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Tigers get by Elyria, prepare for playoffs

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by Steve Batko

Correspondent

Despite a lackluster start, Twinsburg's football team won a second straight league championship and secured a home playoff game by beating Elyria 35-7 at Ely Stadium on Oct. 30.

Twinsburg became the Northeast Ohio Conference River Division champions as head coach Mark Solis saw his troops defeat his former team to gain the school's sixth state playoff berth. The locals finished 5-0 in the NOC River.

"It's great to win the league again and we are excited about the playoffs," said Solis.

Solis (83-34 overall) coached at Elyria and led the Pioneers to a Division I first-round win over Toledo St. John's Jesuit in 2005 before losing to Canton McKinley.

The last time Twinsburg (9-1) had back-to-back state playoff teams was back in 1991 and 1992 when the Tigers were Division III.

Twinsburg hosts Brunswick (7-3) in first round action in the Nov. 7 Division I regional quarterfinal at 7 p.m.

There were some mistakes, penalties (8-48 yards), two fumbles and an interception as it wasn't the prettiest win, but Solis will take it.

Elyria was no slouch. The Pioneers doubled its win from a year ago and ended 4-6 overall and 2-3 in the NOC.

Elyria won two in a row and also gave Hudson a battle in a 10-0 loss Oct. 9.

Twinsburg was stunned as Elyria grabbed a quick 7-0 lead. Dustin Stolarski tossed a perfect 26-yard touchdown pass to wide out Dan Juchem. Stolarski's fade pass was just beyond the fingertips of Twinsburg cornerback Aaron Macer.

The Pioneers executed well as they took the opening kick off and ran all but 47 seconds of the entire first quarter. It was a 17-play, 74-yard drive.

In fact, Elyria had 38 snaps in the first half to only 12 for Twinsburg's explosive spread offense.

"The slow start was tough as we didn't have any rhythm with Elyria having the ball so long," said Solis. "It was frustrating, but the defense got after it in the second half and we moved the ball. The kids responded."

That arm hold got tighter for Elyria when Twinsburg fumbled away the ensuing kick off. However, Tim Jones missed a 33-yard field goal with 11:13 left in the first half.

Like a true champion, Twinsburg responded with a 71-yard scoring drive on eight plays that resulted in a touchdown with 1:53 left in the half. Senior backup running back Ben Stinard caught the first touchdown pass of his career as Collier passed for 44 yards.

Macer had a huge play before the half when Elyria back Trynell Davis broke a 64-yard run, but was caught at the 4-yard line by Macer. Then Tiger senior corner Mike Maier picked off a Pioneer pass to save the Tigers.

The speedy Macer also had a 31-yard scoring run in the second quarter and a three-yard touchdown burst in the third stanza. Macer, who had 80 yards rushing on six carries, is a backup quarterback who plays similar to the Wildcat position.

"Aaron [Macer] is a great athlete and we're just trying to find some space for him in our offensive sets," said Solis. "He's just another athlete that has to be accounted for."

Senior tailback Dion Johnson had 119 yards on 16 totes, including a 25-yard touchdown jaunt in the fourth quarter.

"It's nice to have a bunch of guys who can go north and south in a hurry, and Dion is one of those kids," said Solis.

Collier, who was 5-8 through the air with an interception, added an 8-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Nick Nero in the fourth period. Nero also had two runs for 25 yards.

Senior wide out Waquiem Comar had three catches for 52 yards.

Davis led Elyria with 141 yards on 21 carries and David Betts had 40 yards on 10 totes.

E-mail: stowsports@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3113