BEREA, Ohio – Senior quarterback Cole Norris set two school records on Friday night, leading Amherst to a 60-41 victory over Berea-Midpark.
According to Amherst head coach Tom Thome, Norris is now the all-time school leader in both completions and yardage. The dual-threat QB broke the school records with style, throwing for 347 yards and three touchdowns, while adding 90 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
“Cole Norris is phenomenal,” Thome said. “If you think Cole Norris is just going to beat you with his legs, he can still throw the ball.”
Amherst, ranked 21st in this week’s cleveland.com top 25, came into this game having lost their past three matchups with Berea-Midpark by over 40 points each time. This time they not only won, but they made a statement as they improved their season record to 5-0.
“You win with good players,” Thome said. “We don’t look at depth charts, we don’t look at stats, we don’t look at history. We show up to work every day and we get after it.”
Norris credited their 5-0 start to “the drive to never quit.”
Norris’ big night led to great games for many of the Comets’ receivers, as four different Amherst players topped 60 receiving yards, the leader being junior David Dudziak with 142.
“Everyone around me played a phenomenal game,” Norris said. “Blocking, doing their assignment, catching balls … everyone around me doing their job really helps me do mine.”
The game began with an action-packed first half, with both teams playing great football and making highlight reel plays.
Berea’s first score came on a 10-play, 71-yard drive which was capped off with a 5-yard touchdown run by senior back Jayvion Showers. However, the Titans were unable to convert on their two-point conversion attempt.
On their ensuing drive, the Comets answered quickly. On a third-and-12 from their own 18, quarterback Cole Norris found receiver David Dudziak on an inside post, who put on the jets and outran the cornerback and safety for an 82-yard touchdown.
On the last play of the first quarter, Norris rushed for a 2-yard touchdown, putting the Comets up 14-6. On the first play of the second quarter, the Titans muffed the kickoff, and on the ensuing play Norris launched a dime to receiver Luke Schreiber for a 29-yard score. It was the Comets’ second touchdown in nine total seconds of game play.
Despite outgaining the Comets by 40 yards offensively in the first half, the Titans went into halftime finding themselves down 27-20. This was largely due to turnovers, as both a muffed kickoff and an interception gave the Comets great field position, both of which led to touchdowns. This resulted in Norris throwing three first-half touchdowns, while only having five total pass completions.
In the second half, Norris took over the game.
The Comets clearly wanted the ball in his hands, and he delivered. No matter where on the field the Comets began their drive, Norris stayed poised in the pocket and steady on the ground game. He consistently found the open man and delivered his receivers near-perfect passes for long gains. His average pass completion was over 23 yards.
With the Titans down 14 in the fourth quarter and needing a third-down stop, Berea-Midpark sent the full house at Norris. However, Norris stayed calm in the face of the heavy pressure and threw a beauty off his back foot to Schreiber for a first-down conversion.
Norris said that, in those high-pressure situations, he just trusts in his guys.
“I know that J.R. [Bires] is going to step up, take a linebacker, and I know that the line’s going to pass protect and make sure that I’m safe back there in the pocket,” Norris said.
While Norris was the star of the game, Titans QB Danny Bowser had himself an impressive performance, throwing for 326 yards and three touchdowns. He routinely found sophomore receiver Nick Reece, who made multiple difficult catches amidst heavy coverage from the Comets. Reese finished with nine catches for 106 yards and a touchdown.
Despite the dominating victory, coach Thome delivered a motivating message regarding his Comets moving forward.
“We got to get better tomorrow. Every week’s a new task, every week’s a new team,” Thome said. “We got no favors, Avon Lake’s a tremendous team, and we got a long history with them. We got to get back to work.”
Next week, Berea-Midpark (1-4) goes on the road to take on Midview, while Amherst (5-0) returns home to face Avon Lake.
