ROOTSTOWN, Ohio – Kirtland’s 42-7 victory over Rootstown on Friday night gave head coach Tiger LaVerde his 14th undefeated season and improved his overall record at Kirtland to 254-21.

Winning is nothing new at Kirtland, a program that is on a quest for its 14th state championship appearance in 15 years and its eighth state.

Also not new is having to string together wins without quarterback Jake LaVerde.

Jake, the coach’s son, sustained a broken arm in Week 6 last season and missed over a month, returning for the Hornets’ regional final win, on their way to a Division VI state title game.

This season has been a similar story, as LaVerde has been out since Week 7. With other injuries to the Hornets’ backup QBs, junior linebacker Mario Lorber has been thrown into the mix at quarterback

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