Banged-up Hudson football squeaks out win at North Royalton to end regular season

A funny thing happened Oct. 13 when the Hudson football squad traveled to North Royalton.

The Explorers 10-0 all-time mark against North Royalton, with an average margin of victory of 26.4 points, was put in jeopardy as the host Bears made a game out of it.

Hudson held on to beat its Suburban League National Conference foe squeaking by with a 14-9 victory. The win finished off the Explorers' nine-game regular season at 7-2 overall and 5-1 in conference play. The Bears dropped to 1-8, 0-5.

“We are like every team in the state (this late in the season); we are banged up here and there. It has been a toll on team play and then four tough games, Brecksville was very tough, Nordonia down to the wire, then North Royalton,” Hudson coach Jeff Gough said. “That’s four games in a row that were in the balance in the fourth quarter. That takes a lot out of you mentally. We tried to get a bunch of different teams to play us (in week ten to fill the open spot where Solon would have been, before their current league would not let them leave a year early). Now it (the open week ten slot) is going to give us a break mentally and a give us a break to heal up.”

With Ian Ludewig out for the second straight game, the running load has gone to sophomore Brennan Funyak and senior Teagan O’Guinn.

The Bears’ had a first and ten at the Hudson 17-yard line with eight seconds left and no timeouts. North Royalton quarterback Joe Kinney tried to fit a pass into the end zone but sophomore linebacker Nathan Judy was there at the one-yard line for the game clinching interception.

“I just dropped back, we knew the quarterback had to throw it to the end-zone or it was the game. I thought the game was over when I caught and I was going to go celebrate but I was; oh I gotta to go down,” Judy said. “I think we have one of the best defenses in Ohio starting with our defensive line, our line-backing corps is pretty good too. Trey (Sharp) and (Ian) Robb are lockdown corners and our safeties have really stepped up.”

“(Judy) comes up with the pick to seal it. He’s just a sophomore, to understand you just have to get on the ground. That’s awesome to watch somebody grow up like that,” Gough said.

While Judy’s play was big there were a number of other key plays starting with a 58-yard kickoff return by Sharp after the Bears took a 6-0 lead on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Kinney to Joe Calarco with 7:32 left to play in the second quarter. Tommy Ricard burst through the line on the extra point. Although he didn’t get a block he forced the kick wide left.

Sharp took the ensuing kick from the one-yard line and shot through the Bear’s coverage team to the host’s 41 yard line. On fourth and nine; quarterback Peyton Neher (10-19; 103 yards) lofted a pass toward Judy. The latter made a finger-tip catch for 31 yards and the key first down.

Three plays later on third and goal Neher hit O’Guinn for the six-yard touchdown. Brad Masiella’s extra point put the Explorers on top 7-6 with 4:37 left in the first half.

North Royalton opened the second half with a time-consuming, nine-play march. Running back Cody Miller got the call on every play, taking the ball to the Hudson 5.

On the next carry Miller was stopped at the one and on the next play he was stopped less than a foot from the goal line. On third and goal the Explorers defense held hitting Miller back at the two. Sasha Sunjevaric came on to give the Bears the lead again 9-7 with a 19-yard field goal at the 6:32 mark of the third quarter.

“That’s a really, really tough running back. For us to bow-up there and really stand our ground, that thing was like six inches from the goal line,” Gough said. “To get a TFL (tackle for a loss) and force them to a field goal was huge. Sometimes it takes moments like that to really forge a team.”

After an exchange of punts, Funyak ripped off a 51-yard run around left end.

There was no stopping the Explorers from there.

O’Guinn ran for seven to the hosts 19 and Neher picked up nine to the ten. On the next play O’Guinn made it look easy going in standing over left tackle. The extra-point made the score 14-9 with 8:29 to go.

The Bears retaliated with a drive to the Hudson 40 but on fourth down Kinney crossed the line of scrimmage before completing a pass and the locals took over on downs. Hopes of running out the final 4:51 of the clock started out well. The hosts used all of their timeouts and finally got a turnover on downs with 1:28 to go and 71-yards from a potential winning touchdown.

Two Explorer penalties aided the final Bears effort but Judy iced the win with his first career pick.

Funyak ended the night with a career best 128 yards on the ground on 20 carries. O’Guinn added 61 yards on 14 totes. Ironically Funyak got his first 100-yard rushing game in a similar scenario to what Ludewig did as a sophomore. In 2021, with Aiden Lal injured, Ludewig (144 yards) teamed up with then senior Ryan Evans (214) in a 42-6 first round playoff win over Lakeside.

Ludewig is the school record holder in rushing yards (3,530) and rushing touchdowns (39), as well as third all-time with 246 points

“Anytime you lose any starter on either side of the ball and we’ve lost a couple this season …it really tests your program and the depth of it. It’s a really physical game. You have to have guys ready to hop in with the next man up mentality,” Gough said. “Teagan and Funyak know they are going to carry the load. Teagan had some outstanding carries including the touchdown. Funyak busted a long one and Teagan was excited about that and ready to hop right in. Two or three plays later he’s in the end zone. Both (O’Guinn and Funyak) are playing both sides of the ball.”

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Short-handed Hudson football survives scare at North Royalton