by Elyria, OH – The Midview Middies took on the Elyria Pioneers in a blowout game at Ely Stadium in Week 9 of the Southwestern Conference. Midview was ready to bring home a win after a four-game losing streak, finishing the game with a final score of 40-6.
The Midview Middies started with possession in this Friday night game at Ely Stadium, hoping to bring the heat to the Elyria Pioneers’ home field. The away team started its first drive strong, with key plays from senior Jace Wright, who quickly charged the ball up the field.
This would quickly culminate in a game-opening 35-yard touchdown by Wright and an extra point by Drew Morris, putting seven points on the board for Midview. Applying the pressure early, the boys in blue swiftly made the score 7-0.
Elyria was already feeling the pressure from Midview’s defense, with very few plays making it past the defensive line. When they did, Midview’s defensive backline bolted toward the ball carrier, forcing Elyria to fight for every yard in its opening series.
Possession quickly shifted back to Midview at 4:30 in the first quarter, with an immediate 35-yard breakthrough from Owen Underwood setting Midview up for another touchdown.
Senior Brennen Newton was quick to follow up with a 10-yard touchdown, putting another six points on the board for Midview and placing Elyria in a pressure cooker of a game.
After losing possession of the ball, Midview’s defense quickly regained it. This was followed by yet another touchdown, this time from senior Peyton Ansel of the Midview Middies. Morris added the extra point, putting Midview up by a whopping 20 points over Elyria before the end of the first quarter.
Elyria’s offense got stuck in a gridlock against Midview’s defense, yet the Pioneers couldn’t seem to lock down Midview’s offense either. At this point in the game, Elyria needed to decide which side of the ball to focus on first. Entering the second quarter down by 20 points served as good motivation to make something happen.
With Midview’s continued pressure, however, this proved to be a challenging feat for Elyria as the Middies once again charged straight toward Elyria’s end zone. Logan Winkler quickly made the final drive into the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown, bringing the score to 26-0 in the opening seconds of the second quarter.
Elyria continued to struggle to make any headway against Midview’s defensive line, making very little progress throughout its drives in the first half.
After regaining possession of the ball at 7:21 in the second quarter, Midview’s Newton and Kellen DeSimone connected on another 35-yard play that resulted in a touchdown. Morris scored the extra point, making the new score 33-0.
Midview continued applying defensive pressure, quickly triumphing over Elyria’s offense once again. Soon after, Winkler found the end zone for another 15-yard touchdown, followed by another extra point from Morris. Midview kept up the heat and then some, closing out the half with a score of 40-0.
Midview shut down Elyria’s offense once again before turning back to its own playbook. The Middies closed out the first half with possession.
Moving into the second half, Elyria started with possession under a running clock, as per OHSAA regulations, meaning the clock was now really ticking. Slowly making headway up the field, the Pioneers found time slipping away rapidly. Before long, they were already approaching the five-minute mark of the quarter.
But on its lone scoring drive of the half, Elyria landed its first touchdown of the game, courtesy of senior Jarius Martin. The score put six points on the board for Elyria, making it 40-6 with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter.
Moving into the fourth quarter shortly after the turnover, Midview started charging up the field once again. Soon after, however, the Middies fumbled the ball, giving possession back to Elyria with the Pioneers dangerously close to the end zone.
This opportunity was snuffed out once again by Midview, and things started looking grim for the Elyria Pioneers as they once again turned to defense.
Midview just needed to maintain its momentum to see the victory through, as its offensive line continued to show the stadium its skills across a myriad of plays.
Elyria managed to put the game in a gridlock for the remainder of the quarter, closing out this Friday night game with a score of 40-6 and putting an end to Midview’s 4-game losing streak.
Player(s) of the Game:
Midview RB Jace Wright-(35 YDS Rushing, 1 TD, 1 completion resulting in a TD)
Midview RB Logan Winkler-(25 YDS Rushing, 2 TDs)
