by Michael Bohm
LYNDHURST, OHIO– In a back and forth matchup of four and five seeds, including five score changes, the outcome had remained in question.
A strong start by Brush early, an assertion of dominance by Hudson throughout, and a late surge by the Arcs were all overshadowed by the clear uphill battle that both sides faced on Friday night. Still, the Explorers’ season ended abruptly after Brush finally emerged as the superior squad in the 26-20 first-round playoff showdown.
Brush’s offense started things off looking like the unit that had led the team to their 8-2 regular season record. A nice deep ball from quarterback Godwin Joe to wideout Zachary Dixon, capped off by a 13-yard touchdown scramble from Joe put the Arcs up 6-0 after the extra point was blocked.
That lead did not last long, however, after Explorers signal caller Colt Pallay managed to find his receiver Colin Paltany in the corner of the end zone on third down for the seven-yard score and the 7-6 lead.
Following a 28-yard field goal by Grant Gonya in the second quarter, Joe would again carry the ball past the goal line, this time from five yards out to gain the eventual halftime lead, 12-10. The drive was highlighted by a completion to big wideout Markel Toney on fourth down for 33 yards. But, yet again, the extra point attempt was blocked.
Late in the half, Brush had an opportunity to extend their lead, but the Explorers blocked one more field goal after managing to halt the Arc offense inside Hudson’s 10.
Arc head coach Jeff Fink recognized the special teams difficulties and their effect on Friday night’s matchup.
“We gotta lot of things we gotta clean up on special teams,” he said. “I wasn’t too pleased with that. But all week we told our kids if it’s a 10-point game at half either way we’re in great shape because we’re gonna just keep believing and battling and that’s exactly what we did.”
Gonya kicked the scoring off in the second half with a 24-yard boot to help his Explorers retake the lead, 13-12.
Then, Pallay faked the handoff and found his tight end Brandon Lal for the 19-yard score and extended the lead to 20-12 with 7:28 remaining in the third quarter.
From there, the two teams sparked early excitement in their respective drives, but could not get things going quite enough to notch any more scores. Hudson’s defense wreaked havoc in the trenches for the game’s duration. The usual high-flying Brush offense was forced to resort to run-first with just about every pass play resulting in Joe having to leave the pocket and avoid the pressure.
As the fourth quarter approached though, the Arcs’ second wind seemed to kick in, and the defense came to play. With a number of chances for Hudson to put the game away, Brush intercepted a Pallay pass, and blocked a field goal. This eventually led to Joe yet again taking the ball into the end zone himself with a three-yard run. Bradford Eason would run it in on the two-point conversion to tie things up.
With Hudson near midfield, Pallay would be sacked and lose the football, thus allowing Brush to run out the clock, and head into overtime.
The Explorers started things off in the extra quarter, losing a total of 10 yards in three downs and being forced to kick a long field goal. This time, however, Gonya’s kick fell just short of the uprights, and gave the Arcs the chance to seal the deal.
At that point, Brush possessed all the momentum. As Joe put it, “I knew we were going to go win the game because I’ve been in this situation so much this year. I just knew I was going to win this game for our team.”
Executing this newfound run-first gameplay, the Arcs drove down to the eight. From there, Joe would power through himself and clinch the victory.
It may not have been a typical Godwin Joe stat line, tallying only 131 yards passing on seven completions, but he certainly made up for it on the ground.
Carrying the ball a whopping 33 times for 156 yards, Joe also carried his team to round two of these playoffs, thanks also to a steady dose of Mitchell Kellogg, who reached 143 yards on 18 rushes.
The Arcs will be taking on Akron Archbishop Hoban, the top seed, in their next matchup. There’s no doubt they have their work cut out for them, but in Joe’s mind, Brush can never be counted out.
“We gotta prepare hard all week and go, ready to shock the world,” Joe said. “That’s all there is to it.”
For now, as it stands, this victory will be remembered as one for the ages in the memories of the Arc faithful.
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