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Pick, blocked punt lead to TDs; goal-line stand halts late Vikings drive
By Tom Gaffney Beacon Journal sportswriter
Published on Sunday, Nov 18, 2007
PARMA: An explosive offense has been Brunswick's highest-profile presence all season.
But when it counted the most, the Blue Devils' defense and special teams did their part.
Brunswick (13-0) got contributions from a variety of sources Saturday night to edge North Canton Hoover 24-17 in a Division I regional final at Byers Field.
The Blue Devils' offense, which came in averaging 395 yards, was held to 299 by the Vikings defense and by the cold and wet weather.
So cornerback Andrew Slimak came through with a momentum-changing 91-yard interception return for a touchdown, and lineman Ryan Pokorny blocked a punt to set up another touchdown.
''When you get to Week 13, you have to find ways to win,'' said Brunswick coach Rich Nowak, whose team will meet Mentor on Saturday in the state semifinals, also at Byers Field. ''You need everybody when you get this deep.
''We ran into a good defense, and the ball was wet. We made some big plays, and not all of them were on offense.''
Quarterback Sean Bedevelsky had passed for 2,969 yards in the first 12 games, including 773 in his past two playoff outings. He was held to 9-of-19 for 69 yards Saturday, although he did run for 129 yards on 23 carries.
He shared the offensive spotlight with senior tailback Chris Scott, a state track qualifier in the sprints whose 88-yard touchdown run with 6:28 left in the game on his first carry gave the Blue Devils a 24-10 lead.
''He is our secret weapon. It was his first touch of the night, and he used that track speed to take it to the house,'' Bedevelsky said.
That long touchdown was less than a minute after the Brunswick defense had made its most important stop of the night.
The Vikings (10-3), trailing 17-10, marched from their 34 to the Brunswick 1. Linemen Garrett Mack and Frank Pistone then stuffed tailback Phil Howard (99 yards on 25 carries) for a 2-yard loss. Two plays later, on fourth-and-goal, Slimak got his hand on a pass in the end zone that Hoover's Kevin Dahl caught — but out of bounds.
''Our defense really came through when they had to,'' Nowak said. ''We needed that.''
The loss ended a season that saw Hoover reach the regional final for the first time since 2001.
''This group of kids took us on a great ride,'' Vikings coach Don Hertler Jr. said. ''I am proud of the way they battled back. We dug ourselves a hole, but we battled until the end.''
On its first possession, Hoover used eight running plays to reach the Brunswick 15. But the first Vikings pass — a quick out in the flat to the fullback — was intercepted by Slimak at the 9. He ran untouched down the left sideline to score at the 5:18 mark.
''I saw the quarterback look at him, and I cut in front of the receiver,'' Slimak said. ''After that, all I saw was the end zone.''
The Vikings went three-and-out on their next possession, and their punt was blocked by Pokorny at the 31 and recovered by Scott at the 21.
Four plays later, Bedevelsky hit Mack in the flat for a 4-yard touchdown at 2:52 in the first quarter to give the Blue Devils an early 14-0 edge.
Hoover got touchdowns from Howard on a 9-yard run in the second quarter to make it 14-7 and from Matt Wakulchik on a 19-yard pass from Jared Wackerly with 4:12 left in the game that made it 24-17.
Tom Gaffney can be reached at tgaffney@thebeaconjournal.com.
PARMA: An explosive offense has been Brunswick's highest-profile presence all season.
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