The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Heart-thumper
Higley’s 26-yard pass to Gill, defensive scores lift Midview past Lorain in wild back-and-forth affair
Midview might look a whole lot different, but the Middies proved they haven’t missed a beat, traveling to Lorain and beating the Titans, 37-34, on Aug. 25. thanks to some big plays late in the game and a little old-fashioned, physical defense.
Trailing, 26-14, at halftime,
Midview coach D.J. Shaw said his staff made a few minor adjustments but put it all on his team to go out and make plays. And sure enough, that’s exactly what they did.
After giving up a fourth-down interception in the red zone, Midview pinned Lorain on the Titans own two-yard line before Trevor Begin yanked Daylin Dower down in the end zone for the safety. With seemingly everything going the Middies’ way, Lorain didn’t back down.
The Titans recovered the ensuing kick and answered with a
61-yard touchdown from Justin Sturgill to Tyshawn Lighty to take a 34-30 lead with less than three minutes to play.
Needing one of those big plays Shaw talked about at halftime, senior quarterback Seamus Higley marched his team 85 yards, including a 26-yard gamewinning touchdown to Zac Gill with 1:05 to go.
“The line game me tons of time and Gill just got open,” Higley said. “We ran that play a couple times earlier in the game and we didn’t hit it one time.”
Lorain had just under a minute with the ball at its own 41-yard line, but couldn’t solve the Midview defense as time expired and Sturgill’s final pass sailed out the back of the end zone.
“I thought we played pretty good football and, you know, boy the momentum switched on us and things went bad real quick,” Lorain coach Dave McFarland said. “Our kids didn’t quit, they just kept fighting. Tyshawn Lighty made a wonderful play there to give us the lead. You know, it’s two good football teams and (Midview) made a play at the end.
“D.J. (Shaw) did a great job, his staff, he certainly outcoached me. I don’t have a lot of answers right now, but they put 37 points on us and that’s a lot of points.”
Lorain (0-1) got some stellar performances out of its underclassmen as sophomore Daylin Dower finished with 112 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, while fellow sophomore Savon Chavis 51 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
Sturgill was 13-of-25 with 255 yards and three touchdowns.
Higley finished 21-of37 with 253 yards and two touchdowns and added 14 yards and a touchdown on the ground for Midview (10).
“Seamus, he’s a senior and he’s been around the program,” Shaw said. “He’s a leader. We had full confidence in him going into this game . ... I told him ... I said, ‘Hey, we’re going to need you to win this game. We need to you win this game.’ He looked me in the eye and said, ‘I got it coach.’ ... We were prepared going into this game knowing it was going to be a close game. Last three years it’s been three points or less so it was going to be a dog fight.”
Lorain hosts John F. Kennedy next week while Midview plays its home opener against North Ridgeville (0-1).