High school football: Vermilion snaps 10-game skid vs. rival Firelands

HENRIETTA TWP. — The losing streak is over. After falling behind by two points in the third quarter, Vermilion scored 21 unanswered to end a 10-game losing streak to Firelands with a 42-23 win to capture the Stillman Cup that gets passed between the schools in every matchup. The Falcons simply had no answer for the Sailors running game, which churned out an amazing 448 yards. Junior Evan Kuhns did most of the damage with 275 yards and three touchdowns on just 22 carries. Senior quarterback Aaron Mathis added 128 yards with two scores, and Cohen Mooney picked up 45 yards with a touchdown. "We came in and I trusted my guys up front to do what we do best, run the ball," said Kuhns, who has five touchdowns in Vermilion's 2-0 start. The Falcons' Andrew Pawlak started the game with a 97-yard kickoff return for a score, but the momentum was snatched right back by Kuhns, who went 76 yards on the Sailors' first play from scrimmage for a tie at 7 just 30 seconds into the game. "That's possibly the worst way to start a football game," Sailors coach Bill DiFucci said. "The boys bend and don't break mentally, they faced adversity and responded." The scoring kept up in the first when Firelands' Liam Tobicash hit Ayden Fortner with a 10-yard pass, and the Sailors answered on the final play of the quarter as Mathis scored from 15 yards on fourth down to go up 14-13. Both teams scored once in the second when Firelands' Pawlak raced 52 yards for a 20-14 lead with 5:11 left and the Sailors answered once again when Mathis picked up his second score, this one from 23 yards to carry a 21-20 lead into halftime. "This means so much to not only the football team, but for the school and the community," Mathis said. "This was just a big jump for us." Merritt Davis added a 36-yard field goal for the Falcons to take their last lead of the night at 23-21. Kuhns ran for 47 yards of a 76-yard drive and scored from 6 yards with 5:35 left in the third. It looked like the Falcons were going to snag the lead back with a 20-play drive down to the 2. But the Vermilion defense threw Collin Scott for a 2-yard loss to take the ball away. Vermilion needed only eight plays to put away the game, going 96 yards with Kuhns finishing it off with a 35-yard touchdown for a 35-23 lead. "That's probably the most physical Vermilion team I have seen," said Falcons coach Ryan O'Rourke. "That's one of those momentum changers getting stopped and they go the length of the field to score." Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com.