High school football: Brookside Cardinals outlast Oberlin Phoenix

OBERLIN — Brookside's Kenny Grobolsek and Oberlin's Andre Yarber have been two of the top athletes in the Lorain County League for most of their high school careers. Friday they put on one final show for the fans at Oberlin College. Grobolsek ran for 203 yards and a touchdown, and threw for two more scores to help the Cardinals build a 28-point fourth quarter lead only to see Yarber lead the Phoenix to three touchdowns in the final 5:01 in a frantic, but eventually futile comeback attempt, as Brookside held on for a 40-32 win. Grobolsek connected with Ryan Scott and Ben Montgomery on first half touchdown passes at Brookside (4-5, 3-4) built a 24-12 halftime lead. In the second half, Grobolsek broke off five runs of 12 or more yards as the Cardinals built what appeared at the time to be an insurmountable lead. "It feels good having a big game, especially in the final game of my senior season," Grobolsek said. "It's going to be hard to walk away from this sport but college is the next level and that's what I'm preparing for now." "We've been struggling with our passing game and a little bit with our running game and tonight it finally came together," Grobolsek said. Trailing 28 points in the fourth quarter, Oberlin (2-8, 1-6) could have easily turned its thoughts to the offseason but instead the Phoenix fought back. After a fourth down stop near midfield, Oberlin took over, trailing 40-20, and quickly marched down field, cutting the lead 40-26 on 5-yard Yarber run with 2:23 to play. The Phoenix then recovered the onside kick and scored again 24 second later when Yarber hit Jonathan Frazier with a 30-yard touchdown pass that pulled Oberlin within a touchdown at 40-32. Oberlin recovered a second onside and Yarber quickly moved the Phoenix into the shadow of the Brookside goal line only to see the drive stall on the 8 as a fourth down pass intended for Isaac Thompson in the corner of the end zone fell to the ground as Thompson appeared to be pushed away from the path of the ball. "We just kept playing," Oberlin coach Mike Akers said. "All night things just weren't going our way. Every time we made a play there was a penalty. I'm proud of the kids, they fought hard tonight." After going through a stretch where they were held to six or fewer points in four of the first five LCL games, the Phoenix recovered to score 87 points in their final two games. Yarber, a Division VI all-Ohio selection in 2020, was 19-of-34 for 315 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 90 yards and two scores and intercepted a pass on defense. Penalties were the story of much of the games as the teams were penalized for a total of 236 yards and big plays for both sides were nullified by flags on the field. Senior running back Karson Nail had a big night for the Cardinals with 87 yards on 16 carries, including a 9-yard touchdown run, as well as three 2-point conversions. Frazier, who began the night trailing Black River's Tyler Mrakuzic by two yards in the race to be the top receiver in the LCL, caught eight balls for a 131 yards. Contact Todd Shapiro at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.