Maple Heights Makes a Statement Against Future LEL Opponent Garfield Heights 64-20

By John Bolino

GARFIELD HEIGHTS, OHIO – Shaq Washington brought his Mustangs into Bulldog country with a freshman quarterback and made a statement Friday night, as they rolled to a 64-20 win over Garfield Heights.

Maple Heights coming into the game was 4th in Division 2 region 6 in the first playoff computer rankings of the season. Garfield Heights coming off a big win against Normandy 51-0 last week were looking to gain a lot of computer points after opening up 15th in the first rankings of the season.

The game started shaky for the Mustangs as on the first series, freshman quarterback Dawon King fumbled a shotgun snap from center.

The Bulldogs swarmed the ball and recovered the ball. on the 22-yard line. A couple plays later Junior quarterback Marcus Carothers threw the ball across the middle middle 8 yards deep in the end zone and junior wide out Marcus Woods. caught a perfect pass in front of the defensive back to make the score 7-0 Garfield Heights.

The lead didn’t last long as King threw a strike on their next possession to Junior wide receiver Keith Allen. for an 18 yard touchdown of their own, Maple Heights went for 2 as King walked off the right side for the conversion to make it 8-7 to end the 1st quarter.

The second quarter is where the game was really broken wide open by the Mustangs. On the Mustangs first possession of the second quarter Junior Delonte Hall, who is listed as a wide receiver, took a direct snap from center and scampered 17 yards for a Mustang touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good to make the score 14-7.

The Bulldogs took over on their own 40-yard line and Carothers took the snap and threw a beautiful lead fade to Senior wide out Jasper Winchester, who caught his defender looking in the backfield at Kentucky commit senior Torrance Davis.

Winchester breezed his way into the end zone and after the field goal the score was 22-14 Maple Heights. Maple spent no time striking back when King threw a strike on a slant pattern on the left hash to Senior Corey Brown, who gave his defender a ride for the last 4 yards for a touchdown strike of 30 yards.

The successful two-point conversion made it 30-14 Mustangs. Davis who had been bottled up all of the first have finally broke free with 4:50 left in the half when he pushed his way for a four-yard touchdown run, making the score 30-20.

On the next kickoff, Brown caught the ball on the run at the Mustangs 25 and raced untouched down the left side for a touchdown to make the score 36-20 late in first half.

The third quarter on the Mustangs first drive Senior Running back Marquise Lane took the ball and ran up the middle untouched for a 57 yard touchdown. The running clock for the second half started as Maple went up 49-20 the Mustangs added two more scores as King threw another touchdown to Brown to make it 56-20 and a capped it off with a 50-yard fumble return by senior defensive back Che Johnson

The final two scores capped the scoring to make the final 64-20

Garfield Heights (2-3) Host Youngstown Boardman next week as Maple Heights (4-1) Travels another short trip to take on Bedford next week.