The North Royalton Bears will face off against the Padua Franciscan Bruins at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Last Friday, North Royalton had to suffer through a 46-13 loss at the hands of Nordonia. The Bears were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 32-7.
Despite the loss, North Royalton saw an underclassman step up: Rory Hannah rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown. Hannah was no stranger to the big play, taking off on a dash that went for 62 yards.
Meanwhile, while Padua Franciscan put up some points on Friday, the same can't be said for Elyria Catholic. Padua Franciscan put the hurt on Elyria Catholic with a sharp 21-0 win. Considering the Bruins have won three matchups by more than 20 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Roderick Love had an outrageously good game as he rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns, and also picked up 104 receiving yards. Nick Barker was another key player, rushing for 45 yards and a touchdown.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Padua Franciscan was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 234 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
North Royalton's defeat was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 1-4. As for Padua Franciscan, they now have a winning record of 3-2.
North Royalton came up short against Padua Franciscan in their previous meeting back in September of 2023, falling 27-20. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Love, who rushed for 254 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 8.5 yards per carry. Now that North Royalton knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
