Brookside hopes its comeback will be greater than the setback.
The Cardinals’ season got off to a tough start as they suffered a 42-0 defeat to University School on Aug. 21.
It was a frustrating night on both sides of the ball as Brookside (0-1) was held to 151 yards of offense and University rushed for 271 yards. Prepper senior running back Aaron Kim outgained the Cardinals himself with 182 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries.
“They’re good. I coached against (University coach Ben Malbasa) at the last school I was at,” Brookside coach Scott O’Donnell said. “Are they 42 points better than us? I don’t know – probably not. But that’s what it was tonight so we got to figure out how to get better. There’s only one way to go and it’s up. That’s what we have to do now.”
Malbasa, a former head coach at Elyria Catholic, had a Lorain County homecoming to remember. His Preppers followed suit and made themselves at home early.
After forcing a three-and-out to start the game, the University offense went to work. Kim capped off a 12-play, 81-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown run on fourth down. The senior carried the ball on eight of the 12 plays. Nico Morelli added a successful two-point conversion run.
“It’s great. It’s all up to the o-line. They really drive me – they make the holes and I just hit them,” Kim said. “I just do my part and they do theirs. … These guys really support me. We really just work well together and it’s a great environment.”
While it’s clear the Preppers will lean on their rushing attack, they are anything but one-dimensional. The passing game also got going as senior quarterback Carson Panteck completed 15-of-18 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with Cameron Ryan on both scores, who had a big night in his own right with five catches for 117 yards.
University extended the lead to 15-0 after one quarter as Panteck found Ryan for a 26-yard touchdown. Back to the run game, Kim scored his second touchdown to give the Preppers a 22-point cushion at halftime.
On the flip side, Brookside was able to move the ball across midfield twice with promising drives in the first half only for penalties to put a stop to them. The Cardinals only ran one play inside of University’s 30-yard line.
Action from the University-Brookside football game, Aug. 21, 2025. (Randy Meyers – For The Morning Journal)
“We had a couple third downs that we were long-play situations that they made,” O’Donnell said. “They made plays and got first downs instead of us getting off the field. You never know if you make those stops instead of them scoring touchdowns.”
Most of University’s passes weren’t deep shots down the field until Panteck’s 56-yard touchdown strike to Ryan in the third quarter. Less than two minutes later, Kim broke off a big run of his own for a 41-yard score to start the running clock.
Freshman Kasey Mathews got in on the fun with a 41-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“We’re a senior-laden team. I would expect us to have a level of preparation,” University coach Ben Malbasa said. “Credit to (Brookside), they were very well-prepared at the beginning of the game. I thought it was a great sign we managed to overcome a couple of different things they showed and get better. For the most part we played clean outside of one hard to figure out stretch in the second quarter. I’m proud of our team and it’s always great to be in Lorain County and get a win.”
Brookside quarterback Mason Waechter finished 12-of-31 passing for 116 yards. Alex Arra had two catches for 44 yards and Trevor Kitzberger rushed for 29 yards.
The Cardinals look to flip the script on Aug. 29 when they host Woodridge.
Originally Published: August 21, 2025 at 5:11 PM EDT