High school football recaps: Ellet stuns East, clinches playoff spot; Twinsburg rolls on

Ellet 14, East 13

The Orangemen pulled off the upset and clinched a playoff spot with a City Series stunner at Joseph B. Yost Stadium.

Senior Terrance Thomas Jr. ran for a 4-yard touchdown and a two-point conversion with nine seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to give Ellet (3-7, 3-2) a win over East (8-2, 4-1) in a City Series game Friday night.

"Terrance ran in behind [senior fullback] Keyshawn Stephens and [senior lineman] Fabian Mathis on the touchdown and the two-point conversion," Ellet first-year coach John Daraio said.

Ellet senior Jake Flossie threw a 9-yard TD pass to senior Isaiah Brown in the first quarter.

East junior Ziaire Stevens ran for two touchdowns and senior Ibraheem Kamara made one extra point.

"Cameron Guzman and Keyshawn Stephens both had incredible games on the defensive line for us," Daraio said. "We lost one of our biggest leaders and captain at middle linebacker, Cameron Hinkle, in the second quarter and he never skipped a beat on the sideline keeping us going. Brandon Knowles also then stepped up playing constant snaps at linebacker and rotating with Keyshawn and Terrance in the backfield. Those three have really become the life of our offense running aggressively behind our offensive line.

"This senior class deserved that win, and our program knows that we preach never being out of the game or the season. ... We're very excited about the future at Ellet, and this season has set the tone of being a team that grinds."

According to JoeEitel.com, Ellet's victory will put four City Series teams in the playoffs. Ellet and Firestone (5-4, 3-1) are in position to make the playoffs in Division II, Region 5, East already clinched a playoff spot in Division III, Region 9 before Friday's loss and Buchtel (4-5, 3-1) is headed to the playoffs in Division IV, Region 13.

Buchtel hosts Firestone at noon Saturday.

Twinsburg 40, Stow 10

The Tigers (6-4, 3-3) not only defeated the host Bulldogs (1-9, 1-5) in a Suburban League National Conference game, they also qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2010 by winning their last four games.

“I’m happy for our community and happy for our guys,” Twinsburg coach Charles Saulters said. “I’m happy for our seniors. They’ll leave a legacy and no matter what they leave a legacy to build upon.”

One of those seniors, Aiden Stuczynski, had another great night with 215 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries.

Joey Pollock added a rushing touchdown and threw a TD pass to JD Okuman, and Zyan Herndon also scored for Twinsburg.

Nordonia 23, Brecksville 7

Ben Chesser threw for 212 yards and a touchdown to Israel Petite to lead the visiting Knights (8-2, 5-2) to a Suburban League National Conference win. Gino Perrine added 103 yards on the ground with 19 carries for Nordonia, a playoff-bound team in Division II, Region 5.

Linebacker Brendan Hermensky led Nordonia with 14 tackles and an interception and Vince Hack had nine tackles.

Despite the loss and a .500 overall record, Brecksville still clinched a playoff spot in Division II, Region 6.

Wadsworth 49, North Royalton 0

Will Stack ran for a score and threw two touchdown passes to Gavin Madigan, and the visiting Grizzlies (8-2, 6-0) finished undefeated in Suburban League National Conference play against the Bears (1-9, 0-6).

Kyle Figuray (14 carries, 175 yards; two catches, 66 yards) scored twice on the ground. Nathan Metzer and Ryan Stoops also scored for Wadsworth, which locked up a top-four spot in Division I, Region 1.

Walsh Jesuit 44, Padua 41

The host Bruins (4-6, 1-2) had first-and-goal from the 1-yard line, but the Warriors (9-1, 3-0) made a goal-line stand and held Padua out of the end zone with 1:10 remaining to win the Crown Conference outright.

Lucas Weaver (23 carries, 213 yards, three TDs) had yet another solid showing, but had help from Jason Baines (eight, 84, TD) and Keller Moten (six, 65, TD).

Moten also threw a touchdown pass to Aiden Henry (two catches, 35 yards) for the Warriors, who clinched the second seed in Division II, Region 5.

Barberton 49, Cuyahoga Falls 14

The Magics (6-4, 5-2) will play in a Division II, Region 5 playoff game next week after a convincing Suburban League American Conference win over the host Black Tigers (2-8, 0-7).

Barberton's Dominic Wilson was 7-of-11 passing for 97 yards and threw touchdown passes to Robert Davis, Kenny Larry and Angelo Harper.

Barberton's Xzavier Macon rushed for 45 yards on seven carries and scored two touchdowns. Noah DeHart returned a punt 56 yards for a TD and ran for a 9-yard TD and Kamran Walton made 7 of 7 extra points.

Valentino Cargill caught touchdown passes of 67 and 17 yards from Joey Earl for Cuyahoga Falls.

Tallmadge 42, Copley 41

Ryan Loveless threw three touchdown passes and Cooper Jones ran for two TDs to guide visiting Tallmadge (5-5, 4-3) past Copley (1-9, 1-6 SLAC).

Loveless connected with Caleb Reifsnyder for two TD passes and Noah Robinson for one TD pass. Loveless finished 7 of 15 passing. Ricky Maclean added a TD run and Cameron Carvaines made 6 of 6 extra points for Tallmadge.

Copley's Gabe Mansel completed 19 of 33 passes for 277 yards and four touchdowns and also ran for 92 yards on 28 carries. Andrew McKnight caught two touchdown passes, and Scooby Stanford and Caleb Wisniewski each caught one TD pass. Tony Cox ran for 134 yards and two TDs on 16 carries and Julian Bearshak finished with three receptions for 101 yards.

Green 28, Lake 0

Tyson Hunka threw touchdowns to Josh Just and Zach Baglia and Jordan Beyl ran for two touchdowns to lift the Bulldogs (7-3, 3-3) over the Blue Streaks (7-3, 4-2). Green limited Lake to only 77 yards as the result gave Canton McKinley the outright Federal League title.

The Bulldogs and the Blue Streaks clinched a top-four playoff spot in Division II, Region 7.

St. Vincent-St. Mary 20, Benedictine 7

The host Irish (5-5) snapped a four-game losing streak behind Markelle Carter, who ran for two touchdowns.

Ryan Taylor threw a 42-yard touchdown to Kai White and STVM clinched the sixth seed in Division II, Region 5.

The Bengals (4-6) finished with just 137 yards on 48 plays.

CVCA 41, Manchester 14

The Royals (8-2, 6-1) clinched a runner-up finish in the Principals Athletic Conference with a win over the Panthers (1-9, 1-6) in the final game at James R. France Stadium.

Logan Scranton scored twice for CVCA and Joey Kopec and Rickey Levak each added a rushing touchdown. Scranton finished with 166 yards on 17 carries.

Charley Levak added a touchdown pass to Ty Bova, Calvin Warren made 5 of 5 extra points and a field goal and Luke McQuillen made a field goal as CVCA clinched the 10th spot in Division III, Region 9.

Caleb Youngman scored on the ground, Yadin Sharp threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Elliot Berisford and Jon Teeters made two extra points to account for Manchester’s points.

Cloverleaf 42, Springfield 0

Ethan Gray ran for 55 yards and a touchdown to lead the host Colts (5-5, 3-4) to a Metro Athletic Conference win. Xavier-Palm Penc had 11 carries for 89 yards for the Spartans (0-10, 0-7). Both teams concluded their seasons.

— Compiled by Brad Bournival, Don Coughlin and Michael Beaven

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Ellet, Twinsburg advance to OHSAA football playoffs; Green, STVM win