The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
PATRIOTIC START
Pirates’ kicker Mack Massad hits 47-yard field goal as time expires
Amherst cheerleaders raise the American flag prior to their team’s Week 5 game Sept. 17. The Comets fell to Midview, 45-7. High school football coverage begins
Having already missed a potential go-ahead 42-yard field goal with less than 4:30 remaining in the fourth quarter, junior Mack Massad was asked to make another one from 47 yards for the last play of the game with Rocky River trailing Elyria Catholic, 20-18.
A forced turnover by the Pirate defense set up a gamewinning drive that concluded with a game-winning field goal by Massad to walkoff with a 21-20 win over the Panthers to spoil their homecoming.
“They gave me an opportunity
at first and I missed it,” Massad said after the game.
“(The team) kept me hopeful. They told me I was all good. They set me up perfectly for the final kick and it was awesome.”
This win marks the first Great Lakes Conference win for the Pirates with a 3-2 record (1-2 in GLC)
It also marked the first close game that the Pirates won this season after their 1-point loss to Valley Forge and last minute loss to Lakewood.
“We had three weeks in a row, (we were) in the same situation..,” Pirates’ coach Josh Wells said.
“We finally had the resiliency. Things didn’t go our way , but missed a field goal, had a forced fumble and recovered it. Those groups of kids are unbelievable, they are unbelievable and I am so proud of them. Awesome ending to a game.”
Originally, coach Wells wanted to attempt a 50yard field goal, but a big catch from Will Hanzel put Massad in a better position to win the game.
With Elyria Catholic (32, 1-1 in GLC) trying to run out the clock, Rocky River forced a fumble on Panthers’ running back Tavion Thomas and was recovered by Sophomore Owen Kleckner, who also had an interception earlier in the game.
“Those kids battled, Wells said.
“They could have quit. They could have pointed fingers, but no, they don’t do that. They just rally around each other and you see the result of it.”
Elyria Catholic had the lead the entire night until the final whistle blew.
“We didn’t do our job tonight,” Panthers’ coach Brian Fox said.
“There was a lack of focus in some ways. There was a lack of trust in others. But, there were a lot of things where we are going to go on film and see we are not doing… It’s going to be one of those things that makes this a really good learning opportunity.
Running back Levi Ellis rushed for 174 yards with three touchdowns on the night to go with an interception on defense.
“(Ellis) is an absolute stud,” Fox said.
“He can carry a program. I can trust him to do anything. He is one of those kids where you tell him to do it the first time, he’s going to do it the best you’ve ever seen.”
Good field position in the first half, resulted in touchdowns by Ellis. The first from 13 yards and the second from 12 yards to give the Panthers a 14-3 lead with 6:00 left in the second quarter after the first quarter was scoreless.
Following Ellis’ second touchdown. Pirates’ quarterback Braedon Spies connected with Stan Heuler to enter halftime trailing 1411.
Spies threw an interception to Ellis to start the second half, which was followed by his third touchdown of the game from the goaline.
Before the third quarter ended, Spies rushed in a touchdown from 19 yards to trail 20-18
Both teams have GLC opponents on the road as the Panthers take on Fairview and the Pirates take on Bay Village.