by Cleveland, Ohio – The Rhodes Rams rallied in the second half to defeat John Hay, 26-16, at James Ford Rhodes Stadium Friday afternoon.
Rhodes won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half, giving John Hay the ball. The Hornets capped off the opening drive with a. bit of trickery.
On fourth and short, quarterback Velontae Robinson pitched the ball to Tayvon Debase. Debase then tossed the ball to De’Charion Williams for a 43-yard touchdown reception. The ensuing point after was good, and John Hay led 7-0 in the first quarter.
The Hornet defense got a stop on defense in the second quarter, forcing Rhodes to punt. But a fumble on the snap gave John Hay great field position. The Hornets would have to settle for a 39 yard field goal off the leg of senior London Raglin.
Now trailing 10-0, the Rams embarked on their next offensive drive. They would find the scoreboard, thanks to a three-yard touchdown run from sophomore Ty’Ron Corpening. The ensuing two-point try was unsuccessful, but Rhodes cut their deficit to 10-6.
Rhodes would get the ball back with great field position thanks to a fumble recovery by senior defensive back Mario Cage Jr. Senior Ke’Mon Gould would rush for a touchdown, breaking two tackles along the way, but the score was called back due to a holding penalty. The Rams would be unable to capitalize, turning the ball over on downs.
John Hay led 10-6 at the halftime break. The defense would come up with another stop, forcing a Rhodes punt. Junior Jayshawn Parish pinned the Hornets at the one yard line. The Ram defense did the rest, forcing a three-and-out. Freshman Isaiah Dawson-Copley broke through the line and blocked the punt attempt, which was recovered by junior Ty’lon Corpening for a touchdown. Mariano Perez ran in for the ensuing two-point try, and Rhodes took the lead, 14-10, with 4:57 left in the third quarter.
The Rams began to pull away in the fourth quarter.
Rhodes came up with another stop, forcing a John Hay punt. Ty’Ron Corpening found sophomore Mariano Perez for a 30 yard touchdown reception with 10:07 to play, pushing the lead to 20-10.
Senior Mario Cage Jr. rushed for a three-yard touchdown with 4:41 to play to further push the Ram lead to 26-10.
John Hay would respond as Velontae Robinson found Dayvion Mitchell for a 38 yard touchdown reception with 1:44 to play. The ensuing two-point try to cut the deficit to eight was unsuccessful. Rhodes would recover the onside kick attempt and kneel it out to end the ball game.
Rhodes improved to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the Senate League and travels to Collinwood to continue Senate League play next Friday afternoon.
John Hay drops to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Senate League. They will host Lincoln West to continue Senate League play next Friday afternoon.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Freshman defensive lineman Isaiah Dawson-Copley (Rhodes)
Dawson-Copley had seven tackles for loss, four sacks, and a blocked punt.
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