Greater Akron high school football games feature key conference matchups in Week 5
As Week 5 begins, the football gods have given Greater Akron three days of games at the high school level.
As fate would have it, the five games to watch this weekend are spread out on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
There are a few solid matchups in the Suburban League and donnybrooks in the Metro Athletic Conference and Principals Athletic Conference.
Without further ado, here’s what to watch and when to watch it:
Hudson (3-1, 1-0) at Twinsburg (2-2, 0-1), 7 p.m. Thursday
The Explorers opened Suburban League National Conference play without their star Ian Ludewig (injury), but still got it done on the ground with Teagan O’Guinn (12 carries, 115 yards, four TDs).
Ludewig is still day-to-day but that won’t matter in coach Jeff Gough’s scheme of rush early, rush often. It has worked to near perfection as Hudson is 22-2 in the last two-plus regular seasons using that strategy.
Twinsburg gave Wadsworth quite the scare last week with a three-point lead in the third quarter before allowing 14 straight points in a 35-21 league loss.
Joey Pollock rushed for 63 yards and two scores and was 25-of-33 for 213 yards with a touchdown pass to Aiden Stuczynski (3 catches, 19 yards).
C.J. Lyden caught four passes for 69 yards in the defeat.
Brecksville (3-1, 1-0) at Wadsworth (3-1, 1-0), 7 p.m.
The Grizzlies already knew what they had in Will Stack (43 carries, 420 yards, nine TDs) and Kyle Figuray (45, 232, five total TDs). For that matter, they knew what previously injured wide receiver Drew Jones brought to the table. Jones came back to the lineup against Twinsburg and added a new wrinkle with three catches for a team-high 64 yards.
Step 2 of a four-week gauntlet continues this week vs. Brecksville with road games against Hudson (3-1, 1-0) and Nordonia (4-0, 1-0) to follow.
The Bees only loss came in a Week 3 thriller when they fell 17-14 in overtime to Lake on the road.
Brecksville outlasted North Royalton at home 26-21 last week in the battle for “The Shoe.”
Colin Seibert dazzled with a 10-of-18, 295-yard performance that included touchdown passes to Walker Nall (3 catches, 103 yards) and Kyle Keener (3 catches, 77).
Seibert also had 51 rushing on five carries with a score and had help from Jacob Etervoich (8 carries, 56 yards, TD).
The last two times these teams faced each other came with decisive wins. Wadsworth won last year 56-0 after losing the season before 42-7.
Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (3-1, 1-0) at Canton South (4-0, 1-0), 7 p.m. Friday
The Royals said hello to Principals Athletic Conference play with a convincing 42-0 win over Tuslaw.
Once again, CVCA cruised on the ground with Ricky Levak, Logan Scranton, Joey Kopec and Charley Levak doing all the damage.
The quartet combined for 248 yards and five touchdowns on 23 carries. That’s an average of a first down (10.8) every time they ran the ball.
Charley Levak threw for 58 yards with a 26-yard score to Kopec.
Poochie Snyder is the name to watch out for when it comes to South. The senior quarterback threw for 3,567 yards and 35 touchdowns and rushed for 1,156 yards and 21 more scores last season.
This season, he has already thrown for 1,006 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushed for 431 yards and five scores.
The 6-foot, 180-pound standout has offers from Maine, Sacred Heart and Army.
Woodridge (2-2, 1-0) at Norton (4-0, 1-0), 7 p.m. Friday
This one pits the No. 5 Bulldogs with the No. 1 Panthers in the Greater Akron power poll.
Woodridge is coming off a 63-6 win over Coventry where Taysear Williams-Clay rushed for 126 yards and had touchdowns of 22 and 75 yards.
Leon Cross also was strong for the Bulldogs with touchdowns of 3 and 41 yards on a night where he carried the ball 10 times for 84 yards.
The Panthers picked up the signature win of the season so far in a 35-14 Metro Athletic Conference defeat of previously unbeaten Streetsboro.
It came on the arm of quarterback Zach Bowman, who threw three TD passes of 50-plus yards.
Luke Dobbins made sure the run game worked as well with 133 yards and a TD on 13 carries.
Columbus Crusaders (4-0) at Mogadore, 6 p.m. Saturday
Although it’s not an OHSAA sanctioned contest, this one is intriguing.
The Crusaders come in with some interesting numbers. QB Austin Bauer is 48-of-87 for 818 yards and has thrown 12 TDs on a team that has thrown the ball just 12 times less than it has run it.
Mykell Andrews (14 catches, 276 yards, 4 TDs), Jericho Etok (16, 261, 3) and John Walters (9, 164, 3) are the key benefactors in the offense.
Outside linebacker Dom Carter averages 8.3 tackles per game and has an interception, tackle for loss and fumble recovery.
The Wildcats are fresh off their 200th all-time shutout and 76th on the road after a 28-0 win over Newark Catholic.
Layne Miller highlighted the night with two picks, including a 28-yard interception that he returned for a score.
The senior had help from Devin Walker, who hauled in a 30-yard TD pass from Zeke Cameron and an 83-yard score from Corey Lehner.
Last season, Mogadore walked out with a 48-13 over the Crusaders.
Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 5 Greater Akron football games feature drama fit for the silver screen
