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The Kenston football team had a furious rally in the fourth quarter, but fell short in a 42-28 loss to Western Reserve Conference foe Eastlake North Friday night at Bomber Stadium.
Kenston coach Jeff Grubich was proud to see how hard the Bombers fought in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a credit to the senior class,” Grubich said. “They could have pouted, but kept fighting. At the end, we started to execute offensively and defensively.”
The Bombers were trailing 42-7 when Brad Verbic scored on an 11-yard touchdown run with 4:05 left in the game to pull Kenston within 42-14.
Next, the Bombers recovered the ensuing pooch kick and quarterback Jimmy Burg quickly moved Kenston downfield. Verbic scored his second touchdown in 45 seconds as he plunged into the end zone from a yard out with 3:20 left in the game. That score made it 42-21.
The Rangers recovered the next kickoff, but on their first play Jake Tanski made his only mistake of the game as he was intercepted. That set up the Bombers with another short field as Burg hit Bransen Stanley with a 23-yard touchdown pass with 1:10 left in the game as Kenston pulled within 42-28.
Unfortunately, the Rangers again recovered the next kickoff and the Bombers ran out of time.
Burg and Stanley both played quarterback for Kenston as Burg was 2-for-5 passing with 35 yards and helped lead three scoring drives.
Stanley played all over for the Bombers. He struggled passing the ball as he completed just 3-of-12 passes for 15 yards, but led Kenston in rushing with 56 yards on 14 attempts including a 2-yard touchdown run in the first half. Stanley also caught both of Burg’s passes in the fourth quarter.
Grubich was asked about the quarterback situation.
“It’s fluid,” Grubich said. “We’re trying to do some things with Stanley because he’s elusive. It takes some pressure off the offensive line.”
The loss dropped Kenston to 1-6 and 0-4 in the WRC. It was their sixth straight loss since an opening night victory over Amherst. The Rangers improved to 3-4, 2-2.
Grubich said it was hard dealing with the large North linemen.
“They were bigger than us,” Grubich said. “They outmanned us size-wise. I have to give credit to the players scrapping and fighting. We had 110 percent effort.”
The first half was rough for the Bombers as they went three-and-out in their first four possessions. The Rangers, meanwhile, had little trouble scoring as North scored touchdowns on four of its first five possessions.
Tanski really shined as he completed 20-of-29 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns. Tanski also rushed eight times for a game-high 61 yards. Overall, the Rangers passed for 357 yards.
North coach Shawn Dodd talked about Tanski’s big game.
“I’m really proud of Jake,” Dodd said. “He had a tremendous game. It was his best game of the year.
“By far this was our best game overall. Offensively, defensively and special teams, this was our best game by far.”
Tanski’s favorite target was Kyle Andryscik, who caught seven passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Kenny Streb of North also caught four passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns as the Rangers built a 35-7 halftime lead.
Next, Kenston will take on Willoughby South (4-3, 3-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Bomber Stadium.