SmeeSports

Bedford, OH – On Friday, September 5th, the Padua Bruins traveled to take on the Bedford Bearcats. Both teams were hungry to get their first victory of the season. In Week 2 Padua lost in a gritty 7-0 game against Benedictine. For the Bearcats, they were coming off of a loss to Twinsburg in Week 2. Neither team knew what was in store, as they would play an electrifying game that had to be decided in overtime.

The Bruins opened the game with a solid drive. They worked their way down to the red zone, but were unable to find the end zone. Instead they settled for a field goal from Caleb Zolkowski, putting them up 3-0. Following the Padua field goal, the Bearcats would also open the game with a score. For Bedford it was a 60-yard rushing touchdown from QB Kent Staten, putting the Bearcats up 7-3 before the end of the first quarter.

The Bruins struggled to start the second quarter as QB Landon Hanover threw an interception. It was returned for a touchdown but was then called back, as Bedford took control around their own 37-yard line. Bedford’s Kent Staten aired it out to his receiver down field, getting them down to Padua’s 30-yard line. Bedford was able to capitalize on the turnover, cashing in for six. However, they missed the PAT, making it 13-3 midway through the second quarter. The Bruins were unable to match the Bearcat’s scoring drive, resulting in a three-and-out. The Bearcats would go down and add on to their lead, tacking on an extra three points, making it 16-3. On the kickoff following the field goal, Padua’s Brady Devore had an electric return, bringing Padua to Bedford’s 30-yard line before going down. With around a minute left in the half, the Bruins were able to get into field goal range for Caleb Zolkowski, who knocked through another field goal. The Bruins went into the half down 16-6.

As the second half got underway, the Bearcats struggled with turnovers and penalties. This stalled multiple drives for the Bearcats. While the Bruins had opportunities with great starting field position, they were unable to find the end zone and only score three points in the third quarter. Following another Zolkowski field goal it would be 16-9 going into the fourth quarter, only a one score deficit for the Bruins.

Bedford opened up the fourth quarter with the ball inside the red zone, however penalties backed them up yet again. Bedford’s QB Kent Staten, threw an interception giving the ball to the Bruins, who needed a touchdown to tie the game. The Bruins were unable to capitalize yet again, causing Zolkowski to have to punt it away. Unfortunately for the Bearcats, they would turnover the ball again, this time it was a fumble that the Bruins recovered. The Bruins offense took the field inside the red zone following the fumble recovery. Again, the Bruin’s offense just couldn’t find the end zone, instead turning it over on downs. Similar to Padua’s offense, the Bearcats couldn’t get anything going either. Instead, they fumbled yet again, this time it would be their running back, giving the Bruins the ball back in great starting field position. The Bruins slowly chunked their way down the field, hoping to find the end zone for the first time this season. After picking up a first down, Hanover checked it down to RB Chase Weizer on a screen pass. Weizer showed his speed, picking up 23-yards on the screen pass taking the Bruins down to the 2-yard line. The Bruins were finally able to find the end zone after Landon Hanover ran it in himself. Following a made Zolkowski PAT, the Bruins tied the game with only a few minutes remaining in the game. Padua’s defense held on strong, not allowing Bedford to score, resulting in the game going to overtime.

The Bruins started with the ball in overtime. Starting at the 25-yard line, the Bruins were able to drive down to the goal line where Landon Hanover punched in another rushing touchdown. In heartbreaking fashion, Caleb Zolkowski slightly missed on the PAT, making it 22-16.

The Bearcats opened their drive on the ground. They took it all the way down to the 9-yard line before Padua’s Bo Barney would get a 10-yard TFL, moving Bedford’s offense back to the 19-yard line. Following the tackle for loss on the last play, Padua’s Antonio Haddad got in on the action, getting a 8-yard TFL, backing the Bearcats back to the 27-yard line. On 3rd & Goal from the 27-yard line, Bedford’s Kent Staten was able to hit his man over the top, taking the Bearcats down to the goal line for 4th & Goal. Before the Bearcats chance to win the game, the lights went out in the stadium, giving a slight delay. With the lights back on in the stadium, the lights would unfortunately go out for the Bruins. Bedford was able to get in the end zone and kick a game winning PAT, giving the Bearcats their first win of the season. For the Bruins, they would lose their third straight game to start the season, and in heartbreaking fashion.

Despite the loss, the Bruin’s offense improved from the last two weeks. Senior RB Chase Weizer was a bright spot for Padua’s offense against Bedford as he finished with 70-yards total. I talked to Weizer following the narrow loss about how can the offense continue to improve and find the end zone and he told me, “I think in order to improve we just have to keep working hard and continue to focus on the little things. Our run game was working a lot against Bedford, and our line did a great job up front. We just have to build off what we did last week and stay consistent. If we do that and continue to work hard in practice we will find more ways to get in the end zone.” I also talked to Senior Brady Devore about the play of the Bruin’s defense. The Bruins forced multiple turnovers, giving Bedford some trouble down the stretch. I asked Devore what it meant for the defense to come up big when it counted and how they can carry that into next week and he answered, “I feel like our defense always shows up in the clutch, and we need to carry that determined mentality into this week with intensity throughout practice.”

The Bruins will continue to hunt for their first win on the new season against Sandusky this Friday, September 12th.

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.