by MANSFIELD, Oh -— They say the best way to eat an elephant is to cut it up into little pieces. Just five weeks ago, the St. Edward Eagles began the “second season”. They took it week by week, one game at a time and now they face the final piece of the elephant next week in Canton: The State Championship game.
Marvin Bell captured his 11th 100-yard rushing affair with 133 yards & one touchdown on 26 carries, Michael Balogh and Kyan Mason brought in two massive touchdown passes from Casey Bullock, and the St. Edward defense continued their dominance in a 31-7 route of Gahanna Lincoln on Friday night to advance to their second straight state title game.
FIRST HALF
A strong stand early by the St. Edward defense gave the Eagle’s offensive unit the ball and that’s when things started to click.
A big 18-yard scamper by senior running back Marvin Bell got the ball rolling. However, it was the connection between junior quarterback Casey Bullock and standout junior receiver Kyan Mason that gave the Eagles their first points of the night.
Bullock’s 42-yard touchdown pass was actually almost intercepted; however, Mason was able to ultimately corral the pass after forcefully taking it out of the hands of the Gahanna Lincoln defender.
A following Benjamin Lavelle PAT put St. Edward up 7-0 with 5:22 left in the opening quarter.
The Golden Lions of Gahanna Lincoln would ultimately be forced to punt again giving the ball right back into the hands of the St. Edward potent offense. Marvin Bell took a handoff 85-yards right side on the very first play from scrimmage on the Eagle’s following drive.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, that play was called back due to holding. From there,the Eagles couldn’t find much more room to run and they would be forced to punt for the first time on the night.
The Eagles relied heavily on their defensive unit as junior linebacker Jonathon Slaper came up with two huge turnovers in the opening half. His first was came in the beginning minutes of the second quarter where he recovered a Gahanna Lincoln bad snap that went over the head of sophomore quarterback Brennen Ward.
The second came with under three minutes to play in the opening half when he made a tremendous play on the ball and came up with a huge interception to give the ball back to Eagle’s offense.
It seemed like momentum was then flowing in favor of St. Eds as the offense was able to capitalize on the turnover. Casey Bullock came up again with a huge pitch and catch this time to junior tight end Michael Balogh for 48-yards.
That capped off a five play 70-yard drive that lasted just 1:20. It gave the Eagles a 14-0 advantage over the Golden Lions at intermission.
SECOND HALF
The Eagle’s kept the intensity that they played with on both sides of the ball during the second half.
They began with the ball, and after a 14-play, 54-yard drive that lasted for over six minutes, the offense found themselves in field goal range after facing a fourth down.
Danny Tome knocked through a 31-yard field goal to extend the St. Edward lead midway through the third.
Both teams would struggle offensively to gain really any traction for the rest of the quarter.
It was Marvin Bell who helped break the cold streak for both sides as he scampered up the middle from 11-yards out and into the endzone to widen the St. Eds’ lead to 24-points nearing the midway point of the fourth quarter.
Although down, the Golden Lions didn’t role over by any means. Brennen Ward found his favorite target Makai Shahid for 47-yards on a go route to get the Gahanna Lincoln offense cruising. That drive was ultimately capped off by Ward, as he connected with senior receiver Ty Staples from 16-yards out to make it a 24-7 ball game.
However, the Eagles offense would answer right back, as junior running back Josh Gribble found a hole in the St. Eds’ offensive line and hit it, going for a 34-yard touchdown run. That score was almost but not quite the nail in the coffin. The Eagles were soaring as their lead was now 31-7 with two minutes left in regulation.
On the ensuing Gahanna Lincoln drive, it was Eddie Andrews who came up with the sealing play for the St. Edward defense as he made a great play on the ball picking off Brennen Ward’s pass in the final seconds of the game to help secure the trip to Canton next Friday for the St. Edward faithful.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Offensive: Casey Bullock
Bullock completed 7 of 14 pass for 140 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in Friday’s 31-7 win over Gahanna Lincoln. He added 63 yards on 11 rushing attempts.
Defensive: Jonathon Slaper
Slaper recorded a fumble recovery along with an interception in a strong defensive performance to help ensure the 31-7 victory over Gahanna Lincoln on Friday night.
UP NEXT
St. Edward: Heads back to Canton to play in their second straight Division I state championship game. They will take on Springfield.
Gahanna Lincoln: Heads home for the offseason
