GRIDIRON REPORT: Panthers, Vikings snap losing streaks
Things were starting to look pretty grim for the Euclid Panther football team—and also for the VASJ Vikings’ chances of earning a playoff spot this year. Both squads were mired in losing streaks with the season more than half gone.
But last weekend, both teams buckled down and rewarded their loyal fans with sorely needed victories on the road.
The Panther gridders, who had lost five straight after beating a solid Strongsville team in the season opener, edged host Shaker Heights, 20-14, on the strength of quarterback Chuck Bradford’s three touchdowns, including the winning score in overtime.
Euclid had a chance to win the game in regulation, but after a Bradford run came up short on a third down play with about three minutes left on the clock, the Panther coaches opted to go for a field goal. Unfortunately, Mike Ruscin’s 32-yard attempt came up short.
The Panthers got the ball back again with about a minute left, but a sack and a holding penalty thwarted any chance of putting the needed points on the scoreboard. Euclid senior Jamaal Henry, a 5-foot-9, 195-pound defensive end, quickly returned the favor by sacking the Shaker quarterback with two seconds left on the clock, so the teams headed into overtime.
On a third-and-goal situation, Panther QB Bradford went up the middle on a keeper play to put Euclid ahead, 20-14, and that margin held up—thanks in part to another big defensive play. Defensive back Josh Kitchen, a 5-8 senior, batted down a fourth-down Red Raider desperation pass to ice the victory and enable the Panthers to escape from the Lake Erie League’s Lake Division cellar.
The Panthers, now 2-5, should have an opportunity to notch at least two more victories as they take on Cleveland Heights in a home game Oct. 15 and then travel to Bedford on Oct. 22. However, any remote chance of sneaking into the Division I playoffs would no doubt require an improbable upset victory over resurgent Mentor in the season finale Oct. 29 — at Mentor.
In recent weeks, Mentor has beaten two good teams in St. Ignatius and Willoughby South. And last Friday, the Cardinals posted a 28-13 victory over Warren Harding, the same Warren Harding squad that trounced the Panthers, 42-14, two weeks ago.
For the VASJ Vikings, the odds are slightly better that they might make the Division V playoffs, since they now own a 3-4 record after edging Trinity to escape a tie for last place in the North Coast League’s White Division. And, like Euclid, VASJ has a couple of winnable games coming up.
The Vikings host St. Peter Chanel Oct. 16 and then face Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin a week later. Both games are scheduled for Euclid’s Sparky DiBiasio Stadium. And, like the Panthers, the Vikings end their season against a formidable opponent, Elyria Catholic, which had been ranked No. 1 in Ohio in Division IV in the Associate Press poll. Of course, that was before the Elyria gridders saw their unbeaten record spoiled last weekend in a 41-23 loss to Padua.
Meanwhile, VASJ jumped out to an early lead and managed to outlast the Trinity Trojans, 24-17, to notch its third victory of the season. In that one, senior running back Clinton James rambled for 153 yards, including an 84-yard touchdown run. And defensive lineman Mike Brately, a 6-2, 195-pound senior, scored on a 30-yard fumble return. Brately also caught the conversion pass from senior quarterback Darryl Jones to give the Vikings an early 8-0 lead.
The Vikings took a 24-3 lead into the locker room at halftime, but failed to put up any points in the second half. That continued a trend that has some Viking fans wondering whether Coach John Storey’s two-way players are being asked to do too much--and whether they might be running out of gas in the later stages of their games.
In the eyes of some Monday Morning quarterbacks, the Vikings need to find a way to ensure that their key players still have fresh legs in the final quarter—especially if they hope to have any chance of upsetting Elyria Catholic in the regular season finale.