Hudson scores 28 unanswered points to defeat Nordonia, 28-14
MACEDONIA, Ohio – Ian Ludewig scored three touchdowns in the second half and Hudson went home with a 28-14 road win over Nordonia.
Hudson (7-0, 4-0 Suburban League) scored the final 28 points in the game after Nordonia took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.
“We really hit that stride in the second half and got it going,” Ludewig said.
With Nordonia (5-2, 2-2) holding the 14-0 lead in the second quarter, Hudson defensive back Jack Jenkins caught a deflected pass from Nordonia quarterback Joey Palinkas for an interception. It was the second straight turnover for the Hudson defense.
The Explorers took advantage of the Jenkins interception when quarterback Jaggar Pallay plunged in from one yard out for Hudson’s first score with just 14 seconds left in the half.
On that drive, the Explorers faced a 3rd-and-22 from their own 44. Pallay rolled to his right and kept the play alive long enough for wide receiver Gio DePompei to work his way open. Pallay fired and DePompei caught the ball for the first down. That play is the one Ludewig looks at as the one that flipped the script for Hudson.
“That one play where Jagger rolled out of the pocket and threw to Gio and he made that catch,” Ludewig said. “I think it really got the juice going.”
Hudson then took over in the second half, forcing a punt on the first possession. On the ensuing possession, Ludewig tied the game with an 11-yard touchdown run.
The Explorers again intercepted Palinkas on the last play of the third quarter when Gio DePompei stepped in front of a pass and picked it off, returning it to the Nordonia 8-yard-line.
Ludewig turned that into seven more Hudson points on a touchdown run from seven yards out.
“How about our defense to get those timely interceptions,” Gough said. “Gio returning the one to the 8, that’s just huge.”
And then after another defensive stop, Hudson bled the clock for more than more than seven minutes and iced the game on a 9-yard score by Ludewig. He carried the ball on 13 of the 14 plays in the drive.
“We were able to drive the ball downfield with our favorite temp, which is slow – it’s our sugar tempo,” Gough said. “We were able to chew (time) off the clock. That’s huge.”
Ludewig finished the game with 38 carries for 214 yards and the three scores. He did most of his damage in the second half when the Explorers started getting more physical up front and wearing down the Nordonia defense.
“Our mindset changed that second half,” Ludewig said. “We started really getting physical with those blocks and up front our line just did amazing.”
The game was a contrast to the meeting between the two teams a year ago, where Nordonia scored in the final minute of the game for a comeback win after Hudson led throughout the night. Gough showed his team that game again this week just to remind them of what happened.
“What I am most proud about is we weren’t able to finish last year against them, we were able to finish this year,” Gough said. “We talked about that all offseason. We watched it two different times, including this past Tuesday. I really think it set the tone for the week.”
Hudson returns home to host North Royalton next week, while Nordonia travels to Stow to take on the Bulldogs.
Photo Gallery (photos by Mike Cook)
