Beachwood Football Improves to 6-1 With 41-13 Win Over Berkshire

Two special teams plays gave (6-1) all the momentum going into the half and the Bison used it to chew up the clock, dominating the ball for 17:49 in the second half and sealing up a 41-13 win over Berkshire (2-5).

“Those were very good momentum builders going into halftime,” Beachwood coach Ryan Williams said. “The kickoff return came off of an interception that was almost returned for a touchdown. We needed to get something going.”

With Beachwood up 14-0, Berkshire quarterback Erick Burzanko hit Ben Blechschmid on a 15-yard slant route for a touchdown, cutting the Bison lead down to 14-6 and seemingly injecting new life into the Badgers. Beachwood’s Corey Jones answered on the next play with an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

About three minutes later a Berkshire drive stalled and the Badgers had to punt with 18 seconds left in the half. Beachwood blocked the punt and Chris Lardie took it back 47 yards to put the Bison up 27-13 going into the locker room.

“We broke down a little bit,” Berkshire coach Jack Arnold said. “We really have to work on that part of our game. A good team like Beachwood is going to expose your weaknesses.”

Beachwood started with the ball in the second half and proceeded to milk 6:51 off the clock, capped by Alex Hohl’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Darrell Sullins extending the Bison lead to 34-13.

Jones ran for 65 yards on 15 carries and accounted for three total touchdowns (two rushing). Hohl threw for 121 yards on 10-for-16 passing and two touchdowns.

Starting running back Ari Sobel did not play, but coach Williams said he was held out for precautionary reasons and he will be ready to go next week. The Bison will definitely need him, as their next three games will determine whether or not they earn one of the eight bids to the Div. IV football playoffs.

Beachwood is currently 10th in the computer rankings despite their 6-1 record; they haven’t played the toughest portion of their schedule yet. However, the Bison have a tremendous opportunity to accumulate points over the next three weeks starting with a road game against undefeated Kirtland (6-0) next Friday. They remain on the road the following week against Cuyahoga Heights (5-1) on Oct. 21. Their biggest game is their final one on Oct. 29, at home against West Geauga (5-1), a Div. III team.

Winning at least two of their last three should be enough to get Beachwood into at least the eighth spot and the playoffs.