by Bay Village, OH – The weather in Friday night’s contest between the Bay Rockets and University School Preppers was not for the weak. Rain was coming down throughout the entirety of the pregame as well as the game itself. This made for wet field conditions and a slippery football. In a game with little offensive consistency, Rocco Ereditario shined for the Bay Rockets as he helped carry them to a 17-7 victory. Ereditario tallied 28 carries for 169 yards and two important touchdowns.
The first quarter displayed what would be to come for the entirety of the first half. Other than an 8-play 30-yard drive to open the game for the University School Preppers, both squads struggled with getting anything rolling on offense. The weather helped result in botched snaps, fumbles, and a botched punt that would be the only score of the opening quarter.
After a 3-play drive that netted negative 8 yards from the University School Preppers, a botched snap on the punt attempt ended in a safety for the Bay Rockets. A safety was a fitting way to start the scoring with the weather conditions not being kind.
The Preppers took over at the beginning of the 2nd quarter and proceeded to go 3-and-out. However, as the rain continued to make things difficult, the Bay Rockets muffed the punt return. University School recovered the muffed punt and went on a 4-play 23-yard scoring drive. Tylar Robinson capped off the drive with a 4-yard rushing touchdown. After a successful PAT, the Preppers went up 7-2.
That would be it for the scoring in the first half. In total, there were 4 drives that ended in negative yardage and 8 mishandled snaps that totaled a loss of 50 yards!
The 2nd half started the same way the 1st half went. Not much was going on for either side as they traded 3-and-outs to start the 3rd quarter. In the 1st half the Bay tallied just 26 yards of total offense. On their second drive of the 3rd quarter, they drove 80 yards down the field in just 6 plays. It was the first drive of the game since the opening drive that would go longer than 25 yards.
The scoring drive would be finished off by a Rocco Ereditario 43-yard touchdown run on a play that should have seen him being tackled for a loss. He was also able to capture the 2-point conversion to give the Rockets a 10-7 lead.
The Bay defense continued to stand strong as well with some assistance from the poor weather conditions. Their defense held the Preppers to just 8 yards of total offense in the 3rd quarter. Despite the 2nd quarter touchdown, the Preppers offense had just 57 yards total in the first half as well.
The opening drive of the 4th quarter was led by University School’s offense. They were able to put up multiple plays gaining 10 plus yards and gained over 50 yards during an 11-play drive. However, a false start and two holding penalties cost them. They were not able to get deep into Rocket territory and turned the ball over on downs.
On Bay’s ensuing drive, they marched 63 yards down the field in 7 plays. Rocco Ereditario capped off the drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown for his second of the game. This put the nail in the coffin as the Rockets extended their lead to 17-7 with under 2 minutes to play in the game.
All-in-All, the Bay offense was able to make the necessary adjustments needed to come out of the game with a victory where the weather conditions were poor.
Next week the University School Preppers (1-2) look to bounce back as they host Garfield Heights (1-2) on Saturday, September 14th at 1PM. As for the Bay Rockets (2-1) they will host the Normandy Invaders (1-2) on Friday, September 13th at 7PM.
Key Players
Bay:
RB Rocco Ereditario – 28 carries, 169 yards, 2 touchdowns
University School:
ATH Tylar Robinson – 12 carries, 58 yards, 1 touchdown; 1 reception for 4 yards; 1-1 passing for 12 yards
PLAYER OF THE GAME ROCCO EREDITARIO
