ELYRIA – Consider Elyria Catholic properly motivated for its momentous meeting with Elyria High on Thursday.

The Panthers breezed through their final tune-up before the schools meet for the first time on the football field, improving to 2-0 with a 42-18 non-conference victory over Buckeye on Friday night at Knights of Columbus Field.

If Panther fans’ jaws dropped after senior quarterback Danny Reaser’s Week 1 performance against Clearview, they should have bruises under their chins again this morning. Reaser threw for 383 yards and five touchdowns in a blowout win against the Clippers, then raised the bar with a career-high 396-yard, five-touchdown performance against the Bucks.

“I felt personally that Week 1′s performance was a bit better than tonight’s because I got in such a groove,” Reaser said.

Reaser set the school’s career passing mark during the opener, and Friday night may have helped senior wide receiver Zach Rogers set the school records in single-game receptions and receiving yards. Rogers caught 15 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns.

“That’s probably a school record,” Panthers coach Ben Malbasa said. “Zach’s a special player and I’ve been fortunate to have some great receivers during my time here. Richie Baker is the only other guy to have a game like that, but I don’t think he had quite that many yards.”

Baker caught 10 passes for 229 yards and a pair of touchdowns in Elyria Catholic’s playoff loss to Pemberville Eastwood three years ago. Cody Schuster probably set the passing record during that game with 458 yards.

Reaser said he’s glad to have been part of Rogers’ record-setting performance. The receiver knew it was just a matter of time before the pair would do something big.

“We’ve been waiting for this for four years … ever since we were freshmen,” Rogers said. “We’re best friends, so this is really special. I felt like I was in the zone out there – everything (Reaser) threw at me I caught.”

“We know each other’s instincts,” Reaser said. “He hasn’t been my main receiver like that since our freshman season. Tonight we were able to take advantage of his matchup against their weaker corners.”

The individual performance was barely the best on the field, as Buckeye senior receiver Carlton Watkins nearly matched Rogers catch for catch throughout the game. The Bucks’ top player finished with 14 catches for 233 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The receptions tied a school record.

Buckeye senior quarterback Austin Friel also connected on a 7-yard touchdown with senior running back Chad Gatt, but it was obvious which of his targets he was locked on as the game wore on.

“That’s just the results of the hard work that me and Friel have been putting in during the offseasons,” Watkins said. “We were feeling each other today.”

Reaser also threw touchdown passes to senior receivers Brandon Graham and Conor Voreis, and senior running back Cory Campbell capped the win with a 3-yard score that brought chants of “Bring on E-High” from the Panthers student section.

“I’m pumped for that matchup,” Reaser said. “It’s going to be a short week and we don’t plan on taking a day off. We’re going to practice on Sunday and we’re going to practice on Labor Day. We’re going to be ready when we step on the field with Elyria High.”

The Pioneers improved to 1-1 with a non-conference win over North Olmsted.

“Thursday is going to be all about who handles the week and who handles their first mistakes better,” Malbasa said. “It’s about who can rally from their early mistakes and who can execute better and put pressure on their opponent.

“I expect it to be a great game. It should be very exciting.”

SWITCHING IT UP: Fans in the stands may have wondered where senior center Cody Reaser was during Friday night’s game. Reaser, who normally wears No. 62, donned a No. 68 jersey in memory of former Panthers football player and relative Mike Rothgery, who died earlier in the week.

Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

Elyria Catholic 42, Buckeye 18

Buckeye                          0              6              6              6              -           18
Elyria Catholic             0              22            7              13            -           42

Scoring

EC – Brandon Graham, 7 pass from Danny Reaser (Conor Voreis pass from Reaser)
EC – Zach Rogers, 44 pass from Reaser (Jacob Moore kick)
B – Chad Gatt, 7 pass from Austin Friel (pass failed)
EC – Voreis, 10 pass from Reaser (Moore kick)
B – Carlton Watkins, 50 pass from Friel (pass failed)
EC – Rogers, 55 pass from Reaser (Moore kick)
EC – Rogers, 21 pass from Reaser (Moore kick)
B – Watkins, 55 pass from Friel (kick failed)
EC – Cory Campbell, 3 run (kick failed)

Team statistics

B                             EC
First downs                               13                            20
- by rushing                                4                              3
- by passing                                6                              16
- by penalty                                3                              1
Yards rushing                          61                            91
Yards passing                        247                          396
Total offense                          308                          487
Passes att./comp.            32/17                      42/28
Intercepted by                   2                              2
Fumbles/lost                   2/1                          2/0
Penalties/yards            9/55                        8/80

Individual statistics

RUSHING – (B) Austin Friel 19-53, Rick Monroe 9-10, Chad Gatt 3-2, Kyle Gatt 2-(-4). (EC) Joe Dempsey 8-53, Conor Voreis 1-33, Cory Campbell 3-5, Danny Reaser 4-0.

PASSING – (B) Friel 16-31-200-3-2, Joshua Sikora 1-1-47-0-0. (EC) Reaser 28-40-396-5-2, Jeremy Holley 0-2-0-0-0.

RECEIVING – (B) Carlton Watkins 14-233, Chad Gatt 3-14. (EC) Zach Rogers 15-279, Voreis 5-57, James Baker 6-38, Jordan Alpater 1-15, Brandon Graham 1-7.

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