Panthers capitalize on errors

The Elyria Catholic Panthers picked up their first win of the season on Aug. 25, as they beat the Brookside Cardinals, 35-7, at home.

The Panthers, who beat the Cardinals last year on the road, 44-0, got off to a slow start offensively early in the first quarter, missing a 32-yard field on their opening series.

Brookside would then have an eight-play drive that lasted all the way into Elyria Catholic’s 40-yard line until they were forced to punt after Panthers linebacker Leighton Banjoff sacked quarterback Jonathan Hice.

Elyria Catholic on the 12-yard line would then hand the ball off to Banjoff on their very next play for an 88-yard touchdown run, giving the Panthers a 7-0 lead after a made extra point.

“I wanna give a little

bit of credit to the offensive line,” said Elyria Catholic coach Dave Stupka. “That was a play that we’ve worked hard on all week. Cameron (Engrish) worked hard with all of the tailbacks, and our line did a great job in terms of opening a hole, and Leighton took advantage of it.”

The Cardinals would then go three and out on their very next series on offense, however, Elyria Catholic would capitalize again on the ground in their very next series, this time handing the ball off to junior running back Gavan Hrobat for a 2-yard touchdown rush, taking a 15-0 lead after a successful two-point conversion.

In the start of the second quarter, Elyria Catholic defensive back David Griffin intercepted a pass on the 29-yard line.

“David really had a nice game today,” Stupka said. “He had a key interception and played very well for us defensively and just really did a good job”

Banjoff followed with a 20-yard touchdown run, making it, 22-0 after a successful extra point.

Brookside continued to struggle, this time fumbling.

“Unfortunately, this was kind of the same pattern from last year,” said Brookside coach Paul Ferguson. “The first quarter would be a tight game and then you could see that our guys are going both ways that they were starting to get a little tired. This is something we have to push through and those kids are used to it. We’ve been working on our conditioning and grinding through.”

“EC is a tough opener. I don’t think they’ve had a losing record in 10 years. We knew it was going to be a challenge, but I thought our guys stepped up to the plate.”

Meanwhile, making their first varsity start at quarterback for the Panthers was Cameron Engrish, who passed for 125 yards in the first half. Late in the second quarter Engrish connected with senior wide receiver Donovan Warfield for a 36yard touchdown.

“We thought he played well,” Stupka said. “Obviously when we look at the pictures we’ll look at the areas that we need to improve on. I’ve been taught in this game of football that the biggest opportunities that you have to improve upon is from week one to week two, so that’s really what we’re going to be focusing on”

Despite giving up 28 points in the first half, the Cardinals in the second half limited the Panthers to just one touchdown, which came from sophomore running back Chris Jackson on a 27-yard run.

The Cardinals scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, as Hice connected with senior wide receiver David Chambers on a 20-yard touchdown pass.