WADSWORTH — Nicholas Cage has nothing on the Cop­ley Indians.

Wadsworth’s football team was coasting along in its Sub­urban League game with the Indians on Thursday. Just like that, the Grizzlies’ lead was gone in 59 seconds.

Wadsworth fullback Bret Baughman powers through Copley’s Jordan Moses (56) and Joe Connolly during the first quarter of the Indians’ 35-21 victory Thursday night. (GAZETTE PHOTO BY RON SCHWANE)

That Copley beat Wadsworth 35-21 to stay undefeated wasn’t a surprise.

What was a little shocking was the fact the Indians (7-0, 4-0) took a seven-point sec­ond- quarter deficit and turned it into a 21-7 advantage in less than a minute.

That showed just how quick Copley can score.

“That was pretty much a whirlwind,” Indians coach Ron Viscounte said. “I’m certainly glad to see that it was to our favor. It really put the momen­tum in favor of our kids. We were down and not playing to our potential, but that lifted us.”

Not that Wadsworth (2-5, 2-2) didn’t help in the matter.

Shawn Taylor (7 catches, 163 yards, 3 Tds) tied things up on a 15-yard strike at the 2:10 mark of the second quarter.

Two plays later, Isiah Wheeler intercepted a Nate Heideman pass and went 19 yards for the score. After a fum­ble recovery by C.J. Chatman on the ensuing kickoff, Lou Gigliotti (13-of-21, 217 yards, 3 TDs, INT) hooked up with Tay­lor again on a 45-yard scoring strike.

In the blink of an eye, what looked like a good old-fash­ioned slobber knocker turned into a good old-fashioned butt­ kicking.

FIPS – fumbles, intercep­tions and penalties – are enough to hurt any team. What it did to the Grizzlies was dev­astating.

While the penalties didn’t hurt – the Grizzles had just two for 20 yards – those 14 points off turnovers put Wadsworth in a hole it never could get out of.

“When you’re playing against an athletic team like Copley, you can’t turn the ball over,” Wadsworth coach Greg Dennison said.“We came back, but things like that are hard to overcome.”

For the Grizzlies, it was a night of horrors against the Indians. Save for a 68-yard run, Wadsworth was serviceable against the run.

The pass. Not so much.

Taylor and Gigliotti contin­ued to wreak havoc on the squad.

The Grizzlies gave up six pass plays of 15 yards or more as Taylor scored from 15, 68 and 44 yards.

So to say it wasn’t a good night for Anthony Pappas, Spencer Meyers, Jon Kuss and Chester Foth might be an understatement.

“They have so many weapons,” Dennison said. “They have speed everywhere. You can stop one area and they’ll get you in another area with their passing. It’s a credit to them.”

To add injury to insult, Hei­deman (1-of-6, 70 yards) went down with 6:42 remaining with an ankle injury. He will be eval­uated today. “He’ll get an X-ray,” Denni­son said. “It’s either a sprain or it is a broken ankle. We’ve faced adversity, but the kids keep playing hard.”

Martice Jackson had a solid night for the Grizzlies with 90 yards rushing on 20 carries and added a touchdown, while Bret Baughman added two scores and 39 yards on a 14-carry per­formance.

Notes

It might have been a day earlier than usual, but it was homecoming for Wadsworth.

Volleyball player Sarah White was named queen, while Angus Hartman was named king.

• Wadsworth kicker Ian Johnson had a busy night for the Grizzlies. The senior had an assist in a 2-0 win over Stow’s soccer team and kicked three extra points for the football team.

Contact Brad Bournival at sports@medina-gazette.com.