by LAKEWOOD, OH – St. Ed’s got up early and hung on late to secure the 17-14 victory over Hoban, moving their record to 4-0 on the season, while the Knights of Hoban fall to 0-4. The St. Ed’s run game with their quarterback Langston Lucas combined with stout defense continued to be the difference. Lucas finished with 116 yards on the ground on 19 carries while Ronnie Neal had 50 yards on 12 carries. Colin Tedesco chipped with 18 yards on 4 carries while Jayvon Woods rounded it out with 16 yards on 2 carries for a team total of 210 rushing yards.
Meanwhile, the Eagle defense held Hoban to just 121 yards on the ground with most of those coming on one run from quarterback Major Cribbs who finished with 89 as 65 of them came on one play. Cribbs also threw the ball for 117 yards with a touchdown on 11 of 19 passing.
A great kickoff return by Jayden Daniels allowed the Hoban Knights to start their opening drive from midfield. The stout Eagles defense was able to force the punt as the drive stalled quickly however. A mix of runs by Langston Lucas and Ronnie Neal got the ball near the endzone quickly before Lucas finished it with a two-yard scamper to score. This made it 7-0 as the Eagles went 67 yards in 2:31 over 7 plays with 7:43 left on the first quarter clock.
Early in the second, Major Cribbs turned on the jets around the right edge of the line as he sped down the field for a 65-yard touchdown run to tie it up with 8:38 left in the second quarter.
The Eagles went right back to the run game on their next drive to motor down the field quickly. The Eagles got close but had to settle for a 25 yard field goal from Dallas Nixon to put the Eagles back on top 10-7 with 2:56 to play in the first half. The game went to the break by that same score.
The Eagles stuck with what worked to begin the third quarter on the ground. Several nice carries by Lucas got them to the Hoban 32 yard line within minutes. Earlier in the game, Ed’s hit on a wheel route to Neal, they knew Hoban may miss coverage again and did, once again it was Neal and this time it was for a 33-yard touchdown toss. This improved their lead to 17-7 with 5:15 to play in the game. The Eagles went 80 yards on 12 plays to open it up to double digits.
The Eagles tried the wheel route again the next time they had the ball, but the Lucas attempt to Tedesco was picked off and returned all the way back to the Eagles 21-yard line. Hoban was unable to cover the turnover into points however and the game remained 17-7 St. Ed’s with 9:42 to play in the game.
The Eagles hung on for the 17-14 win after the Knights moved it closer with a touchdown pass to Cheney. St. Ed’s will host Massillon next weekend at Baldwin Wallace as they look to stay unbeaten.
St. Ed’s player of the game was running back Ronnie Neal with 50 yards rushing but also 2 catches for 46 yards including the difference making 33 yard touchdown catch.
Hoban’s Player of the game is QB Major Cribbs who threw for 117 yards with a touchdown and ran for 89 yards and scored another touchdown.
