H.S. Football Opening Night: Brookside blanked by University School

SHEFFIELD VILLAGE — Ben Malbasa's return to Lorain County is one Scott O'Donnell and the Brookside Cardinals would just as soon forget. Malbasa, who coached at Elyria Catholic from 2007-10, winning 31 games and losing only 12, brought his senior-laden and talented University School Preppers to this side of Northeast Ohio to open the season. University, a Division II school that finished 5-6 a year ago, shut out the Cardinals 42-0 on Thursday at Dick Sevits Stadium behind three touchdown runs by senior Aaron Kim and two touchdown passes from senior Carson Panteck. It was Brookside's first loss on opening night in three years. The Cardinals, a Division IV program, were 3-7 a year ago. "I would expect us to have a level of preparation," Malbasa said of his veteran group. "Credit to (the Cardinals), they were very well-prepared at the beginning of the game. I thought it was a great sign that we managed to overcome a couple of things they showed. For the most part we played clean outside of one really hard to figure out stretch in the second quarter. Proud of our team and it's always great to be in Lorain County and get a win." Offensively, Brookside showed some promise. It was able to move the ball for most of the first half, but a couple of holding penalties kept it from threatening. Mason Waechter, the junior quarterback, showed a nice arm and another junior, tailback Trevor Kitzberger, showed grit on the ground. It just proved to be not enough. The Preppers managed to pile up 20 first downs, 11 on the ground and eight more through the air, in sustaining drives. They outgained Brookside 422-130 for the night. "Offensively, we did move the ball but obviously the goal is to put the ball in the end zone," said O'Donnell. "You have to cross that goal line and we have to figure that out. We're skilled and athletic on offense but ultimately you've got to put the ball in the end zone. "On defense, we had a couple long third downs that we couldn't get off the field. Defensively, you've got to stop them and it starts with the run. (University) ran at will." Kim piled up 124 of his 177 yards on the ground in the first half. His first touchdown came on a fourth-and-3 from the Brookside 17, where he broke a couple of tackles at the line of scrimmage and broke free for the score. Panteck, on University's next possession, found Cameron Ryan open on a slant for a 26-yard score to push the lead to 15-0 with 2:28 left in the first quarter. Brookside drove its next possession from its 29 all the way to University's 28, but a holding penalty eventually snuffed out the drive on the 38-yard line. Waechter finished with 104 yards passing. Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.