BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, OHIO – Coming off the heels of an extremely successful 2016 season that saw the Brecksville-Broadview Heights Bees go 8-2 in the super competitive Suburban League, and a competitive playoff loss to state power Warren G. Harding, the Bees will look to regain their form in 2017 under a new head coach.
Former Bees Assistant Jason Simonetti was promoted to the head coaching position back in March of this year. With a glut of stars returning, coach Simonetti should be in a good position heading into his first season as head coach.
One spot that will be the most difficult to replace is the loss of record setting QB Colin Strnad. Strnad was the engine that made the Bees offense go last season. Looking to fill Strnad’s larger than life shoes will be Junior QB Nick Jackson.
The Bees, however, will still have plenty of weapons at their disposal. Leading the way will be their senior captains LB/S/FB Mike Rose, WR/CB Sam Wiglusz, and OL/DL Cole Costanzo.
On offense, the Bees will be led by senior RB/S Alec Buckley, who was a 1st Team All-Suburban League perfomer at RB, and was the Bees co-offensive MVP in 2016 with 15 touchdowns.
At receiver, the Bees are loaded with returning talent, lead by senior captain WR/CB Sam Wiglusz. Wiglusz was co-offensive MVP with Buckley, and also earned 1st Team All-Suburban League last year with 79 catches for a whopping 19 touchdowns. Also keep and eye on Senior WR/DB Adrian Asimou and 6’4 Junior WR/DB Ken Ganley.
On defense, the Bees are lead by senior LB/TE Michael Graham, who is a three-year starter at ILB, 1st team Suburban League, and was both the Bees defensive MVP and leading tackler from last year. 6’4 225 Senior captain Mike Rose earned second-team Suburban league honors last year, and was third on the team in tackles in 2016.
The Bees should once again be one of the top teams in the Suburban League, with challenges always coming from perennial powers Hudson, Stow, Nordonia, and neighborhood rival North Royalton.
Brecksville will not have any problems once again, putting points on the board. The challenge will be for them to keep opponents from scoring at will, which happened against better competition last year.
The Bees kick off their season at home against an always tough, playoff tested opponent in Olmsted Falls, which was one of their old rivals from their days in the Southwest Conference.
The following week, the Bees travel to Garfield Heights, which they have combined to beat 75-0 the last two years. In week three, Brecksville goes on the road and face another perennial playoff contender in Willoughby South. Below is a list of key conference games this season for the Bees,
KEY GAMES:
9-15 Brecksville at Hudson
10-6 Nordonia at Brecksville
10-13 North Royalton at Brecksville
10-27 Stow at Brecksville
SUMMARY:
If Brecksville can get past a brutal schedule and get more stops from their experienced defense, as well as feed off their experienced skilled position players while easing in a new QB, the Bees will be a force to be reckoned with yet again this year.
PREDICTION:
8-2, second in the Suburban League.
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