Parma, OH – On Friday, August 29th the Benedictine Bengals traveled to Parma to take on the Padua Bruins in a rematch from last year’s playoffs. In the 2024 Regional Semifinal the Bruins ended the Bengal’s season, winning 42-28. However, the 2025 matchup wouldn’t end the same the same for Padua. After a gritty, hard fought contest, the Bengal’s walked away with the 7-0 victory.
Following a disappointing Week 1 loss to Alliance, the Bruin’s looked to get in the win column. For Benedictine they won a close battle against Gilmour Academy, starting their season 1-0. This game also meant more for Benedictine, as they hoped to get revenge after last seasons playoff loss to Padua.
In a packed Padua Stadium, the Bruin’s student section was electric as the game got underway. Padua would win the toss but elected to defer, giving Benedictine a chance to jump out to an early lead. The Bengal’s would have a strong opening drive, relying on their run game with back’s Corde Blair and Kayden Forte. It would be Kayden Forte who would put the Bengal’s on top, punching in a 2-yard rushing touchdown with 5:19 to go in the First Quarter, putting the Bengal’s up 7-0. While this would be the only score of the game, both team’s played well on both side’s of the ball as the game continued.
As Benedictine kicked it away following their scoring drive, the kick would take a bounce around the 15-yard line causing Padua to have some trouble receiving it. Padua’s Brady Devore was able to recover the ball off of the bounce, taking it to the 30-yard line, preventing the Bruin’s offense from being pinned deep inside their own 10-yard line. QB Landon Hanover and the Padua offense would take the field, hoping for an improvement from Week 1. The Bruin’s would end up going three-and-out on their opening drive, being derailed by penalties.
Benedictine couldn’t get into a rhythm through the air, relying heavily on their running game. However, Padua’s defense would hold the Bengal’s offense in check. While Benedictine started the game with Gio Lacampo as their starting QB, they would eventually make the change to Matthew Furst in the Second Quarter. Even with the change at quarterback, not much would change for the Bengal’s passing game.
For the Bruin’s, QB Landon Hanover looked sharp, hitting his receivers on target, but they weren’t able to hold on, making it tougher for Padua to move down the field. Neither team would show much life offensively until late in the first half when the Bruin’s offense executed a fantastic 1-minute drill. The drive would start with a screen pass to RB Justin Gillispie, who managed to get out of bounds stopping the clock with just under a minute to go. From their own 48-yard line Hanover hit Brady Devore over the middle of the field for a 16-yard reception. The Bruin’s wasted around 25-seconds while they tried to set up their first down play. The play would be a deep shot to Jose Caban that fell incomplete, stopping the clock with 22-seconds to go in the half. Hanover threw another incompletion across the middle of the field, stopping the clock with 16-seconds and a 3rd & 10. On 3rd down Hanover looked deep but couldn’t connect with his man, leaving the Bruin’s with 10-Seconds and a 4th & 10, setting up Kicker Caleb Zolkowski for what would be a 54-yard field goal.
However, the Bruin’s got creative, running a trick play that set up the holder Brady Devore to throw to Tight End Athan Miday. Devore would scramble right and hit a wide open Miday on the left sideline, executing the trick play to perfection, picking up the first down. Hanover rushed onto the field, bringing the Bruin’s offense to the line, quickly spiking it leaving 3-seconds on the clock. Caleb Zolkowski would come out for what would be a 40-yard field goal attempt. Unfortunately, Zolkowski would miss the kick right, keeping the score 7-0 going into halftime.
The second half started with an incredible kick return from Devore. He would take it all the way to the Bengal’s 44-yard line before going down, giving the Bruin’s sideline and student section a burst of energy. However, Padua’s offense was unable to capitalize on the great starting field position as the Bengal’s defense forced a turnover on downs. The Bengal’s made the change back to QB Gio Lacampo to start the second half. Even with the change back to Lacampo, not much would change for the Bengal’s offense as the Bruin’s defense held strong, forcing a punt on the Bengal’s opening drive of the half.
The Bruin’s would try to get the ground game going with their QB Landon Hanover. This payed off for Padua’s offense as they got up the field with Hanover keeping it himself. Unfortunately the Bruin’s drive would stall, resulting in another turnover on downs with only a few minutes remaining in the third quarter.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Bengal’s put together a good drive, getting into the red zone. Luckily for the Bruin’s defense, Lacampo had trouble with the snap, leading to a fumble that was recovered by Padua Linebacker Josh Vetrick. The Bruin’s offense came onto the field, hoping to capitalize off of the turnover. Penalties would yet again stall the drive for the Bruin’s as they got backed up to their own 5-yard line. On 3rd & 17, Hanover hit Devore over the middle of the field. While Devore made a great effort, he was just short of the first down. The Bruin’s would punt it away, giving the ball back to Benedictine with around 6-minutes left in the game.
The Bengal’s brought Matthew Furst into the game yet again, hoping he’d be able to close the game for the Bengal’s. Benedictine utilized their dynamic backfield to run the clock down. Eventually the Bruin’s defense started to slow down the Bengal’s run game, forcing a 4th & 1 with 3:26 to go. Furst caught the Bruin’s defense off guard, rushing for the first down. Padua had no timeouts left following the fourth down conversion, allowing the Bengal’s to coast to their second victory of the season.
This loss takes the Bruin’s to 0-2 on the season. After the game I talked to QB Landon Hanover. I asked him how the offense can continue to improve going into their week three matchup with Bedford and he said, “One thing we talked about in film was minor details, a lot of missed assignments and confusions we had last week against Alliance were cleaned up in practice, and most of what happened against Benedictine was smaller things which we can definitely fix. So honestly is we just stay focused and continue fixing the small things this week we will definitely be in good shape next week.” Despite the loss, the Bruin’s proved that their defense can be formidable, as they held Benedictine to only seven points. I asked Athan Miday what the difference was for the Bruin’s defense this week and he said, “Defensively we were locked in after a good week of practice and we all understood our assignments.”
The Bruin’s will take on the Bedford Bearcats next Friday, September 5th where they’ll try to prevent an 0-3 start.
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