By Phil Keren

Correspondent

Physicality was the name of the game in Warren JFK’s 31-13 victory over Garfield on Friday night in Garrettsville.

Noting that physicality is a hallmark of Garfield’s teams, Warren JFK head coach Damon Buente said he urged his players to play a physical brand of football in their visit to Garrettsville.

“(Garfield is) 27-3 in the last six years here at home because people can’t match their physicality,” Buente said. “We had to match their physicality. I thought we did that … it was a gritty win. You can’t be mad about a gritty win.”

Garfield head coach Mike Moser agreed that JFK definitely had the upper hand in the physicality department.

“I thought they were more physical than us,” Moser said. “I thought they got after it a little more than we did. I thought we did some nice things in spurts, but we didn’t match their level of physicality for four quarters.”

JFK got off to a quick start early in the first quarter when senior quarterback Freddy Bolchalk rolled out to his right and fired a 66-yard scoring pass to senior wide receiver Noah Elser. When they notched the 2-point conversion, the Eagles led 8-0 just 90 seconds in the game.

After blocking a Garfield punt, JFK started its second offensive possession from the the G-Men’s 35-yard line. Following an incomplete pass on first down, the Eagles ran the ball six consecutive times en route to its second touchdown of the game. Junior running back Steven Thomas scored on a 2-yard run to give JFK a 15-0 advantage with 4 minutes left in the first quarter. A key play of this scoring march was an 18-yard run by sophomore running back Jaylen Murray.

In the second quarter, JFK strung together a 12-play, 67-yard drive that culminated in a 1-yard scoring run from junior running back Steven Thomas to give the Eagles a 22-0 advantage at halftime.

“From the jump, I think JFK was ready to go, and we weren’t,” Moser said. “And they kind of jumped us right out of the gate. We’re a young team, and we had some guys with 1,000-yard stare there for a little while.”

Garfield only ran 17 offensive plays and recorded just two first downs in the first half, as it struggled to find its footing in the running game.

The G-Men got a huge boost of momentum and energy at the start of the second half when junior Brandyn Bogucki returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown to make the score 22-7.

“Brandon’s a kid that showed up tonight and played well,” Moser said.

Only two more points were scored in the third quarter as both team’s defenses dug in their heels. The Eagles missed a 27-yard field-goal attempt at the midway point of the period, and a subsequent JFK drive ended when Garfield sophomore Collin McGranahan intercepted a pass on the Garfield 13-yard line. The G-Men then went three-and-out, and lined up to punt late in the third quarter. A high snap sailed over the punter’s head and rolled out of the end zone to give JFK a safety and a 24-7 lead.

Garfield had a strong start in the fourth quarter when the defense stopped the Eagles on fourth down and then the offense moved the ball 58 yard in nine plays before fumbling the ball away on the JFK 15 yard-line. On the third play of its possession, Bolchalk slung an 82-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Marcus Komora to put the Eagles ahead 31-7 with 7:16 left to play.

Garfield sophomore running back Devin Bates capped a nine-play, 52-yard with a 5-yard scoring run with 1:32 remaining. Key plays of the drive included a pass interference call against JFK following a third down incompletion and a seven yard run by Bogucki on fourth down and 5.

Buente praised the two wideouts who started and ended the game with long scoring catches.

“Noah and Marcus, they’re 4×200 state runners-up in track,” Buente said. “They’re both burners … they’re preparation guys. That’s not something you just dial up and you hope. We expect them to make those plays, and they’ve done it their entire career.”

Buente noted senior defensive lineman Trevon Hall played a major role in keeping the G-Men’s  running game at bay.

“I thought he dominated the line of scrimmage,” Buente said. “He’s extremely vicious at the point of attack. He had a very high motor, and I thought he was devastating when he arrived at the football. I thought he arrived at the football angry. That’s the Blue Storm we’re trying to create.”

In the week leading up to the game, Buente noted JFK’s defensive line coach challenged Hall to rise to the occasion.

“He got called out in front of the team and he showed up,” Buente said.

Hall praised his teammates for making plays that put him in a better position to make tackles.

“We played amazing,” said Hall. “I love that some of our players were making plays without making a play. Like Deaune Earley, he would just get the center out of the way, (it’s) easy for me to get tackles.”

Buente said the defensive effort fell in line with the principles that he and his staff preach to the players.

“(With) the Blue Storm, our saying is you’ve got to make the play without making the tackle,” Buente added. “Like Deaune and [Michael] Bartoe, they were making the play, clogging up, while Trevon made the tackle. He was the beneficiary of a team effort.”

On the other sideline, Moser said he thought his team had “too many breakdowns.”

He noted his offense put together a “nice drive” in the third quarter until they turned it over, and also had good field position during some early points in the game, but didn’t capitalize on those opportunities.

“We played good defense at times and then got run by in some long yardage situations, but those are kind of the trials and tribulations of having a lot of young guys,” Moser said.

He’s already looking ahead to the next challenge on the G-Men’s schedule.

“We haven’t had a night like this in a while,” Moser said. “We’ll learn from it. Our kids will get better and we’ll be back at it again next week.”