Suburban League National Conference rivals Hudson and Nordonia met in a Week 8 football game Friday night that turned into a thriller at Boliantz Stadium .
The Explorers and the Knights entered tied for second in the Suburban League National Conference standings behind undefeated Wadsworth.
Hudson (5-3, 4-1) left with a comeback win over Nordonia (6-2, 3-2) to take over second place behind Wadsworth (8-0, 5-0), a winner over Stow.
Here is how the game unfolded :
Hudson wins. Nathan Judy runs for 147 yards and two touchowns on 20 carries and completes 8 of 17 passes for 100 yards and one touchdown to Louie Castellarin (five catches for 70 yards).
Hudson's Brennan Funyak runs for 54 yards on 17 carries after Reno Ferri left the game in the first quarter with an injury. Ferri had three carries for 13 yards and one catch for four yards.
Hudson's Jack Dressler recovers a fumble, and teammates Anthony Paolucci, Funyak and Kyler Boyle each intercept a pass.
Nordonia senior Ben Chesser was 9-of-13 passing for 67 yards and ran for 111 yards on 16 carries. Nordonia’s other key rushers were seniors Rocco DeLorenzo (13 carries, 66 yards, TD); Khylan Osbey (seven carries, 36 yards, TD) and Liam Kountz (4 carries, 36 yards, TD).
Osbey also forced a fumble that senior Vince Natali recovered.
Hudson's Kyler Boyle grabs an interception with 36 seconds to go.
Nathan Judy runs for a 2-yard touchdown with 59 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and Hudson leads Nordonia 23-22. Judy then attempted a run for two points and was tackled short.
Judy has over 100 yards rushing and two TDs running and a TD pass tonight.
Brennan Funyak grabs an interception for Hudson. Explorers have the ball on the Knights 39 with 3:00 left.
Hudson recorded a goal-line stand and then Nordonia forced a turnover. Nordonia's Vince Natali recovered a Hudson fumble on the Knights 12-yard line with 4:46 to go in the fourth quarter. Khylan Osbey forced the fumble.
Nordonia's Ben Chesser and Hudson's Nathan Judy each have had long runs in the quarter.
Nathan Judy runs for a 2-yard touchdown and Brad Masiella makes the extra point as Hudson trails Nordonia 22-17 with 11:12 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Khylan Osbey runs for a 1-yard touchdown and Riley Edgehouse makes the extra point to give Nordonia 22-10 lead with 8:38 to go in the third quarter. Osbey had a 24-yard run the play before the TD run. Vince Natali had his second quality kickoff return to give the Knights good field position to start the scoring drive.
Liam Kountz runs for an 11-yard touchdown and Ben Chesser converts a 2-point run to give Nordonia 15-10 lead with 45 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Chesser had a 19-yard run on the drive and Kountz had a 24-yard run on the play before his TD run.
Nathan Judy throws a 33-yard touchdown pass to Louie Castellarin and Brad Masiella makes he extra point to give Hudson a 10-7 lead with 3:29 remaining in the second quarter.
Hudson punter Ian Katz flipped the field earlier in the quarter with a punt downed at the Nordonia 1-yard line.
Rocco DeLorenzo runs for a 5-yard touchdown and Riley Edgehouse makes the extra point to give Nordonia 7-3 lead with 1:10 to go in the first quarter. Ben Chesser had a 44-yard run during the drive.
Brad Masiella kicks a 23-yard field goal with 5:08 to go in the first quarter to give Hudson a 3-0 lead.
The Explorers had a short field to drive after the Knights attempted an onside kickoff. Nathan Judy and Reno Ferri accounted for the majority of Hudson's yards on the opening drive of the game.
Check back here for updates throughout the game. Until then, here is some pregame information.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Watch Ohio High School Football Live on the NFHS Network all season
Hudson rebounded from a Week 6 overtime loss to Wadsworth with a 35-0 win over host Brecksville (1-6, 1-3) last Friday. Explorers quarterback Nathan Judy completed 19 of 22 passes for 261 yards and four touchdowns. Louie Castellarin caught three TD passes and finished with 163 yards on 10 receptions. Jayden Carlton caught the other TD pass. Reno Ferri added a TD run, Samuel Mehelic had an interception and Brennan Funyak recovered a fumble.
Nordonia lost 37-36 in overtime to Wadsworth last Friday. Knights quarterback Ben Chesser rushed for 121 yards and three touchdowns and went 12-of-20 passing for 152 yards and a touchdown — a 55-yard strike to Danny Ours. Khylan Osbey added a touchdown for Nordonia last week. Rocco DeLorenzo, Owen Smotek and Liam Kountz are also key playmakers.
- Week 1 : Loss at home to Highland 31-24
- Week 2 : Loss at home to North Canton Hoover 18-7
- Week 3 : Win at Cleveland Heights 27-14
- Week 4 : Win at home over Stow 45-7
- Week 5: Win at home over Twinsburg 35-0
- Week 6 : Loss at Wadsworth 21-14 in overtime
- Week 7 : Win at Brecksville 35-0
- Week 1 : Win at Bedford 41-6
- Week 2 : Win at Berea-Midpark 35-28
- Week 3 : Win at home over Mayfield 35-7
- Week 4 : Win at Solon 45-7
- Week 5: Win at home over North Royalton 46-13
- Week 6 : Win at home over Twinsburg 40-14
- Week 7 : Loss at Wadsworth 37-36 in overtime
Hudson coach Jeff Gough is in his ninth season as the lead voice for the Explorers and coach Jeff Fox is in his 13th season with the Nordonia Knights.
Gough has a 72-29 record. Hudson was a Division II state semifinalist in his first season in 2016 and went 11-3. He guided the Explorers to a 13-1 record and a Division II regional final appearance in 2022.
Gough is a 2006 Hudson graduate and was an Explorers assistant football coach from 2007-2015 under former coaches Tom Narducci and Ron Wright.
Gough was Hudson's defensive coordinator on Wright's staff from 2011-2015 when the Explorers compiled a 53-11 record. Hudson made a Division II state semifinal appearance in 2015 and went 11-3 after being a Division I state semifinalist with a 13-1 record in 2014. The Explorers went 10-0 in the 2014 regular season and won the Northeast Ohio Conference Valley Division championship with a 5-0 mark, and went 8-2 in the 2015 regular season and finished second in the Suburban League National Conference with a 6-1 mark.
Fox has a 94-50 record as Nordonia's coach.
Fox guided Nordonia to a 14-1 record and a Division I state runner-up finish in 2014 , his third season as the Knights coach. Nordonia won the Suburban League championship in 2014 and went 10-0 in the regular season. The Knights went 10-3 in 2021, 9-2 in 2018 and 9-3 in 2022 under Fox.
Fox served as offensive coordinator and strength and conditioning coach at Willoughby South for seven years before arriving at Nordonia .
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: OHSAA football scores | Hudson vs. Nordonia high school football recap
Local News
Comments / 0