Lake County Sentinel
Willoughby South Opens Season with 34-0 Shutout of Cuyahoga Falls
BY KEN KRIZNER
STAFF
(WILLOUGHBY, OH) - The Willoughby South Rebels, looking to improve on a sub-.500 season from a year ago, got off to a roaring start, defeating the Cuyahoga Falls Black Tigers 34-0 at Harry E. Winters Stadium.
Offensively, the Rebels passed and ran through the Black Tigers defense. Junior quarterback Luke Jensen, playing only the first half, was 6 of 8 for 152 yards and a touchdown. Senior running back Jayden Hardy, also only playing the first 24 minutes, finished with 120 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns.
Defensively, the Rebels held Cuyahoga Falls to no first downs through the first 21 minutes of the game, forced a fumble that led to one touchdown and blocked a punt for another touchdown. The Black Tigers could only manage 60 yards of rushing (most of which came in the second half with a running clock), 35 yards passing from quarterback Waseem Mustafa and five first downs.
The Rebels dominated the first half despite committing 11 penalties for 100 yards.
“We were a little sloppy to start, but our kids were excited,” said Willoughby South Head Coach Matt Duffy. “Once we settled down and cleaned up the penalties, I was really happy with our play.
“Offensively, we got the run game going,” he added. “Of course, our defense was fantastic all night from the first series. There were a lot of three and outs.”
Willoughby South took the opening kickoff and primarily behind the running of Hardy and the passing of Jensen, controlled the ball for the first 7½ minutes of the first quarter. However, the Rebels committed 6 penalties on the drive including one that nullified a touchdown. On fourth down, the Rebels could not get off a field goal.
The Rebels defense held Cuyahoga Falls to a three-and-out on its first possession and regained possession at the Black Tigers’ 46 yard line.
But once again, the Rebels were plagued by penalties. A second touchdown, this one a pass from Jensen to wide receiver Christian Santone, was negated by an illegal block in the back at the goal line.
The Rebels dominated the first quarter, running 18 plays to Cuyahoga Falls three. However, the Rebels were their own worst enemy, committing eight penalties for 65 yards.
But on the first play of the second quarter, junior running back Balash Cane went 11 yards for a Willoughby South touchdown. Lucas Lazar added the extra point.
The route was on.
Cuyahoga Falls again failed to move the ball on its next possession and was forced to punt. But the Rebels blocked the punt, and junior linebacker Scotty Balash picked up the football and took it in for a touchdown. Lazar added his second extra point.
On third-and-two at the Cuyahoga Falls 38 yard line on the Black Tigers next possession, the Rebels forced a fumble, which was recovered by sophomore Josh Jensen. On the first play following the turnover, the same Josh Jenson hauled in a 20-yard pass from Luke Jensen, setting up a 15-yard touchdown run by Hardy.
The domination continued for the remainder of the half. Senior Marquez Lashley took off on a 60 yard sprint to the end zone and following a bobbled snap on a Black Tigers punt that resulted in a bad punt, Hardy scored his second touchdown on a 20-yard run.
Near the end of the first half, the Black Tigers registered their first two first downs, both of which were the result of personal foul penalties on Willoughby South.
With a 34-point lead and a running clock, Duffy turn to his backups, including numerous freshmen and sophomores, to finish off the game.
Despite the lopsided win, Duffy said he knows there are things the Rebels need to clean up moving forward, especially in the area of penalties.
“We looked at the (11) penalties at halftime,” he said. “That is inexcusable for a game, let alone a half. We have to improve as a team, and I think there are a lot areas where we can improve. We have to get cleaner on both sides of the ball.”
Willoughby South will take its 1-0 record to Madison next Friday to face the Blue Streaks.
“We’ve known those guys forever and played them forever,” Duffy said of Madison. “It should be a good old-fashioned physical football game.”.
POSTED 08/22/2025 23:36
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Photo by Ken Krizner
Photo by Ken Krizner
