The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Amherst thorough in win
It’s awfully important to have momentum on your side in a football game.
Midview learned that the hard way in its 43-21 loss to Southwestern Conference opponent Amherst on its home turf.
The momentum swung between the Middies and Comets several times, but no single swing was as important as Amherst’s last one before halftime, an interception that led to a 30yard touchdown heave from quarterback Tyler Brezina to Ty Weatherspoon that put the Comets up 10 heading into the break.
Weatherspoon put up an impressive first half statline, gathering six catches for 160 yards and the touchdown.
“Today we were just trying to spread the ball out a little more, because last week we couldn’t with all the rain,” Weatherspoon said. “We wanted to make sure we could prove to the conference that we have a passing game and not just a running game. And I think we did that today.”
For the second straight week, Amherst’s defense shut down the opposing offense, limiting the Middies to 14 offensive points. Contributions from seniors Alden Steele and Lavell Gibson gave the Midview running game fits.
“It was a team win,” Amherst coach Mike Passerrello said. “Offense, defense and special teams. We didn’t come out to play, and Midview gave us fits in that first half. We needed to find a way to respond, and we did.”
Steele added two special teams touchdowns to his final line as well, taking a kickoff 99 yards in the first quarter and a punt 51 yards in the fourth.
“He’s a huge weapon,” Passerrello said. “It doesn’t matter where you put him, the other team is going to have to account for him.”
The first of the returners’ scores came after the Middies took their first lead of the game, on a strip sack. The first of many backbreaking miscues by a young Midview team, led by a new head coach.
“I think that was probably the big story. There were key situations where we were getting ourselves into the game, and it could have gone either way,” Coach Luke Beal said. “But their guys made plays, and ours didn’t. We didn’t rise to the challenge when we had opportunities.”
Midview retook the lead shortly after the Amherst kickoff return on a twoyard toss from junior quarterback Ethan Surdock to tight end Preston Botos.
But a Brezina touchdown throw to Casey Hamrick from 12-yards out in the second quarter put the Comets up for good.
Now 2-0, Amherst moves on to a meeting with BereaMidpark on Sept. 11, before an important conference test against Avon Lake on Sept. 18.
Midview faces those Shoremen in its next game Sept. 11, as it looks to find its footing in the roughand-tumble SWC under Beal.
“We’re going to get better, but it doesn’t get any easier,” Beal said. “It’s a great football conference, and we’re going to have to slug it out week after week. There are still a lot of things that we have to work on.”