Anders Scores Four Times; North Olmsted Rolls Over Lakewood 42-20

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North Olmsted, Ohio – The North Olmsted Eagles defeated the Lakewood Rangers 42-20 behind a big night from Darren Anders.

Things started quick for the Eagles, North Olmsted scored less than three minutes in when Darren Anders ran in a five-yard touchdown.  The Eagles got the ball back with eight minutes left in the quarter after Albert Wilhelmy threw an interception to North Olmsted’s Nate Eyerman who got hit after the whistle which set up North Olmsted with a short field.  Eyerman finished with one interception, one fumble recovery, and four tackles.

The North Olmsted defense had several standouts on the evening.  Tyler Jones recorded two sacks and Collin Strong recorded a sack.

The Eagles had a third and long at Lakewood’s 24-yard line.  Liam Fay threw a screen pass to Darren Anders who took it the distance to give North Olmsted the 14-0 lead.  Lakewood’s next drive, Milan Jackson fumbled and it was recovered by Eyerman. Four minutes later, Darren Anders ran in another touchdown this time from one yard out.  Anders finished with 151 yards on 23 carries. He had one catch for 24 yards and had four total touchdowns.

To close out the half, North Olmsted went 79 yards in three and a half minutes and scored with 16 seconds left in the half after Liam Fay connected with Owen Juhn from the three-yard line.  The Eagles took a 28-0 lead into the locker room. Fay finished 8-14 for 71 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 70 yards on 13 carries.

Lakewood turned the ball over their first four drives and didn’t score on any of their six drives in the first drive.  The Rangers turned it over a total five times.

“Where we’re at, you can’t turn the ball over,” Lakewood head coach Tim Thome said. “You have to take care of it and that’s football 101.  We’ve got a group that continues to get experience, continues to grow.  Our Quarterback Albert [Wilhelmy] made some really good reads, he’s progressing tremendously.”

The Rangers came out of the half ready to go, they went on a two and a half minute drive capped off by a touchdown pass from Albert Wilhelmy to Evan Hampton for a ten-yard score.  Wilhelmy finished the game 29-39 with 318 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.

The Eagles responded immediately. Darren Anders took the kickoff at the 30-yard line and cut back and weaved through the Rangers defense for a touchdown, his fourth of the night.

“I went left, I looked to the right a little bit and I saw nothing but open field,” Anders said. “Avery [Jones] did a great job blocking downfield, I pretty much scored because of him.”

After a Lakewood turnover on downs, North Olmsted took the ball all the way down to Lakewood’s one-yard line where Liam Fay ran it in for a touchdown.  Lakewood responded, Dwighski Jackson ran in a three-yard touchdown to cut North Olmsted’s lead to 42-13. On the next Lakewood drive, Wilhelmy found Hampton again from 22 yards out to bring the score to 42-20.

Player of the Game: Darren Anders is the player of the game.  Anders rushed for 151 yards on 23 carries and ran in two touchdowns.  He had a 24-yard touchdown reception and he ran back a 70-yard kick return for a touchdown.