Bay’s Best Bulldozes Panthers

ELYRIA – Nick Best had a night to remember at Knights of Columbus Field on the campus of Elyria Catholic High School.

It was a night the Panthers would probably rather forget.

In a game with huge playoff implications for both teams, Best gashed the Panthers’ defense for 272 yards and five touchdowns in the Rockets’ 37-27 Great Lakes Conference win. The 272 rushing yards were the second-highest total of his career (he gained 304 against Fairview in September) while the five touchdowns were a career-high.

“Nick Best is a good player and we couldn’t stop him when we needed to,” Elyria Catholic senior defensive tackle Mickey O’Neil said. “That’s why they won the game.”

The Panthers (4-3 overall, 2-2 in GLC play) actually cut Bay’s lead to 16-13 late in the third quarter, but Best first capped a mammoth 14-play drive that ate up over eight minutes with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Just :59 later, after the Panthers failed to field the ensuing kickoff, Best was in the end zone again after a 33-yard touchdown run that gave the Rockets (5-1, 3-1 GLC) a 30-13 lead and blew the game open.

He would add another touchdown, his fifth of the game, with 3:14 left in the game on a 29-yard burst up the middle.

Best actually found the end zone again, this time from 11 yards out in the game’s final :45, but the play was called back because of a holding penalty. Panthers’ fans weren’t very pleased about the Rockets’ attempt to pour it on by trying to score when the Panthers couldn’t stop the clock in the final seconds of the contest.

After the penalty the Rockets, mercifully, took a knee to end the game.

“It was a feel call…I don’t know,” Bay coach Ron Rutt said about trying to score with the game well in hand. “We felt like we were up against it all night long here so we kept fighting.”

With the Panthers and Rockets both playing in the new Great Lakes Conference, you can bet Elyria Catholic will have long memories.

Senior Jacob Kuchta completed 23 of 31 passes for 209 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Panthers, who will host Normandy next Friday. Elyria Catholic also picked up 119 rushing yards…75 from Kuchta.

“I’m really proud of our guys because they kept fighting all game long,” Rutt said. “We had some adversity with putting the ball on the ground and we were able to overcome that. I’m very proud of our offensive line and Nick Best ran the ball extremely hard. The defense stepped up when it needed to and made things really difficult on Elyria Catholic.

“That’s a heck of an offense they have and for us to be able to slow them down like we did, especially in the first half when we got some huge stops, was great.”

This season Bay had to replace four of the five starting offensive linemen that led the Rockets to the Division IV state quarterfinals. The only returning starter, senior Matt Tashjan (5-11, 235) has been joined by freshman A.J. Kruzer (5-6, 191), sophomores Sean Heideloff (6-0, 200) and Brendan O’Doherty (6-3, 268) and junior John Reid (5-11, 190) to form one of the top units in the area.

“Before the season everyone talked about us having a new offensive line, wondering if we were going to be able to have the same kind of success we had last year,” Best said. “Watching these guys in the weight room I knew we could even if no one else did.

“It’s so much fun, week in and week out, to run behind them because they’re so dominant. It’s a great experience.”

How dominant was Bay’s offensive line against Elyria Catholic? Towards the end of the third quarter, with the Rockets clinging to a 16-13 lead, Bay got the ball at its own 44-yard line. Everyone in the stadium knew what they were going to do…hand the ball to Best.

Best carried the ball on 11 of the Rockets’ next 14 plays, including nine in a row. With nine Panthers in the box, Best was able to pick up 31 yards on those 11 carries…not exactly eye-popping but good enough to keep the chains moving and the clock rolling.

Best ended the drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge.

“It’s an awesome feeling and so much fun when they know what you’re trying to do and can’t stop you from doing it,” Best said. “They knew what we were going to do, we knew what we were going to do and it’s a great feeling to see us play with power like that. Up front that’s what we did.”

Bay 37, Elyria Catholic 27

Bay                               0    7    9    21     — 37

Elyria Catholic                       0     7    6    14   —  27

Scoring

B – Nick Best 14 run (Cole Gergye kick)

EC – Sam Best 4 run (Becky Horvath kick)

B – Safety, Joe DeBarr tackled Elyria Catholic runner in end zone

B – N. Best 58 run (Gergye kick)

EC – Cole Virgin 3 pass from Jacob Kuchta (kick failed)

B – N. Best 1 run (Gergye kick)

B – N. Best 33 run (Gergye kick)

EC – Kuchta 14 run (Tanner Brooks kick)

B – Best 29 run (Gergye kick)

EC – Donovan Warfield 6 pass from Kuchta (Horvath kick)