The Nordonia Knights were supposed to be the Bulldogs biggest competition that they had to play thus far. Well, it was up until the final six minutes of the fourth quarter where the Bulldogs pulled away to win the game 65-37 Friday night.

It was a crazy game, and at point the Knights cut the lead to 38-30 in the fourth quarter, but at the end of the night the Bulldogs took better care of the football and leaned on their running attack to move the ball.

The Bulldogs improved to 5-0 while the Knights dropped to 2-3 on the season.

Senior running back Jayson Gobble had a huge night. Rushing for 253 yards on 34 carries, Gobble also added five rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown.

The receiving touchdown was on a trick play where junior Logan Lindsay ended up throwing it to Jayson for a 43-yard score. Gobble took a handoff and pitched it back to Lindsay for the easy touchdown; this gave Stow huge momentum very early in the game.

“I was indifferent when the trick play was called,” Gobble said. “I just saw it as a chance to get yards and we took advantage of the opportunity.”

At halftime the score was 24-7 but it felt all but over. The average fan would know the Knights would not fold over. On their first possession in the second half the Knights were driving. This was until the Bulldogs forced one of the three turnovers they created when senior Monte Board recovered a fumble on the Bulldog 27 yard line, ending the Knights momentum.

Junior quarterback Kyle Vantrease had a solid game himself. Vantrease rushed for two touchdowns, including a savvy 18-yard rush that really deflated to the Knights.

On the following drive sophomore Joe Gobble put the final bite in the game with a 63- yard pick-six.

Stow’s next game is on Oct. 2, when the Twinsburg Tigers come into town.

“We knew from the Wadsworth game and one it would only get tougher,” Senior Owen Fankhauser said, “We will get everyone’s best shot, and we wouldn’t want it any other way.”

By Grace Flinn

     High school game of the week returns as panelists from the Cleveland Browns High School Football Show nominate four games to be game of  the week where fans can vote for their school to win. The Bulldogs were chosen to be apart of the voting poll for this week’s game against Wadsworth.

     High School football fans from all over Ohio vote online for the game of the week match up. The winning team receives benefits from the Cleveland Browns program including $2,000 for their high school football program. After the game the selected MVP of the game and the winning coach will be featured on the field during a Cleveland Browns home game at FirstEnergy Stadium.

     There will be an additional coverage of the game of the week, including a video recap on clevelandbrowns.com and a one­ hour program on Sept. 19, by ESPN 850 WGNR Radio Station. The video recap will include the full­ length game and the radio spot will include interviews and analysis from other high school football games.

    Stow vs. Wadsworth is one of  four games chosen as the nominees for game of the week. The other games include: Avon vs. Midview, Firelands vs. Clearview, and Bay vs. Holy Name. Polls. All polls were open during the week for students and fans to support their high school team. To be chosen as one of the nominees is a big accomplishment for any football program. Among the chosen teams are highly ­ranked football organizations from all over northern Ohio.

    The voting poll was taken on clevelandbrowns.com and fans were sharing the link across social media to help get more votes for their school. The polls ended  Sept. 1, and the voted game of the week was Bay vs. Holy name. The winning team of this game on Sept. 18, will receive $2,000, and the winning coach and MVP of the game will be featured at a Cleveland Browns home game.

When two bulldogs square off under the lights of Bulldog Stadium, the top dog will always prove victorious, sending the puppy home, whimpering with its tail between its legs.

This held true on the night of Aug. 28, as the local Bulldogs opened their regular season at home against the Green Bulldogs.

After the kickoff, Stow’s defense contained the offense of Green, forcing them to punt early. From there it was Stow’s offense that took complete control of the first half. With 7:51 left to go in the first, it was a 14-yard end zone run from senior Jayson Gobble, followed by the completed extra point of senior Garrett Rigby that put Stow on top 7-0. While these were the only points of the first quarter by the either team, nothing could prepare Green for the eruption by Stow’s offense in the subsequent quarter.

Right from the gate, junior quarterback Kyle Vantrease connected with junior Logan Lindsay for a 48-yard touchdown. No sooner than five minutes later did Gobble find himself in the end zone again followed by Vantrease targeting Lindsay from 12 yards to put Stow up 28-0.

An obvious improvement in accuracy and confidence was noted from Vantrease, and it’s no fluke. His summer was spent working on his game.

“I went to 10 camps this year, 6 on a bus tour. Just being able to throw at a different tempo makes a huge difference,” Vantrease said.

Things looked grim for the Green Bulldogs. A glimmer of hope was found mid-second quarter as they punched in a one-yard touchdown to put the team on the scoreboard. Senior Nick Bovard took it into his hands to make sure they were put right back into their place.  The ensuing kickoff resulted in Bovard returning it 90 yards for a touchdown pulling Stow’s lead to 35-7. The closing minutes of the half gave Gobble his third touchdown of the night on a 27-yard run. Stow held a strong 41-7 lead going into halftime.

The second half brought Green two touchdowns, but much more would be needed to crawl out of the deficit they fell into. A huge 88-yard run from Gobble resulted in a 2-yard push from Vantrease to finish the third quarter up 48-14 in favor of Stow.

Stow wrapped up the fourth quarter, going on to win the game 48-21. Gobble finished his night with 195 rushing yards and three touchdowns, followed by Vantrease with one rushing touchdown and two throwing. Lindsay finished the night with two receiving touchdowns along with one touchdown from Bovard.

Though it was a strong night for the Bulldogs, Vantrease sees there’s a lot to improve on. “I think tonight could have been better. We had two turnovers and a lot of mental mistakes. The offensive line is doing well though. The way coach Norri prepares them so well it just comes natural,” Vantrease said.

Stow made the switch from the Federal League to the Suburban League this year and are certainly in the minds of the upcoming teams on their schedule.

Lindsay said, “We looked great tonight. We’re going to do big things this season.”