St. Edward knocks off Rock Creek Christian to remain unbeaten
LAKEWOOD, OHIO - For the third straight week, the St. Edward Eagles took on an opponent from outside of Ohio. And just like the previous two weeks, St. Edward came out victorious, this time a 42-14 winner over Rock Creek Christian Academy (Maryland).
St. Edward, the top team in the SBLive Ohio Power 25 and the No. 9 team in the SBLive/Sports Illustrated national Power 25, wasted no time in taking the lead, as the Eagles scored on their first possession when quarterback Casey Bullock flipped the ball to wide receiver Kyan Mason who raced past the defense for a 32-yard touchdown.
And then on the ensuing Rock Creek Christian possession, St. Edward linebacker Jon Slaper picked up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown to make it 14-0 less than four minutes into the game.
The former running back knew exactly what to do when he got the ball.
"I got really excited once I got the ball in my hands," Slaper said. "From seventh to eighth grade I was a running back. I didn't switch over to linebacker fully until freshman sophomore year. When I got that ball in my hands I saw the blockers and I just got flashbacks."
The Eagles then scored twice late in the second quarter to break the game open as running back Josh Groudle scored from 13 yards out and then Slaper scored another touchdown, this one on an interception that he returned to the end zone.
Rock Creek got on the board on the opening drive of the second half on a touchdown pass by Kash Carter to Jayden Kitchens from five yards out but Eddie Andrews returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown to push the St. Edward lead to 35-6.
Jacob Robinson finished off the scoring for the Eagles when he took it in from 10 yards out to make it 42-6 before a late Rock Creek touchdown produced the final score.
Rock Creek actually outgained the Eagles 297-295, but the St. Edward defense made plays when it needed to, forcing four turnovers. Along with the Slaper fumble recovery and interception, Tayvin Shaw had an interception and Aydin Buchanan ripped the ball out of the wide receiver's hands in the end zone for an interception in the closing seconds of the third quarter.
"I thought Rock Creek did some good things on us," St. Edward head coach Tom Lombardo said. "They completed a lot of passes and they ran the ball. We have had better games all around but we had the two defensive scores, and the big pick in the end zone."
Photo of St. Edward linebacker Jon Slaper by Jeff Harwell
The biggest complaint Lombardo had on the day was that he couldn't get plays for some of his backups because of the running clock for a portion of the fourth quarter.
"It should be an agreement with the coaches that if you sub, it doesn't have to go running flat," Lombardo said. "We're not trying to run the score up. I really feel for the kids that maybe don't get in."
It was a different atmosphere than the Eagles had last week in a nationally televised game against Good Counsel (Maryland) and the opening game against Center Grove (Indiana). Saturday, there were few fans in the opposing stands at First Federal Lakewood Stadium and there weren't television crews everywhere, but Lombardo had gotten his kids ready for the environment.
"I challenged them all week and and before the game that was a challenge," Lombardo said. "Not every game is going to be on ESPN (with a) packed house. It's human nature. You just hope you can execute and keep battling through it."
-- Ryan Isley | ryan@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveoh
