EATON TWP. — It took exactly 14 seconds for Cody Callaway and Eric Lauer to impact Friday’s Elyria-Midview showdown on Ross Field at Adelsberg Stadium.
“That first play was all Eric,” Callaway said. “I just threw a little quick (sideline pattern) and he ran it 80 yards.”
The huge play set the tone for Midview’s 37-27 win. Callaway threw for 441 yards and four touchdowns, with Lauer scoring the first and last. Lauer finished with eight catches for a school-record 298 receiving yards.
“They made a great catch on the first play of the game,” Elyria coach Kevin Fell said. “Threw it 20 yards (out to the sideline) and he runs it 80. Right then, you’ve got to suspect that maybe we’re not in the game. Maybe their quarterback intimidated us a little bit. He was on and we didn’t get to him very well.”
“I got a great block on the outside by Zac Wilson,” Lauer said. “We grew up playing football together. He’s awesome.”
“We knew we had to get off to a good start,” Midview coach Bill Albright said. “I didn’t realize it would be that good.”
The Callaway-to-Lauer combination was as advertised. Callaway spent the night finding ways to buy time behind a great effort from the offensive line. Lauer and the other receivers — Wilson and Tyler Stephenson — made some great grabs in beating Elyria’s secondary.
Elyria came in off two great defensive performances where its defensive line, keyed by senior Ohio State recruit Tracy Sprinkle, wreaked havoc on Amherst and Elyria Catholic to the tune of 14 sacks. Callaway was sacked just once Friday night. He managed to either throw the ball away or scramble out of trouble when he did feel the pressure.
“I just saw the A and B gap with the linebackers blitzing,” Callaway said. “I tried to scramble away from that and buy myself enough time to throw the ball. All we heard about was their rush with Sprinkle and a couple other guys. (Elyria) is a good football team. I respect them and I hope they respect us now that we’ve played them.”
Midview jumped on Elyria for a 24-0 lead with 11:18 left in the first half. Callaway was 9-for-15 for 236 yards and two touchdown passes by that point. He ran for another score. No one expected the Middies to do that — certainly not Fell.
“They wanted it a lot worse than we did,” Fell said. “That’s all it was. We were not good defensively and we got worse. Offensively, we were pathetic (to start), then we started to play a little bit.
“Give all the credit to Midview. They wanted it. Their quarterback looked great. I just thought they played a great football game. (Callaway) did a tremendous job. (Lauer) did a tremendous job. We got ourselves in a hole and couldn’t battle out.”
Midview’s defense was solid.
It did a decent job containing Elyria’s stable of running backs, at least until the Pioneers changed up their scheme by letting junior Jumarr Lewis run a version of the Wildcat. Sophomore quarterback Hunter Parsh seemed flustered in the pocket and ended his evening with a backbreaking interception by Jared Armstrong after Elyria had climbed back in the game. The Pioneers whittled a 31-7 deficit to 31-27 and had the ball deep in Midview territory with 6:50 left.
“Still, we had a shot at them,” Fell said. “We’re down here first-and-10, but we were limited on what we can do when we aren’t throwing the ball very well. We didn’t play anywhere near the way we’re supposed to play.”
“Our defense sees that offense every day,” Albright said. “What they don’t see is the speed. When they had all three of those young men in (Lewis, Neely and Connell), that’s a deadly combination. We were fortunate to sometimes get some ankle tackles.”
Lewis replaced Parsh at quarterback after he had misfired on a few throws and was picked twice. Lewis had the Middies on their heels for a while. His 71-yard zigzag touchdown started Elyria on a momentum burst that nearly saved the game.
Sprinkle recovered a blocked punt in the end zone on Midview’s next possession and Marsalis Hammons recovered a fumble inside the Midview 25-yard line right after to set up Jordan Connell’s 4-yard score to pull the Pioneers within 31-27 after the extra point was blocked.
Elyria got the ball back with 10:16 to go and moved to the 19-yard line for a first down but couldn’t move the ball closer. Parsh came back in but threw the interception at the goal line. Callaway hooked up with Lauer to ice the game.
“(Elyria) had a good little roll of momentum,” Callaway said. “We prepared all week for them. We knew what we had to do.”
“It’s been like watching a child grow and mature,” Albright said of his team. “We get better every week. To have an offensive line that can protect and to have receivers who can run great routes and catch the ball and to have a kid like Cody in the backfield that can scramble and make great reads, that makes a world of difference. It’s been fun to coach and it’s going to be fun to coach the rest of the way out.”
LINE DRIVE: What appeared to be a weakness when practice began has turned into a huge strength for Midview. “We had only two veterans and three brand-new rookies,” Albright said, “but they have learned and grown and have gotten better. That’s a credit to (line) coach (Todd) Strebel.” Patrick Forrer and Steven Best were the returning lettermen. Don Rader, Evan Branzel, Jacob Asmus and Anthony Jalowiec have been the others contributing to the line.
Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Fan him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.
H.S. Football: Unbeaten Midview starts fast, upends Elyria
