GRANGER TWP.: The Highland football team displayed its strength and speed on offense, defense and special teams Friday night.
Simply put, visiting Revere was no match for the Hornets as the boys dressed in black-and-green uniforms earned a 48-0 victory in the Suburban League American Conference opener for each team.
Revere entered Friday at 3-0 with wins over Buckeye, Valley Forge and Normandy, but the Minutemen were unable to get on track against a Highland team that opened the season with a loss to Brunswick and then beat Canada Prep and North Royalton.
Highland senior Chris Burnside rushed 14 times for 72 yards and two touchdowns, and junior Evan Kasulones gained 107 yards on four carries and scored two touchdowns.
Burnside and Kasulones credited their linemen — juniors Corey Dennis, Lucas King, Ben Miller, Joey D’Amico and John Dipaolo and senior Carson Ciesinski — for creating holes.
“Our defense was outstanding,” Highland coach Mike Gibbons said. “We talked about building a wall. They run an offense that is similar to us as far as they run an inside zone and a zone-read scheme where you have to be gap sound and execute your responsibility.
“Offensively, I thought we were able to run the ball and get some jet-sweeps going.”
Highland controlled the line of scrimmage on offense and defense in the first half and led 27-0 at halftime. The Hornets scored three touchdowns on offense, one touchdown on special teams and had three extra-point kicks by senior Kurt Everett.
Highland seniors Chris Petrilla, Jake Mall and Michael Oriti contributed key defensive plays in the first half. Petrilla stopped a ball carrier on a fourth-and-1 attempt on the Revere 30-yard line on the opening drive of the game, and Mall blocked a Revere 43-yard field-goal attempt at the beginning of the second quarter that Oriti then pounced on.
Burnside rushed for two touchdowns in the first half, scoring from 1-yard out with 7:59 left in the first quarter and from 6 yards out with 4:17 to go in the second quarter.
The Hornets also scored on a 69-yard punt return touchdown by sophomore Jake Rogers with 3:00 remaining in the first quarter and on a 15-yard touchdown run by junior Matthew Earnest with 1:19 on the clock in the second quarter.
“I am impressed with how we stepped up to the challenge tonight,” Burnside said. “They have a good running back [senior Clayton Langdon]. He had been running really well against the three teams they played before us. Our goal all week was to set the tone on defense and shut him down. Then offensively, we wanted to come off the ball and smack them in the mouth and score every time we could.”
Kasulones rushed for touchdowns of 73 yards and 17 yards in the third quarter, and junior Ethan Gerding recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter and ran 18 yards for a touchdown. Everett’s sixth extra-point kick made it 48-0.
“Coming out in the second half, we just wanted to stay on top,” Kasulones said. “We came out with that 0-0 mentality. We wanted to keep going at ’em.”
Highland outgained Revere 319-75 from the line of scrimmage. Gibbons praised Petrilla, Oriti, senior Mitchell Zaz and junior Max Beier for their defensive effort, and said Langdon is “a track kid with explosive speed.”
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the #ABJVarsity high school blog at www.ohio.com/preps. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.