have two tough road contests to close out the regular season – conference rival Hudson at 7 p.m. Oct. 11 and North Canton Hoover at 7 p.m. Oct. 13.

“Those are two really good teams we’re going to play,” Kosmala said. “Hudson is ranked second in the state.”

Girls soccer: Bulldogs battle No. 5-ranked Twinsburg to 0-0 tie

The girls soccer team gave undefeated Twinsburg all it could handle Oct. 6 at home but, in the end, had to settle for a scoreless tie.

Stow-Munroe Falls is now 6-4-4 overall and 2-1-2 in the National Conference.

“Twinsburg is ranked fifth in the state. They’re very good, so it was a good result for us,” head coach Jim Dudones said. “It’s disappointing, though, because we obviously hoped to win. It was a very even game, about even in terms of shots on goal. There weren’t many for either side, but both sides definitely had chances. We were using our third-string goalie, freshman Aiyana Williams, because all our other goalies are hurt.”

Had the Bulldogs won the game, they would have been sitting pretty in terms of winning the conference title.

“Now we’re all but eliminated,” said a disheartened Dudones.

Two SMF central defenders who played very well were senior Addie McCoy and junior Kenzie Gash.

“Twinsburg has a lot of speed, so the game plan was really just to not let them get behind us and score, and Addie and Kenzie did an excellent job of that,” Dudones said. “Twinsburg got really frustrated as the game went on because they’re used to winning. When the game ended, I wished we had five more minutes, but they were very happy that the clock hit zero because it just wasn’t working for them.”

The Bulldogs host Hudson at 7 p.m. Oct. 12.

Girls tennis: Hard-fought sectional matches could be a precursor to 2023 for young Bulldogs

The girls tennis team may have lost in the opening round in each of its three singles and two doubles matches Oct. 3 in the Division I sectional tournament at Springside Athletic Club in Akron.

But three of those matches were very competitive, beginning with junior Leah Bentley falling in a close two-setter to her opponent from Nordonia.

“The difference in that match was a year’s experience. Her opponent is a senior,” head coach Brian Banas said. “They actually played much closer than the score indicated. They had a ton of good games and good points. They frequently went to deuce and beyond in games. I think the inexperience of not pulling off some of the big points hurt Leah. She just was a little quicker to make an error than her opponent was.”

Junior Claire Goetz teamed with freshman Kaelyn McGovern to lose 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to the team from Kent Roosevelt, while junior Mikayla Witner joined forces with sophomore Sam Houlihan to fall 2-6, 6-1, 10-5 (match tiebreaker) to the team from Wooster.

“Claire and Kaelyn played a very competitive match, which lasted well more than two hours. They had a three-match winning streak going in,” said Banas. “What was working for them was that Claire was so steady setting up points from the baseline, and Kaelyn has kind of been our finisher around the net. Around the net, we made just a few too many errors, though. We didn’t always move at the right times and things like that, and that hurt us a little bit in the first set, and that took the wind out of us a little bit going into the second set. The second set was competitive, but we trailed most of the time.

“Mikayla and Sam got off to a great start. The first set was the steadiest I’ve seen Sam play from the backcourt. She did a really good job looping the ball, keeping it away from the opposing net player. Mikayla did a great job at the net. She was cutting off a lot of forehand volleys in the middle of the court, and she was splitting the middle, putting a lot of points away around the net. As the match went on, Wooster picked it up for sure in the second set. They were much more consistent. As we got to the tiebreaker, I thought we just got a little tight. Wooster had gained the momentum, and we couldn’t pull it out in the end.”

Senior McKenna Hoffstetter lost decidedly, and Sophie Ing, her classmate, fell 6-1, 6-1.

Banas admitted that it was a tough season for his Bulldogs but pointed out that he will lose only three seniors to graduation.

“We had a very young team this year,” he said. “A lot of those girls have indicated a willingness to make the commitment during the offseason and the winter to play a lot. Next year, we’re definitely looking for improvement in the wins column.

“We’re realistic, though. I don’t think we have any thoughts of winning the National Conference or anything, but I think we’re certainly looking to win matches and be competitive and be somebody that other teams are talking about as maybe the most improved team in the conference. I think we have enough young players coming back that we can do that.”

Girls volleyball: SMF drops tough matches to Wadsworth, Nordonia as losing streak continues

It is now nine losses in a row for the girls volleyball team.

Stow-Munroe Falls’ latest defeats came by a 25-18, 25-17, 25-20 score Oct. 4 at National Conference rival Wadsworth, and by a 27-29, 25-13, 25-19, 25-22 score Oct. 6 at conference rival Nordonia.

SMF fell to 6-14 overall and 2-8 in the conference.

“We were super competitive with Wadsworth, especially the first set when we were winning at the beginning,” head coach Sara Snyder said. “We struggled to pass the last two sets, and when you can’t pass, you can’t score. Defensively, we played pretty well. It was Wadsworth’s Senior Night, so I think that helped them have a little bit extra pep in their step.”

Senior right-side hitter Callie Dietrich had five kills.

“Callie just really connected well with the setter,” said Snyder. “She put up a good block for us so our defense could move around it.”

Senior middle hitter Delaney Ramsey totaled seven kills.

“Delaney connected well and found the holes,” the coach said. “She put up some big blocks against Wadsworth’s hitters.”

According to Snyder, Nordonia has a really good server who is first in aces in the National Conference.

“She ran off a lot of points on us,” she said. “Once we finally figured out how to pass her, we struggled to connect offensively.”

The Bulldogs will host Twinsburg at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 11.