H.S. Football: Amherst loses for first time as comeback falls short

BEREA — Amherst had the chance to stay perfect. A play here, a play there and the Comets would still be undefeated. Instead, the biggest moments went against them Friday in a 20-14 loss to Berea-Midpark in a Southwestern Conference opener at Baldwin Wallace's Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium. Both teams are 3-1. The Comets, doomed by critical mistakes, trailed 20-0 late in the third quarter before Anthony Passerrello threw two touchdown passes to give them a chance in the fourth quarter. They had the ball twice with a shot to take the lead but couldn't sustain a drive. "We battled the whole time," coach Tom Thome said. "We played six sophomores today, we're battling some injuries and those kids played for 48 minutes. That's all I can ask for." The first important play the Comets failed to make came on the game's first possession. On fourth-and-goal from the 2, Passerrello was denied on a sneak. Amherst later had a touchdown negated by a penalty for an ineligible man downfield. On the same drive, a 20-yard field goal was blocked. "That was big," Thome said of the would-be touchdown. "We just didn't execute. We need to execute and we need to finish drives." Then on the Titans' first touchdown, Sam Tollett was in position for an interception in the end zone, but the ball went off his hands and to Nick Reece for a 3-yard score with 16 seconds left in the half. The Titans stretched the lead to 20-0 with a 39-yard run by Xaviere Harden and a 62-yard pass from Dylan Papushak to Andre Alexander. The Comets missed tackles on both and were bothered by the Titans' speed throughout the game. "They've got some great athletes, absolutely," Thome said. "We missed some tackles, we didn't execute at times." The Comets had scored 136 points through three games, capitalizing on turnovers. They lacked explosive plays Friday until a 48-yard touchdown pass from Passerrello to Coleman with 6:01 left made it 20-14. Passerrello's first touchdown was a 12-yarder to Christian Vorhees on the last play of the third quarter. It came after a Tollett interception. The Titans were led by Papushak, who threw for 298 yards. He made several plays after avoiding pressure in the pocket. Harden rushed for 148 yards, and Reece caught seven passes for 104 yards. Coleman led the Comets with seven catches for 108 yards. Contact Scott Petrak at (440) 329-7253 or spetrak@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @scottpetrak on X. Berea-Midpark 20, Amherst 14 Amherst 0 0 7 7 — 14 Berea-Midpark 0 6 14 0 — 20 Scoring BM — Nick Reece, 3 pass from Dylan Papushak (kick failed) BM — Xaviere Harden, 39 run (pass failed) BM — Andre Alexander, 62 pass from Papushak (Papushak pass to Reece) A — Christian Vorhees, 12 pass from Anthony Passerrello (Jack Coleman kick) A — Coleman, 48 pass from Passerrello (Coleman kick)