The last time the Kenston Bombers Boys Lacrosse team had defeated the Chagrin Falls Tigers in the “Battle of 422,” the year was 2013.
The last time the Kenston Bombers Boys Lacrosse team had defeated the Chagrin Falls Tigers in the “Battle of 422,” the year was 2013.
In that game, on April 26, 2013, the Bombers defeated the Tigers 16-13 after having beaten them the year before, 12-8.
Since that Bombers victory in 2013, the Tigers Boys Lacrosse Team has went on to win state championships in 2015 and 2019. In addition, the Tigers finished as state runners up in 2014, 2021, and 2022.
There have certainly been extremely close “Battle of 422” games over the last 13 years. In fact, in 2014 and 2017, the Bombers only lost by 1 goal, 8-7.
Since the 2017 loss by one goal, the Bombers have been outscored in the “Battle of 422”, 87-39.
However, in 2026, the Bombers broke their losing streak to the Tigers, winning the “Battle of 422”, 5-4 in triple overtime, at Chagrin Falls High School on April 10.
After the victory, Bombers senior captain Jack Bryner discussed the excitement of winning the “Battle of 422”.
“It’s a great feeling,” Bryner said. “Every time I’ve been in high school they’ve beaten us. It finally feels good to come out on top once. It’s a feeling I’ve never felt before. Even beating (University School) last year, this is even better than that.”
To obtain this exciting victory over their rival in the “Battle of 422”, Bryner and his Bomber’s teammates battled through 4 quarters and 3 overtimes of intense hard fought lacrosse.
The first half of this rivalry on April 10 at C.S. Harris Stadium was a low scoring defensive battle.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Tigers got on the scoreboard first when senior Jacob Kay scored with 3:07 left in the first half.
Trailing 1-0, the Bombers tied the game 1-1 when sophomore Liam Cufr found the back of the net just before halftime.
Although Cufr was defended by the Tigers’ short-stick wingman, he was able to back him down and get a strong shot off.
“I saw the short-stick on the wing, I wasn’t too far out,” Cufr said. “I just started backing him down because I knew I was about ten yards out and just shot it, and it happened to go in.”
As the Bombers went into halftime tied 1-1, Cufr said that Bombers Head Coach John Tallman’s message was to keep the pressure up.
“Our coach just said keep the pressure on, don’t let up,” Cufr said.
The Tigers, though, matched the Bombers intensity out of intermission and took a two goal lead.
The Tigers scored early in the third quarter to take a 2-1 lead on J. P. Shaw’s goal with 10:36 left in the 3rd quarter.
The Bomber’s Jackson Allotta then tied up the contest at 2-2 with an assist from Cufr with 5:28 left to go in the the third quarter.
In this “Battle of 422”, there was no quit in either team, and the Tigers came right back with two goals of their own to take a 4-2 lead into the final quarter.
Scoring the final two goals of the third quarter for the Tigers were Tommy Clark and J.P. Shaw.
Clark scored with 4:11 left in the third quarter and Shaw got his second goal of the game with 36 seconds left in the period.
Down 4-2, Coach Tallman said that his team stayed confident, resilient, and patient even as they were trailing by two goals heading into the final quarter.
Coach Tallman said that he stressed to his team the importance of being patient with the ball on the offensive attack. Earlier, in the first half of the contest, Coach Tallman said that the Bombers were often playing too quickly when they got in the offensive zone, which then led to turning the ball over.
“So I’m sitting there saying, ‘Patience will get you the win’. I didn’t think (it would take) three overtimes of patience.
Heeding Coach Tallman’s message of patience, Bryner led the Bombers fourth quarter comeback.
Bryner said that Coach Tallman’s strategic decision to have him and Colin Murphy change positions was instrumental in orchestrating the comeback.
“They were locking Colin off at x so we switched,” Bryner said. “I went to x, he went to the wing. (Coach Tallman) just told me to go be an athlete, dodge and shoot the ball, and that’s exactly what I did. We started playing more of our game instead of feeling so tense. We kind of just played more freely and that helped us score those two goals to tie us up.”
With patience, and playing their game, Bryner found the back of the net with 10:02 left in the fourth quarter to make the score 4-3.
Then, less than a minute later, Bryner tied the score at 4-4 with 9:13 to go in regulation.
After two intense scoreless overtime periods, the Bombers got the victory on Cufr’s second goal of the night in the third overtime.
“I came out of the box, saw no one behind me and called for it,” Cufr said. “It was a little high, I got it. I saw no one in front of me. I pushed it in transition. I shot it and it happened to go in.”
After scoring the game winning goal, Cufr reflected upon the moment.
“I can’t put it in to words, that was probably one of my best experiences ever in lacrosse,” Cufr said. “We haven’t beat them in (13 years – did not play in 2020 due to Covid). It’s just amazing to finally beat them. And to do it in triple overtime is even better.”
For the game, the Bombers were led offensively by Cufr (3 points – 2 goals, 1 assist), Bryner (2 points – 2 goals), Allotta (1 point – 1 goal), Murphy (1 point – 1 assist).
The Tigers were led offensively by JP Shaw (2 goals), Tommy Clark (1 goal), and Jacob Kay (1 goal).
The Bombers will next travel to Revere to take on the Minutemen on April 14.
The Tigers will next travel to Shaker Heights to take on the Raiders on April 13.
