by Rob Barrone

Correspondent

Twinsburg -- History was not on the Twinsburg football team's side Aug. 29 as they welcomed Hudson to Tiger Stadium.

In fact, Twinsburg's last win over the Explorers came back in 1998.

However, the Tigers defied history in emphatic fashion, dominating Hudson on both sides of the ball en route to an 18-0 win. Both Twinsburg and Hudson move to 1-1 on the season.

Not only did the win break up a decade of frustration for the Tigers vs. Hudson, but the win marked Twinsburg's first shutout of Hudson since a 32-0 win in 1952.

"This was what I would call a turning point for our football program," second year Twinsburg head coach Mark Solis said. "This was a huge football game for us. We had an unyielding focus in practice; it was all about beating Hudson. When Hudson plays Twinsburg, they expect to be able to show up and win. That really got our kids ticked off I think. We played physical; we were more physical than they were."

The Tigers had a huge edge in nearly every statistic including first downs (18-5); rushing yardage (277-54); total yards (292-98); plays from scrimmage (74-32); and time of possession (36:53-11:07).

Nowhere were the final two stats more noticeable than in the second quarter. Despite a heavy rain for much of the period and four penalties on the hosts, the Tigers had the ball for 25 of the 27 snaps in that quarter. Hudson's two snaps included a fumble recovered by Twinsburg linebacker Joe Kerrigan and a knee to run out then final 16 seconds before the half.

What did the Tigers have to show for that domination? Zero points.

Twinsburg took a 6-0 lead on senior Tyler Glover's one-yard touchdown plunge midway through the first quarter.

The Tigers second quarter control began late in the first following Joe Hiller's interception of a Richie Piekarski. Hiller's pick set the stage for an 18-play, 67-yard drive which lasted nine minutes.

However, the drive ended at the Hudson 37 when senior quarterback Cory Eden lost the grip on the wet pigskin trying to pass with Hudson's Austin Ricci there to recover.

Eden finished 2-of-6 passing for 15 yards and a touchdown along with 17 carries and 42 yards

On the next play, Kerrigan got the ball back for the Tigers as Hudson put the ball on the ground. Taking over where they left off, the Tigers continued to grind out the yardage with a mix of runs by Eden, Waquiem Comar, Nicholas Nero (five carries for 23 yards and three saves of possession with offensive fumble recoveries) and Dion Johnson (a game high 180 yards rushing on 32 carries).

Eight plays later, the possession ended on downs and Hudson took a 6-0 deficit into halftime.

Comar opened the second half with long kickoff return.

With Eden out still feeling the effects of mononucleosis and suffering leg cramps, Solis opted to move Johnson to quarterback.

The move paid off as Johnson picked up 33 yards carrying the ball six of the first eight plays in the 11-play march.

"We had to go with Dion at quarterback when Eden went down. With our offense and all the misdirection you've got to be able to run the quarterback," Solis stated. "Dion was phenomenal; he's our horse, were going to ride him."

Eden recovered enough to cap the drive by finding Kevin Miller for the eight-yard touchdown pass. It gave Twinsburg a 12-0 lead with 5:46 left in the third quarter.

"The score to start the second half was absolutely crucial. We got the ball to start the second half. We told our kids at halftime; we have to go down and score. We took over six and a half minutes [actually 6:14] in that first drive and that can be demoralizing [to the opposition]," Solis said.

Twinsburg's defense spent little time on the field, but made its' mark on the win allowing just five first downs.

"I'm so proud of how our kids stepped up. Our defense was phenomenal but what won it tonight was our offensive line. I'm so proud of our offensive line; our offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and our defensive coaches did an outstanding job of getting the kids ready," Solis praised.

A fumble on the first play was recovered by Nero. After Nero's recovery the Tigers put together a ten-play 70-yard scoring march that was capped by Glover's touchdown. The kick failed and the hosts led 6-0.

Twinsburg tacked on a late insurance score after its defense stopped Hudson on downs at their own 20-yard line with 3:02 to play. Johnson picked up 18 yards in the short drive including the final yard for the 18-0 final with 18 seconds to play.

Twinsburg will host another neighborhood rivalry game Sept. 5 as Aurora will visit Tiger Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

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