High school football: Black River gets impressive win over Brookside

SULLIVAN TWP. — It was homecoming weekend for the Black River football team, and the defense came home to help the offense in a 42-0 Lorain County League drubbing of Brookside.The numbers on both sides of the ball were impressive as the Pirates (4-4, 2-3) kept their Division VI, Region 21 playoff hopes alive and were led by a defense that responded well after escaping with a 40-33 shootout win over Firelands one week ago.The Pirates held Brookside to 65 yards rushing and 3 yards passing. Of the 68 total yards, 69 came on the first two drives and 56 came on one very long drive.The Cardinals ate 10:46 off the first-half clock, drove 56 yards to the Black River 14-yard line, converted three fourth-down attempts and got nothing for the effort after the Pirates forced an incomplete pass on fourth-and-5 on the 18th play."We were a little bit more focused," Black River wide receiver/linebacker Zane Bungard said. "We were ready. It was our homecoming game. We were excited. Our line played great and our linebackers in general just played amazing."Bungard and Jack Vancooney each had a pair of tackles for loss and Mason Koberna and Hunter Varney combined for a sack as the Cardinals had 12 of their 44 total plays go for zero or negative yardage.After taking a 14-0 lead on Bungard's second touchdown reception from freshman quarterback Dom Bell, the Black River defense held the Cardinals (0-8, 0-5) to minus-1 yard the remainder of the game."Those are the things you have to do to win a game," Bell said. "If they score on that, they can possibly build momentum and who knows what happens on defense? Getting that stop was crucial — as any stop is."Bungard (8 catches, 118 yards, 3 TDs) tied the school record for receiving touchdowns in a season with his eighth in the first quarter. The senior reached 10 early in the fourth quarter, pushing the margin to 35-0 and starting the running clock."I just have to give credit to my coaches and teammates for always pushing me," he said. "Being in the weight room, the coaches getting us there and being hard on us and our teammates always challenging us, it's a great feeling. I love my guys and I am glad I got to do it with them."Bungard enters a Week 9 game against Wellington needing just three receptions and 41 receiving yards to set the school marks in those categories.Bell continued to impress, completing 15-of-21 passes for 191 yards and four touchdowns. He also hauled in a 14-yard catch-and-run toss from Hunter Varney and ran twice for another 11 yards."It's just been natural," Bell said of his team's passing game. "It started in the summer in 7-on-7s. We just instantly clicked. All of us clicked. Knowing when they are going to break, knowing when they are going to turn up, it's just who is hot that night and who is going to be open. We have great chemistry this year."Black River scored on six of its seven offensive possessions as Bell was efficient hitting six receivers. He has 13 touchdowns against just four interceptions on the season.With the passing game clicking, Black River also got a breakout performance from senior running back Dozier Hendershot, who carried 10 times for 83 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His highlight was a nice 38-yard touchdown scamper in which he hit the right edge and outran the defense down the sideline to give his team a 28-0 lead early in the third quarter.The Pirates averaged 8.8 yards per attempt on their way to 159 yards on the ground. Bryce Murray had 39 yards on two rushes and Varney had 26 on four totes to complement Hendershot.Contact Chad Grant at sports@medina-gazette.com.Black River 42, Brookside 0BROOKSIDE 0 0 0 0 — 0BLACK RIVER 7 14 7 14 — 42FirstBR — Zane Bungard 13 pass from Dom Bell (Jackson Burkholder kick), 4:59.SecondBR — Bungard 19 pass from Bell (Burkholder kick), 3:19.BR — Carson Steidl 10 pass from Bell (Burkholder kick), 0:23.ThirdBR — Dozier Hendershot 38 run (Burkholder kick), 9:39.FourthBR — Bungard 19 pass from Bell (Burkholder kick), 10:46.BR — Hendershot 10 run (Burkholder kick), 2:29. Bro BRFirst downs 6 19Rushing 31/65 18/159Rushing average 2.1 8.8Passing 4/13 16/22Passing yards 3 205Total offense 44/68 40/364Punting 4/34.5 0/0.0Penalties 4/30 2/30Fumbles 2/0 0/0RUSHING: Brookside — Alex Arra 13-31, Dominick Juchnik 8-20, Colton Casey 2-10, Mason Gainer 2-5, Michael Borgmann 1-4, Elijah Lopez 1-2, Jaylen West-Wolff 2-0, Trevor Kitzberger 2-(-7). Black River — Hendershot 10-83, Bryce Murray 2-39, Hunter Varney 4-26, Bell 2-11.PASSING: Brookside — Arra 4-10-3-0, Lopez 0-2-0-0, Bozeman-Williams 0-1-0-0. Black River — Bell 15-21-191-0, Varney 1-1-14-0.RECEIVING: Brookside — Juchnik 1-8, Casey 2-(-2), Kitzberger 1-(-3). Black River — Bungard 8-118, Kage Petruzzi 3-30, Varney 1-21, Bell 1-14, Murray 2-12, Steidl 1-10.