The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Elyria Catholic beats Anna, 42-35
After sitting most of game, QB Engrish leads game-winning drive
It was a game of highs and lows, luckily for the Elyria Catholic Panthers they ended the game on a high, topping the Anna Rockets at home, 42-35, and advancing to a Division V, Region 18 semifinal against Genoa Area on Nov. 10.
After taking a, 34-27, lead
with five minutes left to play, the Panthers looked poised to end the game with ease, but Anna slowly moved the ball downfield.
The Rockets, who entered the matchup with an 8-2 record in the regular season like Elyria Catholic, found the end zone when running back Riley Huelskamp found receiver Jeffrey Richards on a 30-yard touchdown pass, taking a 35-34 lead after a successful two-point conversion with 45 seconds left in the game.
“You know, it’s wild,” Elyria Catholic coach Brian Fox said. “You think you have to perfectly timed timeout and you know what they had planned, and they came out and had another great play ready. It’s a testament to them, but you saw guys out on that last drive who really hadn’t played most of that drive, and we had guys coming in cold, completely trusting the offense.”
Elyria Catholic in their final drive started on Anna’s 40-yard line.
But senior quarterback Cameron Engrish drove down the field, finding sophomore receiver Jaret Frantz in the air twice for big first downs, with the last one being a 26-yard pass all the way down to the one-yard line with seconds left in the game.
“I feel like we put in all that preparation for just one play,” Engrish said. “When it pays off like that it’s worth it. I can do a 100 hours worth of work, but for that one or two plays it’s worth it and it’s really all thanks to my line. They give me plenty of time to throw and Jaret went up and made two crazy plays.”
Meanwhile, with seconds ticking off the board, senior running back Leighton Banjoff found the end zone on a one-yard run, giving the Panthers a 42-35 lead after a successful twopoint conversion play.
Engrish, whose lategame heroics set up the game-winning drive, was pretty much non-existent the entire game, as he sat out quarters two and three and only made one pass in the first quarter, but he finished the game having completed four passes for 85-yards and a touchdown.
“Cam is about a fine character kid as you can expect,” Fox said. “I don’t know of many people who can handle going from starting quarterback, two-thousandyard passer, all these great accolades he’s gonna get, and then tell him he’s not going to play three-quarters of the game. He took it in stride and he was there for the defense.”
Leading the way on offense for most of the night was Banjoff, who rushed for 226 yards on 35 carries and four touchdowns, while also throwing a 70-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Nathan Damron for Elyria Catholics first score of the night.
“It was a little muddy here,” Banjoff said. “Our pass game wasn’t working for those first two drives, and then coach decided to bring out ‘The Juggernaut’ and we just pushed it down their throats, and we knew they were a running team, but we showed them that we’re a running team too.”
Despite giving up a total of 396 yards of total offense, the Panthers made big plays on defense when they had to, including a key interception made by senior defensive back David Griffin in the middle of the fourth quarter, which set up a touchdown drive several plays later for Elyria Catholic.
“They’re an incredible group,” Fox said about Elyria Catholic’s defense. “That team came out and they had a great game plan. That quarterback is a special player and the running back was incredible. They came out and they fought, and we gave up some big plays and they were just ready and well coached, but I can’t say enough about the defense. They came out and they kept fighting.”