ELYRIA — Elyria Catholic learned a lesson from its Week 2 loss to Elyria.
Just as the Panthers were worn down by the size and depth of the Pioneers, the Division IV school employed the same tactic against Centerburg — a Division V school that traveled two hours to Knights of Columbus Field — in a 40-21 victory Friday night.
“It was easy to see on tape that they have a lot of guys that go both ways,” Panthers coach Mike Polevacik said. “We could tell that they were disciplined. They went 8-2 last year and were off to a 2-0 start this year. We have a lot of respect for them.”
The discipline reference was a shot at his team’s performance, as the Trojans finished with only three penalties — all in the second half — while the Panthers shot themselves in both feet with 13 penalties for 135 yards.
“I’m not happy … that was some sloppy play,” Polevacik said. “I didn’t like the way we started again. We’ve gotten off to a slow start in all three games this season.”
Centerburg took a 14-0 lead, then a
21-7 lead after Elyria Catholic’s Conner Riddell returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown.
That’s when the Panthers decided to unveil the Jeremy Holley and Justin Taylor show.
The junior quarterback got into a groove late in the first quarter, and the sophomore running back became his favorite target. Holley, who started with four straight incompletions, connected on his fifth pass with Taylor, who broke loose for a 30-yard score to make it 21-14 with 34 seconds left in the first quarter.
Holley threw an 11-yard touchdown to Connor Hrobat to tie the game, and added a 52-yard score to Taylor, who broke about eight tackles en route to the end zone, to give the Panthers a 27-21 lead at the half.
Holley added two more touchdowns — one each to Hrobat and Taylor — in the second half to put the game away. His five touchdown passes were a career high, and just one off the Lorain County single-game record.
“We have plenty of athletic players on our offense,” Holley said. “There are a lot of great receivers, and it’s nice to have that on a daily basis.”
Taylor finished with 90 yards rushing on 12 carries, and caught nine passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns. But it could have been an even bigger night for the young running back. Taylor had three runs — totaling 131 yards and two touchdowns — called back because of holding penalties.
“It was nice that we bounced back (from the Elyria loss) and scored 40, but we could have scored 80,” Holley said. “We left so many yards and points out on the field tonight. But you can’t dwell on those plays … you have to go back on the next play and try to make up those yards.”
Holley finished with 288 passing yards and benefited greatly from Taylor taking several shovel passes and turning them into huge gains.
“Honestly, I can’t tell you how I do it,” Taylor said of the way he moves through the defense. “It’s just something I do. The line does a great job blocking for me and then I have to make some moves once they get me out in the open.”
Polevacik is thankful the two players are on his roster, and that he has them beyond this season.
“I love Jeremy Holley, but he should be thanking Justin Taylor,” Polevacik said. “Justin has a nonstop motor. He’s got a little of that Barry Sanders in him … you know, with a bit of the shimmy and that low center of gravity.”
AIR ATTACKS: The Trojans were obviously in no rush to return to Central Ohio, as junior quarterback Tyler Stoyle threw 48 passes. Coupled with Holley’s 40 passes, the pair threw 47 incompletions and the game lasted well over three hours.
“We don’t normally throw it that much,” Centerburg coach Jim Stoyle said. “They were a lot bigger than us and we were wearing down on the line, so he was able to get the ball out quicker and we kept with it.”
Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.
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