High school football: Wadsworth cruises to win over Hudson

HUDSON — The members of the Wadsworth football team were happy but not satisfied.That's because they're never satisfied.The Grizzlies dominated the first half and did what they needed to in the second Friday night while cruising to a 35-17 win over Hudson in a Suburban League National Conference game that was never as close as the final score indicates.Wadsworth (7-0, 4-0) led the Explorers (5-2, 3-1) 14-0 in the first quarter, 21-0 late in the first half and 28-3 early in the fourth period before Hudson scored its only two touchdowns."There's always a lot of room for growth," said defensive lineman Nathan Shipley, who had two tackles for loss. "There's always room for improvement."That should be a scary thought for Wadsworth's future opponents, as its performance was much more dominant than the final numbers indicate.Wadsworth finished with just a 351-300 edge in total offense and a 17-13 advantage in first downs, but most of Hudson's offensive numbers were put up after the outcome had been decided. In taking a 21-3 lead at halftime, the Grizzlies ran 46 plays to 32 for Hudson, had a 259-99 edge in total offense and had 14 first downs to four for the Explorers."We dominated up front," said running back/safety Gavin Madigan, who rushed 20 times for 153 yards and three TDs while adding two tackles for loss. "That was our goal."On its first possession, Wadsworth went 80 yards in eight plays, with Cooper Gray (26 carries, 133 yards, TD) making one ankle-breaking move on a 34-yard scoring run. Sophomore quarterback Brysen Hall (7-for-15 passing, 70 yards TD), who attempted just two passes in the second half, made the key play in the drive by hitting Jay'len King (4 catches, 35 yards) for 11 yards on fourth-and-3 from the Hudson 49."We wanted to impose our will up front," Madigan said. "That first drive was what we wanted to do."On their third drive, the Grizzlies marched 77 yards in 13 plays and went up 14-0 on Madigan's 4-yard run. Hall made that possible as well, hitting Calix Lemp (3 catches, 35 yards, TD) for 25 yards on a deep out to the left on third-and-6 from the Explorers 27. After linebacker Jacob Earnest made a great ankle tackle on Hudson quarterback Hayden Lipinski for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-4 from the Wadsworth 43, the Grizzlies made it 21-0 on Madigan's 5-yard run as their offensive line continued to dominate.The defense, which also got sacks from Earnest, Brad Watson and Colton Leavitt, took care of the rest, though two plays and some softer coverage skewed the final numbers.Helped greatly by a perfect 80-yard TD pass to Louie Castellarin with the Explorers down 28-3 and a 19-yard scoring toss to Jayden Carlton with 1:03 left in the game, Lipinski finished 13-for-33 for 207 yards. At halftime, he was 5-for-17 for 44 yards."Defensively, we were outstanding," Shipley said. "Those last-minute scores were unreasonable, but we battled throughout."The Grizzlies, who lost standout offensive lineman Gabe Ludtke to injury early in the game, were even more dominant against Hudson's running attack, holding the Explorers to 93 yards on 32 carries (2.9 average). Standout running back Reno Ferri carried 17 times for 58 yards, with 12 of his carries going for 4 yards or less."We wanted to stop their running game," Shipley said. "We practiced all week for their stretch play and counter. That was the No. 1 goal, really."There were no turnovers and 12 punts — six by each team — in the 2-hour, 45-minute game and the Grizzlies were never in any danger of losing, but they are striving for perfection."It wasn't our best football game by any means," Madigan said. "But that's the great thing about this team. We don't even take it one game at a time. We take it one day at a time."Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X.Wadsworth 35, Hudson 17WADSWORTH 14 7 0 14 — 35HUDSON 0 3 0 14 — 17FirstW — Cooper Gray 34 run (Justin Lazzaretti kick), 9:56.W — Gavin Madigan 4 run (Lazzaretti kick), 2:24.SecondW — Madigan 5 run (Lazzaretti kick), 3:42.H — Ian Katz 21 field goal, 0:03.FourthW — Madigan 1 run (Lazzaretti kick), 8:29.H — Louie Castellarin 80 pass from Hayden Lipinski (Katz kick), 8:12.W — Calix Lemp 4 pass from Brysen Hall (Lazzaretti kick), 3:34.H — Jayden Carlton 19 pass from Lipinski (Katz kick), 1:03. W H First downs 17 13Rushing 54/281 32/93Rushing average 5.2 2.9Passing 7/15 13/34Passing yards 70 207Total offense 69/351 66/300Punting 6/35.8 6/42.0Penalties 2/10 7/53Fumbles 0/0 2/0RUSHING: Wadsworth — Madigan 20-153, Gray 26-133, Hall 4-8, Team 4-(-13). Hudson — Reno Ferri 17-58, Christopher Horner 5-28, Brennan Funyak 2-6, Lipinski 8-1.PASSING: Wadsworth — 7-15-70-0. Hudson — Lipinski 13-33-207-0, Team 0-1-0-0.RECEIVING: Wadsworth — Jay'len King 4-35, Lemp 3-35. Hudson — Castellarin 3-102, Anthony Paolucci 5-44, Mark Salem 2-22, Horner 2-20, Carlton 1-19.