As WVU and Pitt rekindled their college football rivalry the night before, Geauga County had its own version of the "Backyard Brawl" Sept. 2 as the NDCL Lions traveled cross-county to take on the Kenston Bombers.
Game photos click here.
As WVU and Pitt rekindled their college football rivalry the night before, Geauga County had its own version of the “Backyard Brawl” Sept. 2 as the NDCL Lions traveled cross-county to take on the Kenston Bombers.
In this hard-hitting, action-packed football game, the Bombers pulled away at the end to defeat the Lions 31-17.
“I am really proud of our kids,” said Kenston Head Coach Jeff Grubich. “It took four quarters against a really good football team.
“Just happy to get out of here with a W.”
The Lions scored first on sophomore quarterback Ryan Lipowski’s one-yard touchdown run. After the extra point conversion by kicker Gianni Spetic, the Lions led 7-0.
For the game, Spetic, an NCAA Division I recruit and top ranked kicker nationally in the class of 2023, converted on all his extra points as well as a field goal.
Soon after the Lions scored, the Bombers answered with a Parker Munday 36-yard field goal near the end of the first quarter. Munday, also a standout baseball player who helped lead the Kenston baseball team to the OHSAA final four this past June, made all four of his extra point attempts and a field goal.
Early in the second quarter, senior NCAA division I recruit Nikko Georgiou connected with Tymir Cardona on a 34-yard touchdown pass as the Bombers took a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter.
This was the first of two touchdown passes that Georgiou and Cardona connected on.
After gameplay, Cardona discussed the cohesiveness that he has with the senior quarterback.
“Quarterback Nikko Georgiou, got to give props to him for throwing two touchdowns to me,” Cardona said. “He is a great quarterback, I love playing with him; he pushes me to be the best I can be.”
After the Bombers went ahead 10-7, NDCL came right back and regained the lead as Lipowski threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Smul to make the score 14-10.
With time winding down in the first half, Kenston tried a hook-and-ladder play and came within a few yards of scoring a touchdown right before halftime. NDCL also utilized a bit of trickery earlier in the half when Spetic completed a pass for a first down on a fake punt.
Trailing 14-10 midway through the third quarter, the Bombers took a 17-14 lead when Georgiou connected with NCAA Division I recruit Sean Patrick (who has two scholarship offers from Power Five schools) on a 12-yard touchdown pass. Less than a minute later, after a Kenston fumble recovery, Georgiou found Patrick open in the end zone for a 34-yard touchdown pass. It was Patrick’s second touchdown of the game.
“Tonight was pretty exciting,” Patrick said. “We came out and I feel like we set the tone early. There were a couple mistakes, but my team is really good at fighting through adversity. So we battled through that and the end result was a win.”
After Patrick’s second touchdown, the Lions then got to within seven points with 2:38 left in the 3rd quarter on a 30-yard field goal by Spetic.
The Bombers would make the final score 31-17 on Georgiou’s 30-yard touchdown pass to Cardona with 11:54 left in the game.
Kenston was led offensively by Georgiou, Cardona and Patrick. For the night, Georgiou was 21-31 for 326 yards and four touchdowns. Cardona caught eight passes for 112 yards and had two touchdown catches, while Patrick had 147 total yards (83 yards rushing) and also caught two TD passes.
With three contests so far season, Georgiou has thrown for eight touchdowns and run for two, Patrick has rushed for five touchdowns and caught four touchdown passes, and Cardona has caught four touchdown passes.
Offensively this season, the Lions have been led by sophomore Ryan Lipowski. To start his varsity career, Lipowski has now thrown for five touchdowns and run for two more. Leading the Lions this season in TD receptions, Brandon Smul has caught a touchdown in each of the first three games. Burke Buell has also had three touchdowns.
Both teams next play this Friday — Kenston facing Eastlake North to begin WRC conference play, NDCL returning home to take on Gilmour.
TORREY MCNEAL/KMG
Kenston’s Tymir Cardona caught eight passes for 112 yards in the Bombers’ 31-17 win over Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin. Here, Cardona catches his first of two touchdowns in between the Lions’ Hayden Dixon, left, and Griffin Moskal.
VIDEO: Coach Jeff Grubich, Sean Patrick, Tymir Cardona
