High school football: Wadsworth closes out perfect season with win over Solon

SOLON — The Wadsworth football team did its part to try to grab the top seed in the Division II, Region 6 playoffs on Friday, but the Grizzlies didn't get the help they needed to jump Highland.With its 50-21 clobbering of Suburban League National Conference rival Solon to close the regular season, Wadsworth did leapfrog Avon for second place, according to joeeitel.com.The Hornets (10-0) earned more computer points due to a 45-43 edge in opponent victories to take the top spot.The Grizzlies (10-0, 7-0) were extremely impressive for nearly one half and that was more than enough to handle the Comets (2-8, 1-6) while keeping the workload light for key starters going into the playoffs. The Grizzlies were up 43-0 with 6:45 left in the first half after Kyle Schmeltzer returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown.Schmeltzer also made an impressive play when he grabbed a high snap on an extra point attempt and got a pass off to tight end Dawson Mendel for a two-point conversion just before taking a big hit.Due to its seeding, Wadsworth earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs.Gavin Madigan was impressive on the ground, rushing six times for 110 yards. He gave the Grizzlies their first two scores with 35- and 2-yard touchdowns. Cooper Gray added 53 yards and a TD on four carries.Solon, which used a combination of Brayden Garrard (4-for-8, 84 yards, 2 TDs) and Elijah Daiber (0-for-1) to play quarterback with a sprinkling of Bryer Pickana in the Wildcat, struggled to move the ball. Pickana (19 carries, 122 yards) was the most successful weapon, but he also lost a fumble that was picked up by Jude Haller and returned 37 yards for a touchdown and a 28-0 lead.Outside of Pickana, Solon gained just 140 yards, including 56 on the ground. The Comets gained 146 of their 262 yards after halftime.Offensively, backup quarterback Braden Sterpka led Wadsworth, going 8-for-10 for 97 yards and adding a 1-yard rushing touchdown. Starting quarterback Brysen Hall's day finished with a 46-yard touchdown to Luke Maddox down the seam. Hall was 2-for-3 for 66 yards.Donny Bettis Jr. had a big day for Wadsworth with five catches for 51 yards.The Grizzlies saw their streak of seven games without losing a fumble come to an end, as a pitch from Sterpka to Gavin Miller went awry in the third quarter. That was one of only two possessions on which Wadsworth didn't score points.Solon, which entered the game last in the SL National in points scored (9.4) and points allowed (32.6), punted on five of its first six possessions, with Haller's fumble return for a touchdown being the other drive.Garrard finally got Solon on the scoreboard when he hit Cooper Walker for a 42-yard touchdown on fourth-and-6 late in the first half. Garrard came back late in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 43-14 with a touchdown to Christian Nelson.The Comets' final score came with 4:40 left in the fourth quarter when Ryan Brunner broke free for a 46-yard run after Sterpka had reactivated the running clock with the Grizzlies' final touchdown.Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.Wadsworth 50, Solon 21WADSWORTH 14 29 0 7 — 50SOLON 0 7 7 7 — 21FirstW — Gavin Madigan 35 run (Justin Lazzaretti kick), 9:21.W — Madigan 2 run (Lazzaretti kick), 2:09.SecondW — Cooper Gray 1 run (Lazzaretti kick), 11:05.W — Jude Haller 37 fumble return (Lazzaretti kick), 9:53.W — Luke Maddox 46 pass from Brysen Hall (Dawson Mendel pass from Kyle Schmeltzer), 8:31.W — Schmeltzer 60 punt return (Lazzaretti kick), 6:45.S — Cooper Walker 42 pass from Brayden Garrard (Brady Sulzer kick), 3:28.ThirdS — Christian Nelson 3 pass from Garrard (Sulzer kick), 1:24.FourthW — Braden Sterpka 1 run (Lazzaretti kick), 10:04.S — Ryan Brunner 46 run (Sulzer kick), 4:40. W SFirst downs 15 6Rushing 22/190 32/178Rushing average 9.0 5.6Passing 12/15 4/9Passing yards 174 84Total offense 37/364 41/262Punting 0/0 5/35.6Penalties 4/35 5/18Fumbles 2/1 4/1RUSHING: Wadsworth — Madigan 6-110, Gray 4-53, Bryson Bupp 2-10, Cole Wilson 2-10, Gavin Miller 3-9, Quinn Clark 1-3, Sterpka 3-0, Team 1-(-5). Solon — Bryer Pickana 19-122, Brunner 1-46, Sean Burton 5-24, Henry Sharpley 5-4, Walker 1-(-8), Garrard 1-(-10).PASSING: Wadsworth — Brysen Hall 2-3-66-0, Sterpka 8-10-97-0, Bupp 2-2-11-0. Solon — Garrard 4-8-84-0, Elijah Daiber 0-1-0-0.RECEIVING: Wadsworth — Donny Bettis Jr. 5-51, Luke Maddox 1-46, Wilson 3-48, Schmeltzer 1-20, Kolbey Ostervich 2-9. Solon — Walker 1-42, Spencer Kramer 2-39, Nelson 1-3.MISSED FIELD GOAL: Wadsworth — Lazzaretti 28 (WL).