by Week 5 of Friday Night Lights saw a clash between the Cleveland Central Catholic Ironmen (3-1) and the Holy Name Green Wave (3-1) from North Royalton High School.
The first quarter showcased athletic defensive line play from both teams, as neither cracked the scoreboard on their opening drives. The biggest takeaway from the opening ten minutes was the injury to CCC QB #3 Damond Brown, who would not return for the rest of the half.
Following a second drive three-and-out led by WR #1 Messiah Jordan as the QB, the Ironmen had a punt tipped by the Green Wave special teamers, leading to a 26-yard field goal to work with.
The Green Wave took immediate advantage of the field position as QB #14 Connor Jamison found his WR #18 Eso Gonzalez for a 15-yard touchdown connection. Cleveland Central Catholic continued to struggle offensively. However, on the other side of the ball, they remained poised, forcing a turnover on downs inside their own 30 with 4 minutes to go in the half.
Following another drive in the wrong direction, Holy Name’s WR #11 Nicholas Nemeth broke through blockers to cleanly block a punt with a minute to go. Kicker Owen Pry would tack on three just before the break, making the score Cleveland Central Catholic 0, Holy Name 10 at halftime.
The second half continued trends from the first, as the Green Wave continued to shower on the Ironmen. On the opening drive of the second half, Holy Name RB #7 Xavier Rodriquez found the endzone on a 21-yard rushing touchdown to make it 17-0.
Despite the Ironmen getting their starting QB back, they never did find their mojo, as the offense struggled to move the football all evening. Holy Name would repeat their success to make it a 24-0 lead after a second Xavier Rodriguez rushing touchdown.
The fourth quarter would begin with a 24-0 margin, and backups were given the nod for most of the remaining time. The Green Wave would tack on one more late field goal to make the final score Cleveland Central Catholic 0, Holy Name 27.
CCC (3-2) looks to bounce back in Week 6 as they head to Magadore next week. As for the victors, Holy Name (4-1) will take their win to Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin, trying to extend their win streak to four in a row.
Players of the game:
CCC – RB #9 Luciano Locklear: 14 rush, 46 rush yds
Holy Name – RB #7 Xavier Rodriguez: 20 rush, 74 rush yds, 2 rush tds, 1 rec, 12 rec yds
