by Palmyra Township, Ohio – The Southeast Pirates defeated Rootstown, 14-7, to improve to 5-0 on the season for the first time since 2011.
After an opening three-and-out, Southeast drove down the field to the red zone, but an Isaac DiTirro sack thwarted the drive.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Pirates struck gold in the second.
Senior quarterback Aidan Fischer took it on fourth and goal to give Southeast a 7-0 lead.
After a Rootstown punt, the Pirates would score again, when Fischer found Jaidyn Sapp for a five-yard touchdown reception. Sapp had 19 carries for 101 yards.
The Southeast defense came up big time and time again, stopping the Rootstown offense from gaining any momentum in the first half.
In the third quarter, the Rootstown defense came up with impressive stops of their own. Senior defensive lineman Jaggar Kokochak recovered a fumble, and the Rovers took advantage.
They would cap off their touchdown drive later in the third quarter when Cody Coontz scored a four-yard touchdown run. This score cut the Southeast lead to 14-7 with 4:54 left in the third quarter. Coontz had 14 carries for 72 yards on the night.
The fourth quarter belonged to the defenses. Rootstown came up with another stop to get the ball back, but could do nothing with it, punting the ball away.
Southeast drained the clock with runs by seniors Jaidyn Sapp and Aiden Fischer. They would punt the ball with a couple minutes left, giving Rootstown one more chance.
On fourth down and in the shadow of their goal line, Rootstown quarterback Brandan Nicholas dropped back to pass.
His throw was intercepted by Southeast senior Xavier Cowles, clinching the game for the Pirates.
“It was an awesome night and an awesome atmosphere. Credit to our kids, they executed in the face of adversity.” said Southeast head coach Pat Youel. “Our kids got the job done. We did a great job defending in the secondary. I’m proud of our kids.”
“Defensively, we did a great job holding them, and making them grind out long drives, but they were able to sustain them.” said Rootstown head coach Chris Knopick. “The biggest thing was offensively, we have to put more points on the board. They had a great game plan, and locked us down on the outside. Self inflicted wounds and penalties usually don’t turn out well.” he added.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Southeast senior QB Aiden Fischer
The senior signal-caller had 25 carries for 139 yards and a touchdown run, and threw a touchdown pass Friday night as well. He also had a few tackles on defense as well.
Rootstown (3-2) travels to St. Thomas Aquinas to continue Portage Trail conference play.
Southeast (5-0) travels to Windham for a non-conference showdown next Friday night.
Check out the highlights below:
https://youtu.be/MbXRSv0QD7Q
sounds like it was a classic high school game. and a they are the best! great article