High school football: Midview comeback stopped in final minutes of loss to Berea-Midpark

EATON TWP. — Midview came back, just not all the way. The Middies drove down the field in the game's final minutes before a Cameron Cupach interception sealed Berea-Midpark's 28-24 win in Southwestern Conference action. It was Cupach's second interception of the game, but was set up by some late Middies' heroics. Leading 28-24, the Titans (1-3, 1-2 SWC) took possession on their own 32-yard line after a Midview punt with 10:34 remaining in the fourth quarter. Berea-Midpark used a 15-play drive to eat up most of the remaining time and set up for a 21-yard field goal with 3:17 left to play. The Middies (0-4, 0-4) burst through the line on the attempt with junior Nicholas Skolnicki blocking the kick. Midview then marched down the field, converting a pair of fourth downs in the process, moving to the Titans' 16-yard line with :25 showing on the clock. On second down, junior quarterback Ethan Surdock tried to find junior Bryce Newton in the left corner of the end zone, but Cupach was able to reach up and pull down the interception. "Unfortunately, we had great effort up until the end and just ran out of time," Midview coach Luke Beal said. "That was just a great football game. In a game like that nobody deserves to lose, but (Berea-Midpark) made some plays at key points. "The defense really did a great job in the second half. Then we blocked the field goal, we had some momentum and we had a pretty nice drive there. It would have been great for our kids to be able to finish that." The Middies defense in the second half kept them in the game. Berea-Midpark junior quarterback Luke Devins completed 14 of 19 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns in the first half. He ended the game 20-of-29 for 300 yards with three touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. "The defensive staff made some adjustments and I think the kids played harder in the second half," Beal said. "They had more confidence. We had a really good vibe at halftime. ... I don't think the kids even wanted a halftime. They wanted to get right back out." Senior defensive lineman Bryce Sanders said the Midview defense learned from its first-half mistakes. "Our coaches had a game plan and we started to execute what they had drawn up for us," he said. "That's what put us in that situation. We know the character we have on this team. We're going to pick our heads up and keep fighting." Newton, who caught seven passes for 105 yards and a touchdown, thinks there are better things on the horizon for Midview. "We never give up," Newton said. "The first three games didn't give us the outcome we wanted, but we've always had a next game mentality. Even in this game, when things didn't go our way we came right back. We had faith the entire game." Surdock finished the game 16-for-33 passing for 261 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Middies junior running back Matthew McMahon carried the ball 15 times for 81 yards and a touchdown. Devin Johnson caught six passes for 114 yards for Berea-Midpark while junior running back Aquan Bell rushed for 114 yards on 27 carries. Cupach caught two passes for 32 yards to go with his pair of interceptions. "Cameron had an awesome game," Titans coach Jon Hunek said. "He had a couple of big-time catches and really stepped up for us today. It was awesome to see. He worked his butt off in the offseason and it's nice to see those kinds of kids do well." Contact Mike Perry at 329-7135 or macsportstalk@gmail.com. Berea-Midpark 28, Midview 24Berea-Midpark 7 14 7 0 — 28Midview 3 14 7 0 — 24ScoringM — Kaiden Koch, 35 field goalB — Aquan Bell, 12 pass from Luke Devins (Luke Citovic kick)M — Bryce Newton, 40 pass from Ethan Surdock (Koch kick)B — Hudson Devins, 29 pass from Luke Devins (Citovic kick)B — Jack Arnold, 20 pass from Luke Devins (Citovic kick)M — Matthew McMahon, 6 run (Koch kick)M — Joey Bratkovich, 50 pass from Surdock (Koch kick)B — Bell, 13 run (Citovic kick)Team statistics B-M MFirst downs 21 22— by rushing 8 11— by passing 13 11— by penalty 0 0Yards rushing 146 148Yards passing 300 261Total offense 446 409Passes att./comp. 30/20 33/16Intercepted by 3 3Fumbles/lost 1/0 1/1Penalties/yards 4/30 3/35Individual statisticsRUSHING — (BM) Aquan Bell 27-114, DeAngelo Borders 1-22, Hudson Devins 3-10, Luke Devins 7-0. (M) Matthew McMahon 15-81, Ethan Surdock 8-27, Joey Bratkovich 4-27, Tim Henson 2-6, Mason Kucera 1-4, Tyler Smith 3-3.PASSING — (BM) Luke Devins 20-29-300-3-2; DeAngelo Borders 0-1-0-0-1. (M) Ethan Surdock 16-33-261-2-3.RECEIVING — (BM) Devin Johnson 6-114, Jack Arnold 6-74, DeAngelo Borders 4-68, Cameron Cupach 2-32, Hudson Devins 1-29, Aquan Bell 1-12. (M) Bryce Newton 7-105, Joey Bratkovich 4-93, Tyler Lewallen 4-42, Mason Kucera 1-16, Connor Awad 1-6.