PARMA, Ohio- The Euclid Panthers invaded Byers Field on a path to take down the St. Ignatius Wildcats. Both teams were 2-0 and were very talented on both sides of the ball. It would certainly be fun watching how the two teams figured each other out, like a chess match developing on the gridiron.
The Panthers received the ball to start the game but did not anything productive, as they put themselves in an early deficit on the first play from scrimmage when Jett Elad intercepted a Cee Jay Hale and took it to the house for a quick six points in the first quarter.
The Panthers would respond correctly and Hale would put the ball in the end zone with a pass to Dre’Von Lindsay from nineteen yards out. Hale was showing very early how much he can impact a game with his explosiveness in the air and on the ground.
The Panthers would intercept Senior Quarterback Kyle Hall twice in the first half and one of the turnovers would assist the Panthers in scoring. Off the Titus Jackson interception, Hale would march the Euclid offense down the shortened field to take the 14-7 lead with 10:03 left in the second quarter.
A Triskett field goal from 36 yards out would be the only other score in the first half, as the Wildcats and Panthers were engaged in a stalemate during the final ten minutes of the quarter. St. Ignatius trailed the Panthers 14-10, but the tide definitely was turning for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats were extremely successful in the second half and running back Mark Bobinski was one of the main reasons why. He found lanes and had some big runs on the outside that set up the Wildcats a number of times.
“The coaches had a great gameplan,” said Bobinski regarding the team’s second half performance. “Everybody bought into the game plan and it was just straight forward from there.”
In a second half that saw the Wildcats outscore Euclid 24-6, Bobinski shined. He had two rushing touchdowns from nine and ten yards out respectively. Bobinski earned 115 of his 143 yards and finished with an average of 4.5 yards per carry.
Kyle Hall was able to complete 15 of 26 passes for 166 passing yards in the game after a shaky first half.
“The first half we all came out slow. Everyone was a little lethargic,” Hall stated after the game. “We came into this game a little high off the last two wins. I figured it would take us a little bit to get going. The running game wasn’t working, the passing game wasn’t working in the first half. In the second half, we were able to get that rushing game going and it opened everything up. We knew we had the talent, we knew we had the players to win. But it’s all just a matter of putting it all together.”
With the 34-20 victory, the Wildcats improve to 3-0.
St. Ignatius Head Coach Chuck Kyle talked about the tough test that his team faced tonight in Euclid.
“If you look at our schedule, we have no right to think ‘oh, we have an easy game coming up anyway’. We’re playing playoff-caliber teams every week so hopefully, our kids learned a lesson here. I really think that’s important and to realize these are all great football teams.
As for Euclid, Head Coach Jeff Rotsky was frustrated after the game but assured that his team will be back.
“We didn’t come here to compete, we came here to win. Our team needs to be extremely hungry coming into Medina being a very angry, p***** off football team.”
Euclid travels to Medina to take on the Bees (1-2), where as St. Ignatius heads to Michigan to take on Detroit Catholic Central (2-1).
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