by LAKEWOOD, OH – St. Ed’s overcame playing without their star tailback Brandon White to defeat a tough Elder team today, 24-17 in Lakewood. New starting running back Tyrese Buchanon did well as the new feature back, rushing for 161 yards on 32 carries with two touchdowns.
Starting quarterback Thomas Csanyi tried to pick up some of the slack with a strong passing game, but only went 10 of 15 for 105 yards with 2 interceptions and no touchdowns. He also ran the ball 11 times for 56 yards.
The main receiving threats for the Eagles were Luke Hess with 4 catches for 22 yards and Zach Hackleman with 46 yards on 2 catches.
The Eagle’s defense was the key to victory in this contest as they held the Panthers to minus 22 yards on the ground. Also, keeping Panther quarterback Kaden Estep to 125 yards passing on 14 of 26 with a touchdown and two picks.
The Panthers started their second drive near midfield and went right to work with a 21-yard pitch and catch to Thaman to bring it to the 35. They wasted no time scoring from there on the very next play as Estep him a wide open Paff in stride for the touchdown.
Buchanon ripped off runs of 15 and 12 yards to begin the next Eagles drive. This was followed by a slant to Hess to continue to move the chains. Yet another connection with Hess moved the chains again. Another 11-yard run by Csanyi moved it to the Panther 16 as the first quarter came to a close. The Eagles began the first quarter with a 16-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep from Hackleman.
The Eagles went back to work the next time they touched the ball with a multi play drive, eating up clock and yards at will. This one featured some nice runs ripped off by Csanyi to get them in the redzone. They faced a fourth and goal from the one when they went to Buchanon over the middle on a dive to grab their first lead of the game. It was a 9-play drive with all runs to get it done and make it 14-7 Eagles with 3:54 to play in the opening half.
A Brayden Thomas interception ended the next promising Panther drive. The Eagles couldn’t do much with it however, as an Eli Roden gave it right back to the Panthers. The game went to half with no more scoring as the Eagles led, 14-7.
On the Eagles opening drive of the second half, Csanyi threw the ball directly to Derek Uran who picked off a Csyani pass and took it back 27 yards untouched for the game tying touchdown. The next Eagles drive went 3 and out and the punt was squibbed so the Panthers took over on the Ed’s 29-yard line.
This was then followed by a roughing the passer in a disastrous call first few minutes of the second half for the Eagles. Roughing the passer hurt the Eagles several times in this one. A sack set back the Panthers for a bit until they attempted a 32-yard field goal. The kick was good with about 20 yards to spare as the Panthers reclaimed the lead at 17-14.
The Eagles responded to open the fourth quarter with an impressive 80-yard drive including a risky fourth down conversion on fourth and short from their own 30-yard line. They converted and it jumpstarted the rest of the drive. It was also benefited from a beautiful 33-yard pass to Hackleman that got the chains moving. Buchanon took advantage of some sizable holes, complete with a 2-yard touchdown to cap it and hand the Eagles back the lead 21-17 with 8:03 to go.
A 44-yard field goal by Kellen Moyer extended it to 24-17 with 1:40 left to play as the Eagles hung on for the win.
Player of the Game: St. Ed’s RB Tyrese Buchanon rushing for 161 yards on 32 carries with two touchdowns
