BEDFORD, Ohio — Benedictine led Friday night's game for only 28 seconds. It was all they needed.
The fourth-seeded Bengals stormed back from an 18-point deficit to beat the fifth-seeded Brecksville-Broadview Heights Bees 41-38. Junior quarterback Ronnie Schultz was the hero with four total touchdowns, including the game-winning pass to Chris Gales.
The Bees (7-4) got off to a fast start, racing out to a 28-10 lead thanks to the arm of Joey Labas and the legs of Garret Kubitz. However, the Bengals began to grab momentum after a Hail Mary pass ended with an incredible catch by Akron commit Charles Rosser at the end of the first half, and the comeback was on.
The Benedictine defense mostly held Brecksville after intermission, and a Jalen Edwards touchdown followed by an Ivan Shuran field goal cut the deficit to one. Ethan Hatcher was able to answer back with a 50-yard score, but the Bees only led by eight heading into the fourth.
After Rosser's second TD grab made it 35-33 (the two-point conversion failed), Brecksville drove it all the way down to the Benedictine 1-yard line looking to put the game away. But the Bengal D stepped up and forced an Aidan Minnick field goal with just 3:47 left, and on the ensuing drive, Schultz led the offense on a methodical drive that included multiple third and fourth down conversions and even a fantastic QB keeper run following a dropped snap before Gales scored.
The Bees had a chance to answer, but fumbled on their final possession, and Schultz took a knee to end the game. It was an incredibly gutsy performance for the signal caller, who persevered despite looking banged up at times during the game.
Now 10-1, the Bengals will battle top-seeded and unbeaten Avon next week. The location of that game has not yet been announced.
Re-listen to Dave "Dino" DeNatale and Dennis Manoloff's call of the game in the player below:
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