Parma, OH – On Friday, September 12th, the Padua Bruins took on the Sandusky Blue Streaks at home. The Bruins, who dropped their first three games to start the season, most recently to Bedford, hoped to get their first win of the season. For the 1-2 Blue Streaks, coming off their first win against Lorain, looked to get to .500 on the year. This proved to be a revenge game for the Bruins, after losing to Sandusky 28-0 last season, Padua got the best of the Blue Streaks this go around.
Padua’s offense opened the game in front of a packed student section, who hoped to see the Bruins win their first game on the season. In their past few games, the Bruins had a hard time getting going on offense early in the game, but that wouldn’t be the case in their matchup with Sandusky. Padua QB Landon Hanover would find Brady Devore on a screen pass early, resulting in a big first down pick up. After a run play that got stopped behind the line, Hanover aired it out to Devore downfield, resulting in a 33-yard pick up. The Hanover to Devore connection continued, as the two were able to connect again, getting the Bruins down to the 5-yard line. On first down from the 5-yard line, Padua RB Chase Weizer rushed in for a Touchdown, putting the Bruins up early. Following a PAT from Caleb Zolkowski, the Bruins took an early 7-0 lead, following the successful opening drive.
The Blue Streaks couldn’t match on their opening drive, instead they punted it away. The Bruins were able to drive down the field with ease yet again. After a 22-yard carry from RB Justyn Gillispie, taking the Padua offense down to the 8-yard line, the Bruins were knocking on the door for another touchdown. Gillispie got another carry taking the Bruins down to the 3-yard line. However, the Blue Streaks defense would hold strong, forcing the Bruins to settle for three. Following the field goal from Zolkowski, the Bruins went up 10-0 late in the first quarter.
The Blue Streaks couldn’t get an offensive series going, this time fumbling on first down. After a botched pitch from Sandusky QB Dale Johnson, Padua Lineman Antonio Haddad was able to recover the fumble, giving the Bruins offense great starting field position. Hanover brought the offense back out, looking to add more onto the lead. After being unable to gain any yards on first and second down, Hanover was able to connect with Receiver Jose Caban, converting on third down. After converting on third down, Chase Weizer got some more work in the red zone. Weizer was able to get the Bruins offense down inside the 5-yard line. After being unable to convert, the Bruins settled for another field goal, making it 13-0 to start the second quarter.
Following another scoring drive from Padua, the Blue Streaks looked to finally get something going. On second down, Sandusky QB Dale Johnson rolled out of the pocket, hitting Receiver Dante Shipp Jr. for what would be an 83-yard touchdown. However the PAT was no good, making it 13-6 early in the second quarter.
The Bruins struggled to get it going following the Sandusky score. On 3rd & 11 inside their own 10-yard line, Hanover hit Devore on a screen pass. After bobbling the pass, Devore was able to get control, picking up the first down for the Bruins. Following the third down conversion, the Blue Streak defense held strong, resulting in the Bruins bringing out their punt team. Unfortunately for Padua, the snap to Zolkowski was botched, causing the Blue Streaks to blow up the play. Following the botched punt attempt, Sandusky’s offense came onto the field with great field position, starting at the Padua 11-yard line. While the Bruins defense showed fight, the Blue Streaks offense was able to capitalize on the great starting field position. Johnson was able to find his man in the end zone, and following a made PAT, the score would be 13-13 midway through the second quarter.
On the kickoff following the Sandusky touchdown, the Bruins broke the tie as Brady Devore had an electric 80-yard kickoff return touchdown, making it 20-13 following the made PAT from Zolkowski.
After the kickoff return touchdown, the Blue Streaks couldn’t get anything going, forcing them to punt late in the second quarter. The Bruins began to drive down the field with ease yet again. However, the Blue Streaks defense started to show some resistance. Unfortunately, a crucial defensive pass interference call gave the Bruins life with 41-seconds left in the half. Hanover was able to connect with receivers Brady Devore and Trey Gasparro, bringing the Bruins offense to the 10-yard line with under 15-seconds left in the half. On second down with 12-seconds left in the half, Hanover was able to hit Devore in the corner of the end zone. Devore was able to go over the top of his defender, getting his feet in bounds, giving the Bruins another touchdown before the end of the half. After a strong opening half, the Bruins went into the half with a 27-13 lead over the Blue Streaks.
The Blue Streaks would open the half with the ball, but not much changed from the first half as they were forced to punt yet again. For the Bruins, they were also forced to punt on their opening drive. However, Zolkowski’s punt pinned the Blue Streaks down inside their own 5-yard line. The Bruins defense showed strong, resulting in another punt, this one being from their own end zone. Sandusky botched the punt, giving the Bruins great starting field position yet again, this time with it being at the Blue Streaks 25-yard line. The Bruins offense continued to roll, as Hanover hit Devore over the middle for another touchdown. With the Bruins up 34-13, they were able to coast to the finish line. The Bruins added on two more touchdowns in the fourth, with Hanover and Gillispie finding the end zone, putting the Blue Streaks to bed.
Following a strong performance from the Bruins offense, Padua was able to get their first win of the season, and by a large margin. This win takes the Bruins to 1-3 on the season. For Sandusky, they wouldn’t get the outcome they hoped for as they fall to 1-3 on the season as well.
It was an all around strong performance from the Bruins offense. Landon Hanover was able to find his footing as he finished the day 14/30 with 186 yards and two touchdowns through the air. The Bruins were also able to establish their run game, with both Weizer and Gillispie going for over 50-yards and a touchdown each. However, Brady Devore’s performance stands out the most as he finished the day with 248 All Purpose Yards and three touchdowns. I asked Brady about his performance and how it felt to get that first win of the year and he said, “It feels amazing because we’ve been grinding all year and coming up short, so to finally get that win is very rewarding.”
The Bruins will be back in action on Friday, September 19th against Elyria Catholic at home.
SmeeSports 