After Zach Rogers hauled in 15 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns in Elyria Catholic’s 42-18 win over Buckeye on Friday, Panthers coach Ben Malbasa called it “one of the quietest record-setting perform­ances” he’d ever seen.

That’s no knock on the Panthers’ senior wide receiver/defen­sive back, just a testament to the type of player he is.

“Zach is a very explosive football player,” said Malbasa, shortly after his team wrapped up practice Tuesday as they prepare to meet crosstown rival Elyria on Thursday night. “He’s able to catch a slant and make that into a 20-yard gain. He’s able to catch that hitch and make that into a 20-yard gain. “They talk about yards after the catch, and that’s something Zach brings every play he runs.”

Friday marked the second time in as many games the Panthers scored more than 40 points and gave them back-to-back blowout wins.

“I felt like every time (quarterback) Dan (Reaser) threw the ball, I was going to catch it,” Rogers said. “It just felt like I was in a zone, like I couldn’t be covered or anything.”

Click here for details on ticket sales.

Malbasa said the eye-popping statistics Rogers put up are no surprise.

“I truly believe he’s a top talent,” he said. “We like to throw his way, there’s no secret about that. We like to throw the ball in general. He’s a very talented player who has had opportunities to showcase that talent, and I expect those sorts of numbers to occur once in a while.

“I think what’s so amazing is that he did that on a night where a lot of people caught the ball. It wasn’t like he caught the ball 15 times and they were all to him. You’ll see that a lot in high school football. I think we had almost 30 completions total, and he happened to get 15 of them that night and made the big plays on top of it.

“When you watch the film afterward, you see how amazing a performance that really was.”

Rogers said he owes a lot of his success as a receiver to the fact he and Reaser have been playing football together since they were in middle school.

“We have great chemistry,” he said. “I know where he’s going to put the ball. He knows where I’m going to be.

We’ve been teammates (at EC) and throwing to each other since our freshman year, and even beyond that, going to seventh and eighth grade.”

Malbasa believes it helps that the players get along so well off the field.

“I think that’s so important, and I think that’s an underrated value when you coach quarterbacks and receivers,” he said.

“They know each other’s strengths, they know each other’s weaknesses, they know what to say to each other when they’re down, they know how to get on each other’s nerves … they’re very good friends.

“They do a lot together on and off the field, and I think that does give them a strength as they’re playing.”

Rogers is not just a receiver.

He’s also one of the Panthers’ top defensive backs.

“Defensively, he hasn’t quite this year gotten the pick that he’s always looking for,” Malbasa said. “In the past three years of coaching him, Zach has this uncanny ability of finding the ball in the air, getting his hands on it and making a good play. He’s got great hands. He’s got wonderful instincts as a defensive player and he’s become such a really smart football player.

“He’s combined his natural ability with what the team is trying to do, and being able to make plays against it. It’s a combination of some very hard work with some great talent that has made him one of the top football players I’ve ever coached.”

Rogers was All-Ohio as a sophomore defensive back, so he’s proven his abilities on the defensive side as well.

“My sophomore year, I was nervous about playing varsity,” he said. “They put me on defense covering the other team’s best wideouts in our conference (the North Coast League), and I ended up being all-state that year. That’s really where it all started, and I’ve grown more comfortable in my roles ever since.”

Rogers has been a two-way starter for Malbasa since that sophomore season. Entering his third year as a varsity starter has made Rogers more comfortable with his role in the offense and helped with his field awareness.

“He has a clear sense on every play for what to expect, when to expect it, and on top of that, he’s a great physical player,” he said. “When someone runs at him, he’s not going to back away. He makes big hits and he’s a good tackler in the open field.”

It’s those attributes that have put Rogers on the radar of some big-time college prograsms.

“I’ve been (to Wisconsin) to visit three times,” he said. “I’m hopeful that it works out with them. I would love to play for them the next four years.”

Unsung hero: Cory Campbell

While Elyria Catholic’s offense has received most of the attention after the first two games, Panthers coach Ben Malbasa says senior middle linebacker Cory Campbell’s value can’t be overlooked.

“When you have two games where your offense puts up a lot of points, it’s easy to start overlooking the whole team,” Malbasa said. “And one of the things that’s gotten overlooked is that our defense has played very well over our last two games.

“They were on the field over 75 plays against Clearview and 80 plays against Buckeye. And you see that Cory keeps making plays for us on the defensive side.”

Campbell, who is also a running back, has 27 tackles and 13 assists.

“Those are unbelievable numbers, especially in high school football,” Malbasa said. “He’s just all over the field. He shows great intensity (and) great passion, and you can see what kind of a leader he is. If you’ve been around our fieldhouse after practice, he’s the person making sure things are cleaned up. He’s the person who’s making sure the young guys know what it takes to be a part of our program, and he models a lot of what we want out of our young people.”

Campbell is also a standout wrestler for the Panthers, overcoming a bad knee injury to qualify for the state tournament last winter.

“I do my job, hit who I need to hit, make plays, and whatever glory comes after that is fine by me,” said Campbell, who is a defensive captain. “(Football and wrestling) go hand-in-hand, perfectly. In wrestling, you need balance and you have to have that ‘You’re not going to take me down, I’m going to take you down’ attitude. That attitude, and that hard-nosedness, translates over to football so well. “In wrestling, it’s just you, but in football, you’ve got to bring it together with 10 other people on the field with you. Other than that, they each help you prepare for the other very well.”

Contact Dan Gilles at 329-7135 or dangilles73@gmail.com.

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---