H.S. Football Playoffs: Firelands shakes off horrible start to rally past Rossford

HENRIETTA TWP. — Spotting a team 21 points is never a good thing come playoff time, but Firelands found a way to recover and beat Rossford 34-30 in a wild Division IV, Region 14 playoff opener Friday night. "The whole time I just felt like we were making mistakes," Falcons coach Ryan O'Rourke said after a nightmare first quarter in which Rossford jumped in front 21-0. "We weren't doing what we were capable of. I knew there was more in us. I didn't know there was that second quarter — 27 points in the quarter — but it's a testament to our kids." Firelands (7-4), making its sixth playoff appearance, will play at No. 2 Shelby (10-0) on Friday. Rossford finished 5-6. It couldn't have started any worse for the Falcons. Rossford stopped Firelands on a three-and-out and quickly threw a haymaker — a 66-yard touchdown toss from Jackson Drusback to a wide-open Jayden Martens. Another three-and-out and a blocked punt by Carter Matthews had the Bulldogs at the Falcons 8-yard line, and they scored again three plays later to make it 14-0 with 6:10 to play in the first quarter. Rossford made it 21-0 with 1:19 left after another defensive stop and a seven-play, 74-yard drive in which it overcame two penalties and converted two third downs. Thank goodness the quarter ended, seeming to breathe fresh life into the Falcons. Quarterback Liam Tobicash and tight end Brett Beury have become Firelands' version of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, and the two quickly changed the tide. "We did everything wrong in the second quarter," said Rossford coach Todd Drusback, Jackson's father. "Jeez-oh-pete, it was the polar opposite, wasn't it? We won the first, they dominated the second. We adjusted a couple things and I thought we played pretty good in the third quarter. They made some plays on third down. Hats off to them." "I'm so proud of them," said O'Roarke. "I told them, win of lose, my opinion of them is so high for how hard they fight in any circumstance. Liam and Brett making those connections in some critical third-down situations. Once we got the tempo going on offense, we got control." Tobicash, a senior, found Beury, a junior, on slant routes and Beury did the rest, bowling over people on his way to four touchdowns and 115 yards of offense. He came in with 929 yards and 14 touchdowns and he'll enter next week's game with well over 1,000 yards and 18 scores. "The comeback was so awesome," said Beury. "I am so stoked that we were able to come back. Being down three scores, everyone had their head down, but after we scored the first one, the energy was just awesome." On Rossford's next series, Firelands forced a fumble with Alejandro Flores recovering on the 3. Two plays later Tobicash found Beury open on a swing route to the corner of the end zone to trim the lead to 21-14. Tobicash threw for 231 yards to push his season total to 2,250 with 28 touchdowns and only six interceptions. His 3-yard touchdown run with 2:23 left gave Firelands the winning score. "No matter what, I just look at my teammates and figure we're always in this game," Tobicash said. "I believe in my teammates no matter what. Brett's a phenomenal guy, a great pass catcher. He finds space where no one else is and you get him the ball and he takes it where he wants." Firelands led 27-21 at the half, but Rossford bounced back in the third quarter to tie the game and eventually took the lead on a 25-yard field goal from Colton Hoskins. But the Falcons defense made the plays it needed down the stretch to keep the Bulldogs fenced in. "I think the adversity we faced, everyone's mindset coming into halftime," Tobicash said. "Facing a little more adversity when (Rossford) scored two straight and being able to score to seal it off. It's what you dream of, you look forward to it." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Firelands 34, Rossford 30 Rossford&emsp;21&emsp;0&emsp;6&emsp;3&emsp;—&emsp;30 Firelands&emsp;0&emsp;27&emsp;0&emsp;7&emsp;—&emsp;34 R — Jayden Martens, 66 pass from Jackson Drusback (Colton Hoskins kick) R — Drusback, 1 run (Hoskins kick) R — Hoskins, 14 run (Hoskins kick) F — Brett Beury, 25 pass from Liam Tobicash (Landon Becker kick) F — Beury, 3 pass from Tobicash (Becker kick) F — Beury, 18 pass from Tobicash (Becker kick) F — Beury, 15 pass from Tobicash (kick blocked) R — Hoskins, 21 run (kick failed) R — Hoskins, 25 field goalF — Tobicash, 3 run (Becker kick)