by PARMA, OH – In a game that saw multiple blocked kicks on both sides of the ball, it was Elyria Catholic rallying for 15 points in under a minute with less then 4 minutes to play, to defeat Padua in a crazy 21-14 finish in Parma tonight. Jazear Terry of the Panthers had a great game with a touchdown run and catch on the night!
The Panthers began at their own 20 to start the game and dedicated themselves to the run early. Six straight runs advanced the ball to the 50 in a hurry but that is when the Bruins stripped it away and took over at midfield as Antonio Huddad recovered it. They had to settle for a 48 yard Field goal attempt that was blocked by the Panthers and returned to the Padua 38-yard line with 6:09 to play in the first quarter as the first 6 minutes had a fumble and blocked field goal. The first quarter ended scoreless.
The game remained scoreless with 4:45 to go in the first half when the Bruins took over at their own 30-yard line. They appeared to be stopped on fourth down when a long pass down the sidelines was called pass interference, giving their drive some much needed flames. A 22-yard launch to Gasparro got them cooking from there down to the Panther 27-yard line with 3 minutes to play. Moments later, a big pass to Devore brought it down to the Panther 5-yard line. Once again, they had to settle for a field goal attempt and once again, it was blocked as the game went into halftime 0-0.
The game saw its first points seconds into the second half, when Chase Weizer broke one from 60 yards out to put Padua on the board. The Panthers answered on their first drive of the half with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Assenmacher to Jazear. The drive was fueled by numerous big runs from Zion Castillo and Tommy Bates. Just like that, it was now 7-7 with 6:08 still to play in the third quarter.
The wild night of blocked kicks continued as this time it was Padua blocking a punt and Jose Caban returning for a touchdown to reclaim the lead 14-7, late into the third quarter. Then, it happened again after the Elyria Catholic touchdown by Jazear Terry touchdown run from 20 yards out made it 14-13 but the extra point was blocked! The games fourth blocked kick kept it 14-13 with 3:35 to play in the fourth.
Crazy enough, the Panthers got the ball back only seconds later and scored again on a 12 yard touchdown run from Mikey Bates, oto lead 21-14 after the successful two point conversion with 3:19 left to play. They hung on from there to win!
