'Surreal moment': Aurora football wins in dramatic fashion over Barberton
BARBERTON — Senior Enzo Catania is regarded as Aurora's best football player this season.
Catania entered Friday's Suburban League American Conference game at Barberton as Aurora's top running back, leading scorer and second in tackles as a linebacker.
Catania ran for a 5-yard touchdown in the first quarter at Rudy Sharkey Stadium, but that carry was his final one as he was injured on a tackle attempt as he entered the end zone.
But Aurora didn't fold and other players stepped up in a 35-33 win over Barberton (5-4, 4-2).
Senior quarterback Brandon Liepins threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to senior Cooper Carnahan in the third quarter and also ran for a 7-yard TD in fourth quarter for Aurora (8-1, 6-0).
Aurora junior Ben Lukasik ran for a 3-yard touchdown in the second quarter and junior Lucas Manderbach ran for a 41-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Senior kicker Dom Trivisonno made 5 of 5 extra points.
The Greenmen also received big plays on special teams and defense as senior Rocco Courtad blocked an extra point, senior Justin Burick had two sacks, senior Joey Onk recovered a Magics fumble, and junior Zach Pannetti and senior Dylan Crasi each grabbed an interception.
"Our superstar is Enzo Catania, and he got hurt in the first quarter," Aurora coach Bob Mihalik said. "This is a great message to our kids. Our stud is out and we came together as a group and were able to pull out the win.
"... I think he is going to be all right. It is nothing serious. We are hoping he can play against Highland [in Week 10]."
Catania entered Friday with 101 carries, 749 rushing yards, 11 rushing touchdowns, 15 total TDs, 44 tackles and two interceptions. He ran for 19 yards and a TD on seven carries against the Magics.
"That took the momentum and the breath out of us a little bit, but Manderbach has been repping second team in practice," Liepins said. "He knows all of the plays. There wasn't really a drop off that you could tell."
Manderbach ran for 136 yards on 22 carries. His final run was the 41-yard touchdown with 2:57 to play to give Aurora a 35-26 lead.
"At first, I was a little bit nervous," Manderbach said. "I play defense, so I was getting tired. The holes were humongous. The line, they were amazing tonight. Every time I could make a cut, get in, drive my feet, hold onto the ball and it all worked out. ... I am so happy with how the game ended and we will continue to work our butts off."
Mihalik described Manderbach as "our stud defensive end with six sacks coming into this game."
"We don't like to play him a lot on offense, but he had to take a heavier role tonight," Mihalik continued. "He is more of a straight-ahead guy, where Enzo is more of a slasher. We had to change our run game up a little bit."
Burick and Courtad start on Aurora's offensive line with juniors Matthew Copley, Reid Acomb and Ewan Dacres.
"The main thing is that we keep our energy the whole game," Burick said. "You have to persevere through all of the ups and downs of the game. If we stay as one unit, I think we can win a lot of games. I think we have something special here. We just have to keep working hard."
Said Courtad: "We keep moving forward and keep the intensity up. At halftime, we had lost a little bit of the momentum, but we picked each other up, came back out, executed and finished the game strong."
Dominic Wilson almost leads Barberton to dramatic win
Barberton didn't quit as senior Dominic Wilson ran for a 4-yard touchdown with 1:29 to go and then Magics senior Robert Davis recovered an onside kick with 1:26 on the clock.
The Magics were poised to score when Wilson connected with senior Kenny Larry for a 28-yard completion, but two plays later the 5-foot-11, 155-pound Crasi leaped into the air for an interception in the end zone with 1:03 left.
Aurora lined up in victory formation and ran the clock out as Liepins took a knee twice. Liepins finished 9-of-17 passing for 133 yards and had seven carries for 30 yards.
"It was surreal," Crasi said the of the interception. "They had been targeting me all game. I definitely knew he was coming my way. It was a surreal moment. I am so proud of my teammates for staying strong with me throughout all of my adversities. I really appreciate everyone. ... This game was about our team."
When asked to elaborate what adversities he was facing, Crasi said: "I have been battling injuries for the past couple weeks. I got two touchdowns thrown on me today. It couldn't be much worse in that moment, but I am so happy that I could come up with the ball there."
Mihalik said the Crasi interception was worthy of being on ESPN and, in fact, it was No. 1 on SportCenter's Top Ten Friday night.
Wilson completed 23 of 37 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns — a 23-yard connection to senior Angelo Harper in the second quarter and a 40-yard strike to Harper in the fourth quarter.
Wilson also ran for 33 yards on nine carries and had three rushing touchdowns of 9, 2 and 4 yards.
"Hats off to Barberton," Mihalik said. "This was a great high school football game. A good Suburban League matchup. We knew this was was going to be a heck of a game. They lost to 7-1 Wadsworth, to 7-1 Highland and a good Pennsylvania team, so everyone said 'Oh, 5-3.' We knew this was going to be a dogfight.
"They came to our place last year and punched us in the mouth [and won 35-14]. We felt like we were controlling the first half and then momentum changed at the end of the first half. We didn't get a score on our last possession and then they went down and scored to cut it to 14-7 at halftime. After that, it was a ballgame."
Barberton junior Josiah Wright and senior Jomyco Davis each recovered an Aurora fumble. Senior Xzavier Macon ran for 50 yards on 10 carries. Harper finished with seven catches for 79 yards, senior Noah DeHart had three catches for 78 yards and sophomore Donte Swain Jr. had seven catches for 59 yards.
"We worked on onside kicks this week in practice and he [senior Kamran Walson] kicked a perfect onside kick," Barberton coach Tony Gotto said. "It bounced perfectly... I am proud of our kids. They showed their resiliency."
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Brandon Liepins, Lucas Manderbach lead Aurora football past Barberton
