by Euclid, Ohio- Trailing 17-7 heading into halftime, Solon head coach Jim McQuaide reiterated to his players that there is always enough time for a comeback. Those words sat well with the Solon Comets as they were able to outscore Euclid 20-7 in the second half to knockoff the unbeaten Panthers in dramatic fashion.
“We came out and our defense got better as the game went on,” coach McQuaide said. ” Euclid was beating us up in the first quarter but our guys hung in there and I’m very proud of them.”
A total of three lead changes took place in the final 3:23 of the game. First, it was the connection that was clicking all night long, quarterback Pat McQuaide to senior wide receiver Grant McCurry gave the Comets their first lead of the game, 20-17 at the time.
From there, Euclid responded with a three-play, 56-yard touchdown drive to regain the lead with two minutes left to play. One minute later, Pat McQuaide marched the Comets down to Euclid territory where he later found running room and snuck his way into the end zone from five yards out. That touchdown gave the Comets a 27-24 edge with just over one minute left in the game.
As they did most of the first half, Euclid was able to put together a successful drive into opposing territory, setting up a 41-yard field goal to try to send the game into overtime with four seconds left. The kick hooked left as it inched closer to the goalposts and all the Comets could do was run around and celebrate their come-from-behind victory with four seconds left in the game.
“If you want to be a good team, you have to make plays against good teams, we made a lot more of those plays this week,” coach McQuaide said after the game.
A tale of two halves it certainly was for the Euclid Panthers as their defense was lights out in the first half, but came out of halftime a bit slower. Solon was able to make a couple of big plays throughout the third quarter that carried into the fourth quarter which proved to be the Achilles heel for the Panthers.
For Euclid, the hard-nosed rushing attack between Jabir Mujihad and Rasheed Evans was working all night, as both powerful backs seemed to switch off and not miss a beat. But it went Solon’s way in the end and they snuck past Euclid to defeat the previously unbeaten Panthers in a hostile environment.
Coach McQuaide explained just how tough it is to defeat conference opponents within the Greater Cleveland Conference. The win against Euclid improves their record to 3-1 in the GCC and the remaining three games of the regular season are against conference opponents.
For now, coach McQuaide and his team will enjoy the late-game thriller but knows his team will have to carry the momentum their feeling tonight into the closing half of the season.
“This league is a tremendous league,” he said. “We’ll appreciate tonight but we have to get right back to work tomorrow because things don’t get easier in this league.”
