by Parma, OH – The St. Edward Eagles waited for a year to gain their revenge against Medina and they did so tonight with a 41-6 victory over the Bees. After allowing the Bees to score on the game’s opening possession, they shut them down the rest of the game for convincing win as the Eagles defense made one big stop after another in perhaps their finest performance all season.
The star of the night on offense for the Eagles was Danny Enovtich who finished with 161 yards on 21 carries while scoring twice. Eagle quarterback Christian Ramos also ran for 68 yards on 13 carries while Josh Gribble had 41 on 3 attempts.
While the Eagles may be known for pounding the ball this season, Christian Ramos is no stranger to stepping up in big games and did so tonight. He finished with 200 yards on 11 of 22 passing with 3 touchdowns, all of which were to Ryan Micklich. That young man only grabbed three balls all night but each were big as the three touchdown grabs combined for 124 yards and broke the game wide open.
Penn State commit Drew Allar didn’t have the storybook ending to an amazing career as a Bee that most thought he may. Allar finished with 299 yards on 27 of 62 passing with a touchdown and two picks. The two interceptions came from Eagle defender Carlton Landing. Allar was pressured tonight as well, and sacked three times, twice from Michael Kilbane and once from Dwight Harvey. His top receiver tonight was Drew Hensley with 106 yards on 9 catches and a score.
Medina wasted no time scoring on their opening drive with an 8 play 80-yard drive. Allar went 5 of 7 for 74 yards before hitting Drew Hensley on a 26 yard touchdown strike. The Eagles blitzed on the play and Allar stepped right through the blitz and hit Hensley in the endzone. The extra point was wide left and the Bees led 6-0.
Joel Castelberry returned the kickoff 78 yards to give the Eagles amazing field position to start their opening drive of the game with. Danny Enovitch did the bulk of the work with 4 carries for 16 yards as he rumbled in for a 1-yard touchdown. The other run came from Christian Ramos of 4 yards. This made it 7-6 Eagles with 7:31 to go.
The good breaks and big plays for St. Edward continued on the next Bee drive as an Allar ball was tipped into the hands of an Eagle defender. This earned the Eagles the ball at midfield and they wasted no time taking full advantage. A Danny Enovitch run of 16 would help them set up shop, then another Enovitch 16-yard run would take it in and make the game 14-6 St. Edward. Enovitch on the drive had 4 carries on the drive for 40 of the yards.
After a rare 3 and out for the Bees, the Eagles started their next drive on the Bee 45. It was looking like more points on the way until an Eagle fumble was recovered on the Eagle 8 by Matthew Molnar. This was one play after a 26-yard Enovitch run put them in great shape.
The Eagles forced another three and out, and this time took full advantage of the great field position. It was a quick 2 play drive for 31 yards capped by a 26-yard Ryan Micklich touchdown catch. This happened with 1 minute still to go in the opening quarter, increasing the Eagle lead to 21-6. The quarter would end by that same score.
The scoring would slow down in the second quarter as both teams just couldn’t seem to get it going. The Bees would get one more shot with it, starting at their own 8 with 1:57 to go. It looked for a bit that Allar would lead them to pay dirt before a bobbled pass landed in the hands of an Eagle with 33 seconds to go at the St. Edward 38.
The game would go to half with the Eagles still up 21-6. The first half had a lot of stats but none more telling then Medina having 7 possessions, and coming away with 6 points.
St. Edward faced a fourth and long to start the second half from the 50, it was then that coach Lombardo called for a fake punt that Jackson Miller took 15 yards for the first down in shocking fashion. On the very next play the Eagles ran a double reverse flea flicker back to Ramos who struck a wide-open Ryan Micklich for six from 35 yards out to extend the lead to 28-6 with 9:42 to go in the third quarter. It was a dramatic change of momentum and emotion in two minutes time.
The Bees needed points as they began their next drive at their own 22-yard line. Allar stepped up and made one big throw after another to Michael Rodak as the Bees moved down the field setting up a first and goal from the Eagle 5. It was then the Eagles stepped up and got four straight stops to keep the Bees out of the end zone for their 7th straight drive.
The Eagles would put things out of reach late into the third quarter as Ramos his a streaking Ryan Micklich from 64 yards out to make it 34-6. Ed’s would go for a two pointer with the Philly special to try and get a running clock, but it came up short, keeping it at 34-6 with 26 seconds to go in the third quarter.
St. Edward would go on to win 41-6 and now advances to play Upper Arlington in the state semifinals.
Stats provided by Cole McDaniel.
Congrats to coach Tom Lomardo on career win 74 with St. Edward, a school record.
Big sure to catch Cole McDaniel and myself as we break down this game, and discuss Green, Avon, Hoban and Chardon as they continue to advance. The podcast will be on our podbean app at 10:30 tomorrow. You can click here to listen – https://keeonsports.podbean.com/
