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10/20 - 7:00 PM Football Final Nordonia 18 North Royalton 28
NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio -- Senior running back Jake Francak had a big night on both sides of the ball, with 22 carries for 111 yards and four touchdowns, and 17 tackles on defense Friday, as North Royalton fought off a late rally by Nordonia to win, 28-18.
North Royalton came into Friday's matchup ranked 12th in Division II, Region 6, according to JoeEitel.com.
Jake Francak helped North Royalton jump out to a lead by rushing for two touchdowns in the first half. After Nordonia got on the board with a 33-yard field goal from sophomore Evan Wiehe, Francak added his third touchdown run with 5:55 left in the third quarter to increase the Bears' lead to 21-3.
However, Nordonia would not go down without a fight. Junior running back Nyles Beverly started the rally by rushing for a two-yard touchdown with 3:29 left in third quarter. The Knights would scored again on a flea-flicker from Robby Levak to Donny Wizniak, and converted the ensuing two-point try to cut their deficit to 21-18 with 7:40 left.
On North Royalton's ensuing possession, the Bears went for it four times on fourth down and converted each time, capping off the 17 play, 65-yard drive with Francak's fourth TD run with 24 seconds remaining in the ball game.
North Royalton senior running back Zack Antonio also contributed to the winning effort with 20 carries for 158 yards.
In a losing effort, Nordonia junior quarterback Robby Levak went 17-of-27 passing for 318 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He also had 12 rushes for 48 yards. Senior running back Tye Evans had five catches for 95 yards, senior Donny Wizniak had three catches for 104 yards and a touchdown, and junior running back Nyles Beverly had six carries for 25 yards and a touchdown.
North Royalton improves to 5-4 (3-3 Suburban American) and hosts Cuyahoga Falls on Oct. 27 to end the regular season. Nordonia drops to 2-7 (2-4 Surburban American) and travels to Twinsburg on Friday.
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