by GRAFTON, Ohio – The Midview Middies showed up to play for the home fans tonight, beating the Elyria Catholic Panthers by 21, remaining undefeated on the young season.
Midview started their first drive off strong, with 3 first downs and a touchdown on their opening drive. Williams threw a perfect 5/5, with an impressive 16-yard first down to junior wide receiver Brennen Newton. The Middies capped off the drive with a 23-yard touchdown to Newton for his second reception of the night. The first quarter finished with a score of 7-0, with Midview on top.
Midview opened the second quarter with another strong drive and touchdown, this time on a 24-yard pass to senior receiver Zachary Wallace for his 4th reception of the night, but the Panthers blocked the extra point attempt, bringing the score to 13-0.
But Elyria Catholic fought back with a touchdown at the 7:39 mark on a 23-yard pass from their sophomore quarterback Bobby Duray to 6’3 junior receiver Benjamin Essenmacher, who also converted on the kick for the extra Panther point.
However, on the very next drive, Middie running back Jace Wright found the hole in the Panthers’ defense and broke away for a 70-yard rush and touchdown! This made the score at halftime 20-7 in favor of Midview, led by senior quarterback Shay Williams who threw an impressive 7/11 passes in the first half.
The Panthers just couldn’t seem to escape the whistle all game, racking up penalty after penalty and killing their momentum, leaving them scoreless in the third quarter.
Midview was able to take advantage of the Panthers’ slump and scored a touchdown on their first drive, starting at the 8:25 mark in the third quarter. Senior running back Marcus McMahon scored his first touchdown of the night with a 1-yard rush, capping off a strong drive from the Middies.
Midview was then able to get the ball back at 2:57, and capitalized with a 47-yard bomb from Williams and a reception by Newton for his second touchdown of the night, bringing his receiving yards on the night to 87.
Opening the fourth quarter, the Panthers started off strong and included a 34-yard first down by sophomore receiver Jazear Terry, but they weren’t able to make anything else happen and turned the ball over to Midview.
Midview then scored their final touchdown of the night, coming off a huge 42-yard first-down catch by senior receiver Ethan Stout and then a phenomenal 20-yard breakaway and rush by McMahon.
The Panthers weren’t giving up yet, however, and scored their second touchdown of the night, with quarterback Robbie Duray dropping a 69-yard dime to Jazear Terry, who came away with 106 total receiving yards on the night.
The next drive, Elyria Catholic was able to force a Midview fumble on the 18-yard line, and running back Chad Howard scored their final touchdown on the night. Howard, who just began his freshman year, came in right around the 3-minute mark and had himself quite an exciting evening. The freshman rushed for 18 yards and a touchdown on the Panthers’ final drive of the evening. It’ll be fun to watch him the rest of the year, as we look forward to him hopefully getting some more reps. The Panthers attempted to go for 2, but the Middie defense shut them down in the endzone, and the game ended 41-20 in favor of Midview after Midview took a knee.
The Midview Middies played a great team game, but their star player of the night was quarterback Shay Williams, who completed 12/16 passes for a total of 206 yards. Other notable players include Marcus McMahon, who rushed for 71 yards and scored two touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Brennen Newton also had a solid night, scoring two touchdowns and had 87 receiving yards.
The Panthers’ player of the game was also their quarterback, Robbie Duray, who connected on 15/26 passes for a total of 261 yards. Receiver Jazear Terry also had a good night, receiving for 106 yards and tacking on a 69-yard touchdown.
That wraps up another exciting evening of Friday Night Lights! Midview moves on to 3-0 on the year and looks to make it 4-0 next week against the Avon Lake Shoremen. Elyria Catholic is now 0-3 for the season, but are hoping to bounce back next week against the Vermillion Sailors.
