This Week in Benedictine Football

Week 6

September 29, 1978

Benedictine 7, Berea 3

Benedictine’s first game on artificial turf took place because of teachers’ strikes in the Lakewood and Cleveland school systems forcing cancellations of scheduled games.

Benedictine was to play West Tech and Berea was to play Lakewood.

Arrangements were made by Benedictine school officials with Berea earlier in the week to play on September 29, 1978 at Baldwin-Wallace College’s Finnie Stadium.

Even on such short notice, the game turned out to be a classic.

The Berea News Sun called it, “one of the hardest-hitting games in Finnie Stadium history.” Tim Rogers of the old Cleveland Press wrote that it was “a good, old-fashioned, hit’em-into-next-week football game.”

After a scoreless first half, Berea took a 3-0 lead on a 25-yard field goal by Judd Groza in the third.

With five minutes left in the game, Berea was facing a punting situation on fourth down. 

The plan of Bengals coach Augie Bossu was to attempt to block the punt. “We were going for the ball,” he said. “Our intention was to block the punt and get good field position. Time was becoming a factor.”

Bossu continued, “We had no return on.”

Benedictine failed to block that punt but the result left the Bengals faithful cheering madly.

Bengals back Dale Horton fielded the Berea punt on his own 10, avoided a couple of tacklers, and headed for the right sideline, where he went virtually untouched for the game-winning touchdown.  If that were not enough heroics, Horton also kicked the extra point to give the Bengals a 7-3 victory that lifted his team a 3-1 record.

Bossu was proud of his team’s response to the punt return. “The rest of the kids were able to react quickly and give him some help along the way.”

It was one big play that made all of the difference on a night that belonged to the defense.

Both teams were kept under 100 yards of offense.

Benedictine gained 29 yards rushing and 36 yards passing for a total of 65. Berea had 58 yards rushing and 34 yards passing for a total of 92.

Berea coach Tom Madzy said, “Our inability to score was not the fault of our offense. All the credit has to be given to Benedictine’s defense.”

The Bengals lost two fumbles and the Braves lost one. Rogers wrote, “the fumbles occurred because of tackling that bordered on the ferocious.” 

Rogers singled out several Bengals for their play on defense including Tony Pletka, Dave Marshall, Ted Chiudioni and Joe Mincek.

Berea had a dream season moving all the way to the Class AAA (large-school) state championship game losing to Cincinnati Princeton 12-10.

The Bengals finished with a disappointing 4-6 record. That record is deceiving because the team lost its last four games by a total of nine points.

Rules at the time did not allow Benedictine to reap the rewards of the big win over Berea. Only games that were on record before the season began were counted towards the state playoffs.  Those computer points from the victory over Berea would have changed the course of the season for the Bengals and would have gone a long way toward a shot at the state Class AA playoffs.

Berea’s Tom Madzy was chosen as the Plain Dealer Coach of the Year. In the accompanying article, Madzy reflected on the close loss to Benedictine. “I told the kids in the locker room after the game that we were a better team for playing the game (against Benedictine) and events proved it.”

NOTES:

-Benedictine’s Dave Marshall later played at Eastern Michigan and spent the 1984 season as a linebacker for the Cleveland Browns.

-Berea’s Judd Groza is the son of the legendary Cleveland Browns place-kicker Lou (the Toe) Groza.

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Wally Mieskoski ’71

Benedictine Football Historian

Trend Continues: Bengals Come Back to Win

Benedictine 42, Cleveland Central Catholic 18

For the fourth time this season, the Bengals followed a familiar pattern with another come-from-behind victory.

This 42-18 win over North Coast League White Division opponent Cleveland Central Catholic gave the Bengals a 5-0 record, the first time since 2003 that they have started the season with so many consecutive wins.

The stage is now set for the much-anticipated match-up with North Coast League Blue Division rival Lake Catholic.

After spotting Cleveland Central Catholic a 12-point first-half lead, Benedictine roared back to score the next 28 points to run away from the Ironmen in this home game at Bedford Bearcat Stadium.

With a pair of Marshall Howell scoring runs of one and five yards in the second, Benedictine took a 14-12 halftime lead on freshman Toby Leahy extra point kicks. Those Howell touchdowns were scored in a little more than four minutes apart late in the second quarter.

Benedictine got the only points in the third quarter on Bryan Lacey’s three-yard run that gave his team a 20-12 margin.

That lead was increased when Mike Roberts caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dan Piascik with 11:08 left in the game. Lacey’s two-point conversion run made the score 28-12. Roberts score completed a 10-play, 87-yard drive.

Central responded with another touchdown, its third of the game to cut its deficit to 28-18.

Later in the fourth, senior Kelvin Blake took an Ironman punt and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown. Leahy’s kick made it 35-18.

The final touchdown came with 46 seconds left on another Dan Piascik-to-Mike Roberts pass play covering 50 yards. Leahy’s kick was the final point in the 42-18 Bengals victory.

Benedictine’s ground game was led by senior Bryan Lacey, who churned out 145 hard-earned yards on 33 carries. Marshall Howell contributed 105 yards on 16 carries.

Dan Piascik competed seven of 14 passes for 96 yards. His favorite receivers were Howell who caught three and Mike Roberts who caught only two passes, but both were for touchdowns.

Incredibly, the Bengals ran off 76 plays from scrimmage to Central’s 29. Benedictine had 22 first downs to Central’s seven.

The Ironmen had 239 yards in total offense with 215 coming on the ground.

NOTES: The last time the Bengals won at least five games in a season came in 2004 when the team won the Division III state playoff title, finishing with a 12-3 record.

The Bengals have now scored 170 points, surpassing last season’s entire offensive production of 148 points.

The all-time series with Central Catholic now stands with Benedictine on top 13-4-0.

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Wally Mieskoski ’71

Benedictine Football Historian

This Week in Benedictine Football History, Week 5

September 22, 1972

Benedictine 21, Collinwood 18

It is ironic that the first victory as an independent team for Benedictine came at the expense of an old East Senate rival.

Benedictine dropped out of the East Senate at the end of the 1971-72 academic year. The school had been a member of the Cleveland Senate since 1937 when the league expanded. Collinwood had been a worthy rival through the Senate years.

It was a rough start to independence in 1972 for the Bengals losing to Massillon (15-6) and Willoughby South (6-0).

This game with Collinwood was played at West Tech Field.

The Bengals fell behind early. Railroader quarterback Marc Mauser provided most of the damage.

Collinwood jumped to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter on a 67-yard run by Mauser and later throwing a 24-yard scoring pass to Andy Jordan. Both extra point conversions failed.

Benedictine got on the board in the first when senior Mike Woods scored on a three-yard run. Junior soccer-style kicker Tom Seres kicked the first of three extra points following this touchdown.

Collinwood held a 12-7 halftime lead.

But not for long.

The Bengals senior back Pat Moriarty took the second-half kick-off a school-record 95 yards for the touchdown.

Seres kicked the conversion that gave the Bengals a 14-12 lead.

Later in the third, Woods got his second touchdown on a nine-yard pass from junior quarterback Al Keller. That score finished a 72-yard drive. Seres once again converted for a 21-12 lead.

Collinwood’s Mauser got the final Railroaders score in the fourth on a two-yard run, but the conversion run failed.

The Bengals had gained their first win as an independent. Both Benedictine and Collinwood each scored three touchdowns. The difference came on the foot of the one of the smallest players on the field, Tom Seres, a 5-6, 122-pound kicker.

It was the first year of the state playoffs and the Bengals, with a 5-4-1 record, finished out of contention in the season-ending rankings.

NOTES:

*The two players who scored the Bengals touchdowns in this game were elected to the Benedictine Hall of Fame. Mike Woods earned All-American honors as a linebacker at the University of Cincinnati and later played for the old Baltimore Colts. Pat Moriarty played at Georgia Tech and was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Browns and played during the 1979 season. Currently Moriarty is the VP-Football Administration for the Baltimore Ravens in the National Football League. Sadly, Woods died in 2009.

*Tom Seres also provided the difference as a sophomore in the 1971 Cleveland City Championship game. His fourth-quarter field goal gave the Bengals a 9-7 win over Holy Name.

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Wally Mieskoski ’71

Benedictine Football Historian

Benedictine downs old rival Holy Name “four” the win

Week 4

September 16, 2011

Benedictine 49, Holy Name 21

The Bengals made it four victories in a row as they scored four straight times late in the second quarter and early in the third quarter to break open a close game over old rival Holy Name, 49-21.

Junior back Marshall Howell had another big-play game for Coach Ben Malbasa’s team. He opened the scoring with a six-yard run with 8:24 left in the first. Freshman Toby Leahy’s extra point kick made it 7-0. For the game, Leahy converted seven of seven point-after attempts.

Holy Name tied the game on a two-yard run and extra point kick with 2:39 left before halftime.

Howell then took the Green Wave kick-off and dashed 89 yards along the right sidelines to the Holy Name two. On the first play from scrimmage, senior back Bryan Lacey darted into the end zone to give the Bengals the lead at 14-7.

After forcing Holy Name to punt, the Bengals took over on their own 12. Lacey had the key play in the drive with a run of 57 yards. The drive ended with a nice Dan Piascik-to-Mike Roberts pass play covering three yards. Roberts showed good control catching the pass while tip-toeing the sideline.

That score with just 11 seconds before halftime gave the Bengals a 21-7 edge.

To start the second half, it didn’t take Benedictine long to score … only 13 seconds. The Bengals took possession on the Holy Name 38. On the first play from scrimmage, Lacey ran that distance to the end zone to increase the lead to 28-7.

The team was not yet finished scoring in the third. A short Bengals drive concluded with a 33-yard scoring run by senior back Kelvin Blake to give the Bengals a 35-7 lead.

A Green Wave touchdown cut the lead to 35-14, but a two-play 66-yard drive with Mike Roberts catching a Dan Piascik 61-yard touchdown pass increased the lead to 42-14.

Another Bengals score in the third, on a 42-yard run by Lacey, gave the Bengals a 49-14 lead.

Benedictine had just scored 28 points, on four touchdowns, in the third quarter– all in a space of eight minutes and three seconds.

In the fourth Holy Name got its final score on a 41-yard pass interception return.

Benedictine increased its record to 4-0, while Holy Name drops to 1-3. The Bengals also increased their lead in the all-time series to 21-17-3.

Benedictine led the statistics battle gaining 394 yards in total offense to Holy Name’s 313. The Bengals rushed for 288 yards while holding Holy Name to 102. The Green Wave did throw for 213 yards. The Bengals managed 106 passing yards.

Lacey had a career-best 233 yards rushing on only 14 carries. He now has 603 yards rushing and is the team’s leading scorer with 60 points on 10 touchdowns. Mike Roberts had five catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns in this game.

NOTES: The 49 points were the most scored by the Bengals since a 49-25 win over Youngstown Mooney in 2004, the last time Benedictine won a state playoff title.

Holy Name is one of Benedictine’s oldest rivals dating back to 1929. In that first year of football at Benedictine, Holy Name defeated the young team (not yet known as the Bengals) 24-0 to end an 0-3 inaugural season.

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By Wally Mieskoski ’71

Benedictine Football Historian

This Week in Benedictine Football History

Week 4

September 16, 1955

Benedictine 53, Holy Name 6

In the season opener, Benedictine used a big second quarter to run away from Holy Name, 53-6, in this Friday night game at John Adams Field.

After scoring on a 17-yard smash by senior back Ray Hudiak midway through the first quarter, Benedictine erupted for 28 second-quarter points to turn this game into a rout.

Hudiak scored two more touchdowns in the second on a 26-yard pass from senior quarterback Mel Smolik and then on a 41-yard run. Hudiak accounted for 23 points in this game with three touchdowns and five extra points.

Smolik also connected with end Chuck Reynolds with a 26-yard scoring pass in the second. The shifty quarterback surprised the Holy Name defense on an option play and ran past the secondary to score on a 53-yard run in the same quarter.

Benedictine held a 34-0 halftime lead.

Senior back Tom Rini reached the end zone from 60 yards to extend the Bengals lead.

A pair of sophomore backs, George Sefcik and Gary Hansley each scored a touchdown in the second half. Sefcik raced 60 yards for a score while Hansley plunged in from the three.

Newspaper reports ventured a guess that it was the worst loss in Holy Name history. It was also noted that Coach Augie Bossu used his reserves freely before halftime and the substitutes carried the offense for the remainder of the game.

It was the sixth straight win over the Green Wave by the Bengals in this series.

NOTES:

*Augie Bossu made his Benedictine head coaching debut in this game. He stepped down as head coach after the 1993 season as Ohio’s winningest football coach.

*Benedictine finished the season with a 9-0 record defeating St. Ignatius in the Charity Game at the Stadium in a 47-6 record-setting victory. It was the first year that the Charity Game was played on Thanksgiving morning.

*The Bengals averaged 35.3 points per game, a record that stood until the 1965 team averaged 38.0 points per game during a 9-1 season.

*For the first time, Benedictine wore white helmets with a single blue stripe from front to back. The Bengals have worn similar white helmets since then. Teams in the past had used blue helmets.

*A number of future Benedictine Hall of Famers played key roles in this game: Ray Hudiak, Tom Rini, Mel Smolik, George Sefcik, and Gary Hansley.

*Chuck Reynolds, a member of the Benedictine Hall of Honors, returned to Benedictine as a teacher in the 1960’s and later in the 1990’s to become the school principal.

*A number of Bengals in this game played major college football: Rini to Notre Dame, Reynolds to Purdue, George Sefcik to Notre Dame, and Hansley to Ohio State.

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Wally Mieskoski ’71

Benedictine Football Historian

Another thrilling win for Bengals

September 9, 2011

Benedictine 27, Bedford 19

For the third time this season, the Bengals staged a come-from-behind victory that gave them a 3-0 start.

The Bengals used big plays to secure the win, but it was a long time-consuming drive that put the team ahead to stay.

Not long after Bedford returned the second-half kick-off for a touchdown, the Bengals put together a seven-play, 79-yard drive with Bryan Lacey scoring from the 13 with 4:07 left in the third to give the Bengals the lead for good at 20-19.

Junior Marshall Howell added to an already impressive game by catching a 51-yard scoring pass from junior quarterback Dan Piascik with 5:46 left in the game adding some insurance points to make the final score 27-19.

Howell gave the Bengals a great start by returning the opening kick-off 87 yards to the Bedford two.

Lacey scored from the one to give the Bengals a 6-0 lead. The pass for the two-point conversion failed.

Bedford got on the scoreboard when Joe Beasley scored on a one-yard run early in the second. The point-after kick failed and the game was tied at 6-6.

Later in the second, Bedford took the lead when Terrick McKenney caught a 23-yard pass from quarterback Devin Davis. The conversion kick failed but the Bearcats led 12-6 with 5:37 left before halftime.

Benedictine took possession on its own 15 and took only one play to score. Lacey burst through the line and ran untouched 85 yards for the tying touchdown with 5:22 left. Freshman Toby Leahy’s kick gave the Bengals a 13-12 lead.

Benedictine coach Ben Malbasa felt that Lacey’s run was a turning point. “Lacey’s run gave us a big lift in the second quarter,” said Malbasa. “Taking the lead seemed to restore our confidence,” he added.

Lacey led the Bengals with three touchdowns and gained 173 yards rushing on 21 carries.

In addition to his long kick return, Howell added six pass receptions for 81 yards.

Benedictine trails in the all-time series 3-2. The series had started in 1934 and ended in 1937. The 74-year gap between games is the longest of any Benedictine opponent.

It was the first time that Benedictine was the visiting team at its own home field since the Bengals began playing at Bearcat Stadium in 1994. Bearcat Stadium is the home of Bedford High School.

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Wally Mieskoski ’71

Benedictine Football Historian

This Week in Benedictine Football History

Week 3

September 9, 1966

Benedictine 20, St. Edward 0

After a scoreless first half, Benedictine broke open a defensive struggle by making big plays on defense. Three St. Edward turnovers resulted in all three Benedictine touchdowns.
The ability to create and take advantage of turnovers helped the Bengals to a 20-0 win over the Eagles in a non-league season opener in front of a large crowd at St. Edward Field.
With about eight minutes left in the third, Bengals junior defensive back Tim Russ picked off a St. Edward pass at the 23 and ran 77 yards untouched for the first score of the game. Larry Zelina kicked the extra point to give the Bengals a 7-0 lead.
Five plays after regaining possession, St. Edward fumbled and the Bengals senior All-Scholastic linebacker Bob Mack recovered on the Eagles 30.
It took only one play for outstanding senior quarterback Jim Betts to find senior back Bill Rini for a 30-yard scoring pass. Zelina’s kick made it 14-0.
On the first play following the kick-off, St. Edward once again fumbled it back to the Bengals. Bob Mack was in the right spot at the right time and recovered the loose ball at the Eagles 26.
It took nine plays but the Bengals managed to put the ball into the end zone. Junior back Ray Sadd punched it over from three yards, but the extra point was missed.
Neither team crossed midfield until about four minutes remained in the second quarter.
For the game, Benedictine outrushed the Eagles 103-90. Bengals quarterback Jim Betts completed five passes for 64 yards while St. Edward completed only one pass in 10 attempts.
The Bengals had a 9-6 first down advantage.
Benedictine’s Larry Zelina sat out most of this game with a bruised shoulder that was injured in the previous week’s scrimmage. He was available for punting, kick-offs and conversions. He was put in for two rushing plays for short yardage. But Coach Augie Bossu saw that Zelina was still in pain and removed him from the game.
Zelina, an all-Ohio running back, later played a key role on Ohio State’s 1968 national championship team. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the sixth round in the 1971 NFL draft, but was one of the last cuts made by the team.
The 1966 Benedictine team went 9-1 with the only loss coming to Massillon, 20-6. The Bengals ran the table in the East Senate and then on Thanksgiving morning defeated South High 32-6 in the annual Charity Game in front of 35,327 fans at the old Cleveland Stadium.
That gave Benedictine its second straight and ninth overall Cleveland City Championship.


Wally Mieskoski ’71
Benedictine Football Historian

Benedictine Wins a Thriller over Akron Hoban

September 2, 2011

Benedictine 21, Akron Hoban 14

Bedford – The first North Coast League game for the Bengals turned out to be a very memorable victory.

It took a six-play, 79-yard scoring drive to get the winning touchdown with just 91 seconds left in the game.

Taking over at its own 21, Benedictine moved downfield in a hurry. On the first play from scrimmage, junior quarterback Dan Piascik hit Marshall Howell for a 46-yard gain to the Hoban 33.

Howell caught another pass at the Hoban 23. Two plays later, Howell reached the end zone on a 19-yard run to give the Bengals the lead with 1:31 left in the game.

Freshman Toby Leahy’s kick put the score at 21-14.

Benedictine scored first on its second drive of the game when the Bengals recovered a fumble at the Hoban 19. On the first play from scrimmage, senior back Bryan Lacey’s run gave the Bengals a 7-0 lead after Leahy’s kick.

It remained 7-0 at halftime.

In the third, Hoban’s junior quarterback Dominick Orsini scored on a one-yard run, but the extra point kick failed when the ball hit the cross bar of the goal post.

After leading most the game, the Bengals fell behind with 11:17 left in the game when Hoban scored on a 10-yard pass play and two-point conversion to take a 14-7 lead.

Following a fumble recovery by Mike Roberts on the Hoban 45, the Bengals needed 10 plays to reach the end zone. With 5:31 left, Richard Allen toughed his way to pay dirt from the four. Leahy kicked his second extra point to tie the game at 14-14.

Exactly four minutes later, the Bengals got their winning score.

Howell accounted for 150 yards in total offense as he caught seven passes for 111 yards and rushed three times for 39 yards. As a team, the Bengals gained 358 yards while holding Hoban to 229 yards.

Piascik completed 14 of 24 passes for 182 yards.

After playing an independent schedule for nearly 40 years, Benedictine earned its first league victory.

Benedictine accepted membership into the North Coast League in the spring of 2010 to begin play in the fall of 2011.

The last league game played by the Bengals was on November 19, 1971 when they defeated Holy Name 9-7 to win the Cleveland City Championship. The Bengals were the East Senate champs playing against the West Senate champs.

This victory also marked the eighth straight time Benedictine has defeated Akron Hoban dating back to 1992. The all-time series now stands at 11-4-0.

Wally Mieskoski ’71

Benedictine Football Historian