The North Royalton Bears will square off against the Padua Franciscan Bruins at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Last Friday, North Royalton took a blow against Nordonia, falling 46-13. The Bears were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 32-7.
Despite the defeat, North Royalton saw an underclassman step up: Rory Hannah rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown. Hannah showed off some serious burst, turning on the afterburners on one carry for 62 yards.
Meanwhile, Padua Franciscan owes their defense a big pat on the back after their performance on Friday. They blew past Elyria Catholic 21-0. The result was nothing new for the Bruins, who have now won three matches by 21 points or more so far this season.
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 dropped their record down to 1-4 with the loss, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season. 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
