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The Green Lakes Conference Championship was truly a sight to see.
After Elyria Catholic won the toss and deferred, Holy Name took full advantage of the opportunity to get the ball first. A 42 yard QB keeper put the Green Wave into EC territory. On the next set of downs, Green Wave QB Jayvon Williams threw a floater to a wide open Austin Wondolowski to give Holy Name an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
Elyria Catholic then received the ball and proceeded to get deep into Holy Name territory. The Panthers attempted a little trickery with a double pass play from QB Hector Garcia to RB Levi Ellis, who then threw to JJ Metzinger for a few yards. After the referees had pointed a facemask penalty in the direction of Elyria Catholic’s offense, they realized they goofed and pointed the wrong way, thus setting up a first down inside the 15 yard line. After a false start turned 3rd and 3 into 3rd and 8, Garcia threw a pass low that would have resulted in a pick 6 for Holy Name if it had been thrown higher. The Panthers had to settle for a Nick Phillips 27 yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3.
A couple drives later, Jayvon Williams was swarmed by Panther defensive lineman and forced up an arm punt that went right into the hands of Colin Ginley, who shifted the momentum into Elyria Catholic’s favor. Alternate QB Brady Cook ran 24 yards on a QB sneak to close out the first quarter.
The second quarter began with even more fireworks, as Hector Garcia came becak in at QB and proceeded to throw an interception into the hands of Holy Name RB Kesean Garner. The Green Wave weren’t able to generate any momentum on that drive, however, as they managed to complete a pass for -10 yards which stalled their drive.
After they punted the ball to Elyria Catholic, the Panthers further shifted the momentum into their favor. Standout running back Levi Ellis was somewhat pedestrian throughout the first quarter and a half of play, despite having 19 rushing touchdowns on the season. He quickly reminded people that he should not be forgotten, bursting through the defense on a 96 yard rushing touchdown to make it number 20 on the season and put EC in the lead 10-7.
Things didn’t get much better for the Green Wave offense on their next drive, as Williams was again picked off by none other than Colin Ginley, who recorded his 2nd interception of the half. With the momentum fully in the Panthers’ favor, they capitalized. Levi Ellis ceded his running back duties on the play and threw a 16 yard touchdown pass to Tony Grasso to extend the lead to 17-7 as the Panthers held a double digit lead going into halftime.
The Panthers’ seemed to keep their foot on the gas when they got the ball to start the second half. Mason Haliburton tooka shovel pass 18 yards to midfield. The very next play looked to be a Levi Ellis 44 yard rushing touchdown, but a holding penalty at the 29 yard line negated the touchdown, though they still ended up with a first down. Facing a 4th and 5, Hector Garcia threw an endzone shot that was just out of the reach of his receiver.
Holy Name must have gotten tired of me constantly mentioning how Elyria Catholic owned the momentum in this game and decided to take matters into their own hands. After Jayvon Williams QB snuck his way into EC territory, a bizarre series of events ensued. In a play that mimicked the infamous ‘Fail Mary’ between the Packers and Seahawks in 2012, Williams threw a pass into the endzone and the ball was fought for by corner Colin Ginley and receiver Kevin Pivonka. The panthers and Ginley believed that they came up with a huge interception and began celebrating. However, as the refs conversed, they then ruled that Pivionka came down with the catch, causing the Green Wave to go into celebration mode and cut the deficit to 17-14.
The momentum continued to shift in favor of the Green Wave, as the ensuing kickoff was fumbled by the Panthers and set up Holy Name inside the Panthers’ 30 yard line. A 2 yard touchdown run from Austin Wondolowski put the Green Wave ahead 21-17.
After Levi Ellis was uncommonly stopped on 3rd down which set up a 4th and 6, the Panthers were unable to convert and once again put the ball back in the hands of Jayvon Williams. The Green Wave QB threw a dart to Wondolowski, who then hurdled a defender to turn a screen pass into a 36 yard gain. Wondolowski found paydirt yet again, this time rushing 1 yard into the endzone to extend the Green Wave lead to 28-17.
After a pass interference gifted a goal-to-go situation for the Panthers, they were able to chip away at the deficit. A successful 2 point conversion made it a 3 point game, 28-25.
Holy Name would take complete control from here. Williams completed a huge third and 12 conversion to keep the Green Wave drive alive. He then came through on another 3rd down and took the snap 54 yards to the house to effectively ice the game.
They tacked on one more touchdown on a Kriztion Sanchez 8 yard run to extend the Green Wave lead to 42-25. Holy Name leaves Elyria as GLC Conference Champs. Congrats to the Green Wave!
Player of the Game
Tonight’s player of the game goes to the man under center, Kayvon Williams. He effectively utilized his legs to not only keep the Green Wave in the game, but put the game out of reach in the 4th.
He threw 2 touchdown passes, along with 17 carries for 187 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
