The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Elyria Catholic, Clearview look to continue runs
The Clippers hope to show that they have learned from their postseason loss to Clear Fork last year, while the Panthers want to keep the fun rolling for Coach Brian Fox against Genoa Area.
If there’s one thing Panthers coach Brian Fox is not ready for, it’s for the season to be over.
“I just keep saying, ‘I’m not ready for them to be done. I’m not ready for it to be over,’” he said. “Just having one more week with these guys is unbelievable.”
To say the Huron High School and Baldwin Wallace graduate is enjoying his first year with Elyria Catholic would be an understatement.
This time last year, the Panthers were coming off their first losing season since 2004 and searching for their third head coach since 2011. On Nov. 10, they’ll be playing topseeded Genoa Area (11-0) in a Division V, Region 18 semifinal.
“We’re super excited and the feeling is amazing,” senior running back Leighton Banjoff said. “Being able to survive another week and just play the game that I know everyone loves, it’s truly an honor. We’re having fun. We’ve had fun all season.”
Winning helps, and the Panthers have done a lot of that in 2018.
Elyria Catholic finished the regular season on a five-game win streak to advance to its first postseason since 2010. A 42-35 win over Anna in the quarterfinals gave the Panthers their ninth win of the season, tripling their win total from last season.
Not only did they have to learn a completely new system offensively and defensively, they had to learn how to win again.
With Fox at the helm, they’re learning just that.
“They are extremely talented,” he said. “They worked their tail off in the weight room and it was just one of those things where I couldn’t wrap my head around why they weren’t winning more beforehand. I always knew they could definitely do it, but when it finally does happen it’s surreal. It’s an unbelievable experience.”
It’s one that isn’t being taken for granted either.
“That was a huge thing that we were talking about all Week 11,” senior quarterback Cameron Engrish said. “We just wanted to be the best team that we could possibly be and just try to have another week with each other because, especially being a senior, we’ve got to really value this time and appreciate it because it can go away really fast.”
Engrish, who sat out most of the quarterfinal game because weather and field conditions were not allowing the Panthers’ passing game to execute, orchestrated a late fourth-quarter drive that led to the game-winning touchdown.
“The most impressive thing about that was him up until that point,” Fox said. “It’s a very select few of kids who can get pulled out of a game because the
conditions are just not allowing us to execute, put it in someone else’s hands, and he handled it like a leader. He was there, he was supportive, he came out to every huddle, he was cheering the defense, he was making noise, he was excited … There was no letdown.
“You can’t have what he did without how he handled us basically turning the game over to the offensive line beforehand.”
Elyria Catholic was in a similar situation three weeks prior, when Engrish capped off a long drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Jaret Frantz in the final seconds to hand Bay its first loss of the season.
Trailing, 35-34, with 45 seconds left against Anna, Engrish didn’t panic.
“I knew that we had been through that before at Bay Village,” he said. “With 45 seconds left, I feel like our offense can score on any play, so I was just telling the guys to relax, we’re good, and I was really confident that we were going to win that game no matter what.”
Banjoff, who rushed 35 times for 258 yards and four touchdowns — including the game-winner — wasn’t worried either.
“Having that last drive, I could tell you that I had no worries whatsoever,” Banjoff said. “With 45 seconds left, I looked over to the sideline and nobody was really freaking out. I think everybody had a sense that we were going to go down and win, and three plays later we punched it in for a touchdown. Just having that confidence I think was key and being able to go on to the next one is great.”
And being able to have a “slugfest” with one of the top teams in the state is what Fox described as “unbelievable and huge for our confidence.”
“No coach ever wants a close game, but the things you learn and what you find in yourself from those games is a lesson of utmost importance and completely necessary,” Fox said. “I’ve been a part of teams where we were in close games and we blew it because we didn’t know how to handle it.”
So far the Panthers have shown they can and, after a down year in 2017, are learning how to win again.