TWINSBURG — An outstanding season for Villa Angela-St. Joseph came to a rainy end Nov. 21 at Twinsburg, as the Vikings ran into a buzzsaw in undefeated Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in the Division III Region 9 final.
VASJ fell behind in the first half, 21-0, and was never able to recover, falling to the Royals, 42-7. CVCA, champions of the North Coast Conference, will take on Toledo Central Catholic in a state semifinal Nov. 28.
Wesley Keeler ran for three touchdowns and returned a fumble for another for the Royals, who outgained VASJ, 397-146.
CVCA (12-0) earned a reputation throughout the season as a physical team with a stout defense, and both of those attributes were on display from the start.
“I tip my hat to them,” VASJ coach Jeff Rotsky said. “We knew this would be a battle of the trenches, and they won that battle. We didn’t run the ball well, and we didn’t stop the run.”
The Royals marched 65 yards on 12 plays on the game’s opening drive, mostly on runs from its wing-T offense behind a powerful offensive line. Keeler cashed in on a 2-yard run for a 7-0 lead.
After forcing a three-and-out, CVCA went 55 yards in five plays, scoring when QB Charley Levak kept the ball and ran around the left end for a 9-yard touchdown and 14-0 lead.
VASJ (10-2) pushed into Royals’ territory on its next possession, as QB Joe Efford connected twice with Savion Lewis for gains of 20 and 12 yards. But on fourth-and-7 at the CVCA 24, Efford was sacked for a 6-yard loss.
Things began going the Vikings’ way a little bit in the second quarter, as back-to-back holding penalties pushed the Royals back to a second-and-28 at their own 12.
But Levak arced a perfect pass down the sideline to Brayden Harris, who caught the ball in stride for a 52-yard gain. Two plays later, CVCA was in the end zone again on a 5-yard run by Keeler that made it 21-0.
VASJ came to life after that, as Efford launched a deep ball that was caught by Ardell Chatman for a gain of 59 to the CVCA 5-yard line.
Although a personal foul penalty would push the Vikings back to the 19, Efford again was able to connect with Chatman, this time in the end zone to get VASJ on the board, trailing, 21-7.
After an exchange of punts, CVCA took over at its own 20 with 1:05 to go before halftime. In six plays, the Royals advanced the ball to the VASJ 38 with 19 seconds left. A Levak pass to the end zone was broken up by VASJ’s Ronnie Taylor, with 4 seconds to go.
On the last play of the half, a Levak pass was tipped by a VASJ defender, but the ball went right to CVCA’s DonGino Bickley, who was the trailing receiver on the play, and he took it in for a touchdown and a 28-7 Royals lead.
Keeler added two more touchdowns for CVCA in the second half, as the rain that started before halftime picked up in intensity. Keeler, a senior, returned a fumble for a touchdown deep in VASJ territory in the third quarter, and added another score on a short run early in the fourth.
Levak passed for 111 yards and ran for 119, eluding VASJ defenders with his speed on QB draws and scrambles. Joey Kopec rushed for 83 yards, and Keeler only ran for 29 but also had the three touchdown runs. CVCA finished with 286 yards rushing, while holding VASJ to 20 yards on the ground, including yardage from five sacks.
@cvcafootball Coach Nick Cook talks about the Royals’ 42-7 win over VASJ in the D3R9 Regional Final, and CVCA’s first appearance in the state semifinals next week against Toledo Central Catholic pic.twitter.com/NsFX14QdJP
— Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) November 22, 2025
“It’s unbelievable, man,” CVCA coach Nick Cook said. “We always say, when you’re playing for something bigger, and it’s what takes place on the football field. This football team, man, our whole school, we play the game in the name of Jesus Christ.
“This also for (assistant) Coach Muklewicz. We’re going into the fifth round of the playoffs, and he’s on his seventh round of (chemotherapy).”
Efford, a senior, passed for 126 yards and the touchdown to Chatman, who finished with three receptions for 84 yards. Lewis added 35 yards on three catches.
VASJ rebounded from a Week 2 loss to Cardinal Mooney with nine consecutive victories, including a 69-32 thrashing of Maple Heights and 32-0 blanking of top seed Canfield in the postseason.
“Our kids play with a lot of character and a lot of toughness, and we’ll be heard from again, I can tell you that,” Rotsky said. “This one is going to be hard to swallow because of the way it went down. I didn’t expect this at all, but then again I didn’t expect what we did against Canfield, either.
“I love my big guys, but we got beat in the trenches, both sides of the ball. You can’t win a football game like that against a team like this.”
VASJ will have a lot returning next year, as only 10 seniors will graduate from a 71-player roster, which isn’t even counting the freshman team.
“They’re unbelievable kids,” Rotsky said of his seniors. “What a kid like (three-year starter) Savion Lewis has done for our program is irreplaceable. It’s just such a special group. Ardell Chatman, Savey, and Geter, and McCall, these guys have been with us for four years, when we were trying to turn this (program) around and come back from the dead.
“I’m blessed to have them in my life, and I pray to God I’ll have them for as long as the Lord allows me to be on this planet.”
THE SCORE
CVCA 42, VASJ 7
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.news-herald.com ’
