The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
CHARLESTON IS BACK IN CHARGE
Gilmour back returns from injury, rushes for 307 yards, three touchdowns in victory
As Gilmour coach Chris Kosiorek emerged from a celebratory visitors’ locker room at Euclid’s Sparky DiBiasio Stadium on Oct. 14, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief. “We needed that,” he said. Kosiorek and his Lancers were in a mood to celebrate after snapping a three-game losing skid in a dominant 31-14 nonconference win over host VASJ.
Junior running back C.J. Charleston, in his first game back from an injury, led the way with a brilliant offensive performance. Charleston rushed for 307 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries, as the Lancers pounded the ball on the ground right at and around the Vikings all night.
Gilmour ran the ball on 49 of its 55 offensive plays in improving to 5-3 and remaining in the playoff hunt in Division V, Region 17. The Lancers will travel to Lutheran East on Oct. 21.
“We missed him,” Kosiorek said of Charleston. “He’s been out for a while. He’s talented, and he’s done a fantastic job. We talk about it all the time, about our offensive line.
Those guys got after it tonight. Well, I take that back. They’ve been doing a good job all season, but tonight we were able to put points on the board, which is great.”
Gilmour scored the first four times it had the ball, as Charleston scored all three of his touchdowns in the first half, and Vinny Catanese added a 31-yard field goal.
VASJ (3-5) moved the chains behind quarterback Delanoe Harris, who passed for 202 yards and rushed for 76. The Vikings reached the end zone just twice, though, both in the first half, as Harris ran 6 yards for a first-quarter score, and threw a perfect pass over a defender to an open Chris Boykin for a 56-yard scoring play in the second.
The night belonged to Charleston, though, who had runs of 63, 50 and 37 yards, as well as a 31-yard reception from quarterback Jack Krebs to start the game.
“By far the best game (that I’ve had),” Charleston said. “I missed six games after the first week because I tore my LCL. I just had to come back and make up for what I missed. Tonight we played for four quarters.”
Gilmour scored on its first drive of the third quarter to wrap up the scoring. Krebs scored on a 1-yard QB keeper to cap an eight-play, 70-yard drive, but Charleston carried on six of those eight plays for 68 yards.
Kosiorek was proud of his team’s ability to battle through the adversity of the three-game skid, and for its success in the power run game and playing solid defense.
“It starts up front with our offensive and defensive lines,” he said. “They’ve been doing a great job, and a lot of them are threeyear
starters. Jack Krebs leads the offense, C.J. had a great game, as did Mario (Grk). Defensively, we held a team that was scoring a lot of points to 14 points. Us putting 31 points on the board was huge, because that puts the pressure on their offense, and maybe makes them do things they don’t want to do.”
VASJ had some success moving the ball, but after its two first-half scores never really threatened the end zone. The Vikings turned the ball over on downs at the Lancer 30 in the second quarter and at the 29 in the third, and never got any closer than that. VASJ’s biggest issue, though, was its inability to stop the power running attack of the Lancers, and Charleston in particular.
“They lined up into some tight formations, and they mashed on us a little bit,” VASJ first-year coach Bill Sowers said, “I thought Coach (Marty) Gibbons did a great job of trying to get us adjusted. Give (Gilmour) credit — they’re a good football team.”
Nathaniel Dean caught three passes for 75 yards, and Boykin had two receptions for 78 yards for the Vikings, who will host Warren JFK next Oct. 20.
VASJ fought to the final whistle despite being down by 17 throughout the second half. The Vikings kept Gilmour out of the end zone on a firstand-goal situation from the 1-yard line late in the game, and then Harris drove them quickly downfield before a fumble after a completed pass at the Gilmour 23 gave the ball back to the Lancers.
“It’s part of the culture that we’re trying to build here,” Sowers said regarding VASJ’s late defensive stand. “I’m not sure if that would have happened earlier in the year, so that was obviously great to see. Now the issue is, we’re (going into) Week 9, so we’ve got to find a way to put some wins under our belt.”