Lake County Sentinel
Hornets Sting Tigers 45-3
BY KEN KRIZNER
STAFF
(CHAGRIN FALLS, OH) - It was a difficult week for the Kirtland Hornets, injury-wise. After losing junior quarterback Ben Loncar to a broken leg in last Friday’s win over Conneaut, the Hornets lost running back/linebacker Carter Luzar to injury during practice this week.
So, Kirtland had to mix in a new quarterback, two new starters on defense and reshuffle its running game.
One would never know that the Hornets had to make adjustments on the fly as they overwhelmed Chagrin Falls, 45-3, at C.S. Harris Stadium.
“These injuries really hurt us,” said Kirtland Head Coach Tiger LaVerde. “We lost our starting quarterback and a player is who is great on both sides of the ball.”
Kirtland, however, is still stacked with an abundance of talented players. One of those players is senior Tommy Caimi, who led the way on both sides of the ball. Offensively, he ran for nearly 200 yards and three touchdowns. Defensively, Caimi returned an interception for a touchdown, giving him four on the night.
“Tommy is a very good player,” LaVerde said. “He makes plays on both sides of the ball.”
The Hornets started the night with freshman Griffin Gabriel starting at quarterback. In the first quarter, however, Kirtland stuck mostly to the run.
After a short Chagrin Falls punt early in the first quarter, Kirtland set up shop at the Tigers’ 44 yard line. After one first down, Chagrin Falls’ defense held the Kirtland offense to short gains on three consecutive plays. But on fourth down, Caimi busted through the line of scrimmage, darted left and went into the end zone from 28 yards for his first touchdown.
After a second straight 3-and-out for Chagrin Falls, the Hornets once again began in excellent field position at the 50 yard line. This time, it was Gabriel’s turn to make a play. He hit Caimi in stride on a third-down play for 31 yards, keeping the drive alive and moving Kirtland deep into Tigers territory. A run by senior running back Zander Perko got the Hornets inside the 10 yard line, though the Chagrin Falls defense stiffened at that point and forced a field goal attempt. Junior Marco Valentic nailed the field goal from 26 yards, giving Kirtland a 10-point lead.
Kirtland started its next drive from its own 4 yard line and drove 96 yards. The Tigers were their own worst enemy, committing face mask penalties on back-to-back plays. Caimi followed with his second touchdown of the night, from 34 yards out.
On Chagrin Falls next possession, junior quarterback Max Frankel, under heavy pressure, threw an interception to senior Mario Lorber who returned it 32 yards for the Hornets’ touchdown.
The Tigers tried to seize some momentum back in the last minutes of the second quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, senior Brady Kaas returned the ball 50 yards to the Kirtland 48 yard line. Passes from Frankel to Kaas and senior Ash Martin got the ball inside the 20 yard line. On a third down play, Frankel kept the ball himself and gained 10 yards, giving the Tigers a new set of downs.
However, the Tigers could not cash it in from there, despite getting a reprieve on a third down pass interference penalty in the end zone. Frankel was thrown for a loss following the penalty, and his fourth down pass to Martin fell incomplete in the end zone on the last play of the first half.
The second half started with a new quarterback for Kirtland but the same result. Lorber, who started five games for the Hornets last season, took over for Gabriel and led the Hornets on an 80-yard drive, mostly on the ground. The bulk of the of the drive was on the legs of Caimi, who went in from 14 yards for his third touchdown of the night, which prompted a running clock for the remainder of the game.
“Credit goes to the offensive line,” Caimi said of his three offensive touchdown performance. “They blocked very well and gave me some great holes to run through.”
On Chagrin Falls next possession, a Frankel pass went off the hands of Martin and into the hands of Caimi, who went in untouched for a 35-yard touchdown, Kirtland’s second Pick Six of the night and Caimi’s fourth touchdown.
Chagrin Falls managed to avoid the shut out when senior Ben Ettinger kicked a 38-yard field goal, which was followed by a touchdown run by Kirtland sophomore Brayden Yates from 5 yards out to complete the scoring.
Despite the loss, Chagrin Falls Head Coach John Scott was pleased with his team’s effort.
“Obviously, Kirtland is a very formidable opponent,” he said. “They’ve had a running clock against every team in the (CVC) Valley Division. When we look at the film, we will see a team (Chagrin Falls) that played hard for four quarters and gave a tremendous effort.”
Scott said he believes that even in a loss to a quality program, there are lessons his players can learn as the Tigers (4-2, 2-1 in the CVC Valley Division) play out the remainder of their regular season schedule and possible playoff games.
“We can build off this game and regain some momentum to help us get back to our winning ways starting next week,” Scott said.
For Kirtland (5-1, 3-0 in the CVC Valley Division), LaVerde, in the wake of the injuries, said his team must focus on themselves and continue to get better at every position. It’s one reason why he split the quarterback duties between Gabriel and Lorber.
“We need both of them, and we need both of them to get better,” LaVerde said. "Griffin (Gabriel) did OK, but he’s a freshman. Mario (Lorber) is a senior, so he knows the offense better and is a little smoother in running it.”
Kirtland stays in the CVC Valley Division next Friday Night, traveling to Crestwood, while Chagrin Falls is on the road at Brooklyn in a CVC crossover game.
POSTED 09/26/2026 00:05
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Kirtland's Tommy Caimi picks up some yardage, leading the Hornets to a 45-3 victory over Chagrin Falls. Photos by Ken Krizner
