Akron East visits Nordonia in a Week 2 high school football game Friday, Aug. 29.
Nordonia hosted and defeated St. Vincent-St. Mary 42-0 last week after making a Division II, Region 5 semifinal appearance last season.
East topped host Bedford 20-6 last week after being a Division III, Region 9 playoff participant last season.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Boliantz Stadium. Check back here for updates throughout the game.
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Nordonia leads East 32-0 at halftime in a OHSAA football game
Nordonia leads East 32-0 at the halftime.
East blocks Nordonia field goal attempt in second quarter against Nordonia
East’s Terrell Wharton blocks a Nordonia 38-yard field goal attempt with 2:03 to go in the second quarter.
Nordonia leads East 32-0 in second quarter of OHSAA football game
Riley Edgehouse makes a 44-yard field goal to give Nordonia a 32-0 lead over East with 5:14 to go in the second quarter.
Nordonia leads East 29-0 at the end of the first quarter in a OHSAA football game
Nordonia leads East 29-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Nordonia takes 29-0 lead over East in first quarter of OHSAA football game
Nordonia takes a 29-0 lead over East with 5:29 to go in the first quarter as Steven Fakult throws a 71-yard touchdown to Dominick Jackson and Riley Edgehouse kicks the PAT.
Nordonia takes 22-0 lead over East in first quarter of OHSAA football game
Nordonia takes a 22-0 lead over East with 5:29 to go in the first quarter as Steven Fakult throws a 29-yard touchdown to Grant Kaminski and Riley Edgehouse kicks the PAT.
Nordonia takes 15-0 lead over East in first quarter of OHSAA football game
Nordonia takes a 15-0 lead over East with 8:00 to go in the first quarter as Grant Kaminski falls on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown and Fakult converts a two-point conversion run.
Kaminski fell on the ball after East had an errant span on a punt attempt.
Nordonia takes 7-0 lead over East in first quarter of OHSAA football game
Nordonia takes a 7-0 lead over East with 9:09 to go in the first quarter as Steven Fakult runs for a 1-yard touchdown and Riley Edgehouse kicks the PAT.
The drive included 28-yard pass by Fakult to Karsen Fisher.
Emmanuel Jefferson scored two touchdowns to lead the visiting Dragons (1-0) to a 20-6 win over the Bearcats.
Jefferson caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Marlin Engram Jr. and also ran for a 38-yard TD. Engram also completed a 50-yard TD pass Terrell Wharton Jr. and Lamine Soumah made two PATs.
“Marcus Henderson II was dominant all night long with four tackles and two tackles for loss,” East coach Marques Hayes said. “[Middle] linebacker Jon Jeffries led the way with seven tackles, Lavance Bratton added six tackles and one sack, and Lawrence Cherry Jr. had five tackles. Tarrell Robinson recovered a fumble and ran the ball for 20 yards.
“… I thought this was a gritty win. It wasn’t the cleanest game [with penalties and execution of plays], but we made some plays to count when we needed them to count.”
Engram completed 8 of 20 passes for 107 yards and also ran for 69 yards on eight carries. Jefferson finished with 61 all-purpose yards.
Terrell Wharton Jr. has more than a dozen Division I college scholarship offers, including from Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Indiana, Bowling Green, Miami, Akron, Toledo, Kent State and Kentucky. Wharton totaled 32 tackles and 16 pass breakups on defense and 10 receptions for 288 yards and three touchdowns on offense last season. … Donte Swain Jr. has offers from Bowling Green, Kent State, Albany and Youngstown State. Swain totaled 43 receptions for 617 yards and five TDs on offense and 27 tackles, nine pass breakups, one interception and one TD on defense. … “They bring pure explosiveness and experience to the field,” Hayes said of Wharton and Swain. “People call Terrell the long, smooth one at DB and Donte is the more twitchy and explosive one, especially with him being a kid that ran a 10.7 [seconds in the 100 meters] hand time in track this year. That kid can fly. They are both natural football players on both sides of the ball.” … Darshawn Spragling Jr. had 65 pancake blocks last season and has offers from Toledo, Kent State and Eastern Kentucky. … Marcus Henderson II has committed to Youngstown State. Henderson had 38 tackles (10 for loss) and four sacks last season. … Marlin Engram Jr. has offers from Division II and NAIA colleges. Engram completed 82 of 136 passes for 1,516 yards, 15 TDs and five interceptions. … “Marlin has such a feel for what we are doing offensively and where we are trying to head with our plan that every time we go out to a practice and every time we go to a seven-on-seven, you can just the see the command that he has,” Hayes said.
East welcomes three transfers: junior DB-RB Lawrence Cherry Jr. from Archbishop Hoban, junior WR-TE-DB Terrel Karim Jr. from Ellet and senior DB-WR-QB Anthony Felding from St. Vincent-St. Mary. All three bring starting experience. … Cherry is 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds. … Karim is 6-3 and 195 pounds and has an offer from Kent State. Karim played in 10 games last season and totaled 29 receptions, 423 yards, three touchdowns and 28 tackles (nine solo and seven for loss). … Felding is 5-10 and 170 pounds. … “We have our heads to the ground and are trying to get better,” Hayes said. “We have a couple of new faces that are integrating fine throughout this summer.”
- Aug. 22 | East 20, Bedford 6
- Aug. 29 at Nordonia
- Sept. 5 at Canton South
- Sept. 12 at Archbishop Hoban
- Sept. 19 at University School, 5 p.m.
- Sept. 26 at Ellet
- Oct. 4 vs. North (at Ellet), noon
- Oct. 11 vs. Firestone (at Ellet), noon
- Oct. 18 at Buchtel, noon
- Oct. 24 vs. Garfield (at Ellet)
- Home games in all CAPS. All games at 7 p.m., unless noted.
Ohio high school football video, East’s Marques Hayes on season
Coach Marques Hayes talks about his East Dragons during the Akron Public Schools City Series Football Media Day on Tuesday, July 29, 2025.
Nordonia dominated STVM on both sides of the ball in a Week 1 42-0 rout.
Quarterback Steven Fakult and wide receiver Dominick Jackson were among the new starters who shined for Nordonia. The duo combined for the game’s first touchdown on an 18-yard slant route midway through the first quarter, but were only getting started.
Jackson picked off STVM quarterback Will Adamson midway through the first quarter, then jumped on a fumble in the second quarter, both of which led to touchdowns.
Fakult had a solid first start, going 8-of 28 passing for 127 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 45 yards and a touchdown. Connor Whapham ran for a TD, Karsen Fisher caught a TD pass, Jamison Elerick returned an interception for a TD and RJ Jefferson recovered a fumble.
“They played extremely hard,” Nordonia coach Jeff Fox said. “They were physical. I was proud that we did the most important things and we learned a lot from this first Friday night.”
Nordonia’s Riley Edgehouse went 2-of-4 on field goals, including a career-long 49-yarder in the third quarter.
Coach Jeff Fox reflects on Nordonia football Week 1 victory over St. Vincent-St. Mary
Nordonia coach Jeff Fox saw the Knights open the season with a 42-0 win over St. Vincent-St. Mary. He gives his thoughts after the victory.
The right side of the offensive line looks strong with Luke Williams and Gavin Kanar back. They’ll be counted on quite a bit to bring the three new faces up to speed in Nordonia’s run-heavy offense. … The offense rushed for 238.8 yards per game and passed for 89.8 yards. … “We need to have the newcomers grow up and gel with Luke and Gavin and develop some depth,” Fox said. “That way the offensive line unit can be able to do big things the entire year.” … Collin Atha brings 10 catches and 188 yards back at wide receiver. With RJ Jefferson moving mainly to defense and the transfer of Sam Collins to Twinsburg, it will be up to Atha to get the passing game moving.
Pretty much everything as the Knights were arguably the Greater Akron program hit hardest by graduation. … That’s not to say there isn’t optimism as Steven Fakult comes in with arguably the biggest hype around a quarterback in Nordonia history. Fakult threw for 1,748 yards and 25 touchdowns in 34 quarters last season on junior varsity. He’ll need to mature quickly with All-Ohio quarterback Ben Chesser gone to graduation. … “As you see him throw, you see how talented he is,” Fox said. “It’s only been in practice, but I’ve been impressed with his toughness, leadership and smarts in picking things up. I’m excited to see him become a complete quarterback.” … Connor Whapham returns in the backfield and will be the head of a running-back-by-committee look. Whapham played at running back as a sophomore but wasn’t needed last season with Rocco DeLorenzo rushing for 1,037 yard and 12 touchdowns in 2024 as a senior. … “Connor Whapham played every snap on defense last year. We preach the marriage of the offensive line and running back. Connor recognize the zones really well and is a really tough, low to the ground kid.”
Dominick Jackson reacts to Nordonia football’s week one rout of STVM
Nordonia’s Dominick Jackson scored a touchdown and forced two turnovers in Week 1 vs. STVM. He gives his thoughts on the Knights win.
- Aug. 22 | Nordonia 42, St. Vincent-St. Mary 0
- Aug. 29 AKRON EAST
- Sept. 5 at Mayfield
- Sept. 12 at Brecksville
- Sept. 19 SOLON
- Sept. 26 at North Roylaton
- Oct. 3 at Twinsburg
- Oct. 10 WADSWORTH
- Oct. 17 at Hudson
- Oct. 24 STOW
- Home games in all CAPS. All games at 7 p.m., unless noted.
Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ. Brad Bournival and Michael Leonard contributed to this article.
