The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Middies open season with victory
It was a tale of two halves for the Midview Middies, as they kicked off the season topping the Elyria Pioneers at home, 36-22.
Midview, who had 90 yards of total offense in the first half compared to Elyria’s 220 yards, responded in the second half with 29 unanswered points.
“They hung in there, but it was our defense that kept us in the game,” Midview head coach DJ Shaw said. “That game could have gotten blown wide open, but
our defense held strong in the first half and they held strong in the second half.”
The Middies, who before the 2018 season were accustomed to making the playoffs routinely, struggled last year, finishing, 2-8, making it their first losing season since 2010.
“It’s tough as a coach coming off a 2-8 season,” Shaw said. “You know some of your guys are thinking that it’s 22-7 and here we go again, but they didn’t do that. Our defense held strong and our offense kept believing in what we were doing, and we eventually found some success and our guys made plays.”
One of the biggest playmakers for Midview was junior wide receiver Joseph Bratkovich, who caught two touchdown passes from sophomore quarterback Justin Shepherd.
“I don’t know,” Bratkovich said. “I ran my route, and I knew I had him beat and I was counting on Ethan for a good throw and he delivered, and we made things happen.”
Shepherd, who entered the week unsure if he would even be the starter for the Middies, debuted well, going 16-of-28 with 213 yards passing and three touchdowns and one interception.
“We got into a rhythm everywhere,” Shepherd said. “Our defense saved us, but then they (Elyria) gave us time for our offense to make some plays and my offensive line gave me time and my receivers I trust them with everything and I threw it up to Joey (Bratkovich) and he gave us the momentum to win that game.”
As for Elyria, they appeared to have control of the game early on, striking first on offense when senior running back Adaveon Drummer found the endzone on a 10-yard run with 5:52 left in the first quarter, giving them a 6-0 lead despite a missed extra point.
After surrendering a touchdown to Midview half-way through the second quarter, the Pioneers responded again with another score, this time from a 48-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Daylan Sharlow to junior running back Jaheim Atkinson, for a 14-7 lead going into half time.
“The first half let me know that we have a pretty good football team,” Elyria head coach Devlin Culliver said. “We just have to keep putting it together, but the worry now is the past. They’re all thinking that it’s the same as before and that’s why I was telling them that there is no magic potion to make you a good football team, you just have to be patient at it and keep working.”
Elyria, who has only won one football game in the past two seasons, had several opportunities to add to their lead, but due to several mistakes, could not hold onto their 20-6 lead they had late in the third quarter.
“We had a lot of opportunities, but we left some plays on the field,” Culliver said. “What happened was we had them on the ropes, but like any good heavyweight fight, if you don’t knock them out, they’re gonna start swinging back and get some confidence and that’s what they did.”
With the win, the Middies improved to 1-0 and will travel to Avon Lake next week for the opening of South Western Conference play, while the Pioneers, who dropped to 0-1 take on Bedford at home.