PARMA, Ohio- The world of sports is a beautiful place. You can truly experience the lowest of lows and the highest of highs. For the Normandy Invaders, it’s time for them to enjoy the good times.
The Invaders defeated the Lutheran West Longhorns by a final score of 26-21. The Invaders and Longhorns battled in what was an old-school kind of game, as Normandy Senior Quarterback Ryan Dengler rushed for 212 yards on 23 carries. Dengler was a key part in the Normandy win, as they were able to march down the field on Lutheran West when they needed to off of big drives led more so by his rushing attack than his passing game. Dengler nearly doubled his passing yards on the night, only throwing for 108 yards and a touchdown on five-for-twelve passing.
The Longhorns got on the board first with a Gerald McHenry sprint to the end zone, something Lutheran West enjoyed from their running back for most of the game. McHenry finished the game with 101 rushing yards and a touchdown on seven carries. would cut the lead to 14-6 after Ryan Dengler plunged across the pylon. Normandy would go for two and would get stopped, putting them in a weird spot.
Normandy would cut the lead to 14-6 after Ryan Dengler plunged across the pylon. Normandy would go for two and would get stopped, putting them in a weird spot down eight points early on in the game.
Brian Deonte Furry quickly made it 14-6 in favor of the Longhorns after an 80-yard burst on the ensuing kickoff. Furry would finish with a combined total of 96 return yards, this being his most effective return of the night by a long shot.
The Invaders tied the game up when Dengler found spark plug Matthew Ashe for six points, as Ashe burned the secondary and raced into the end zone. Normandy converted the two-point conversion this time and the two teams went into halftime even at fourteen apiece.
The game was in a grueling, methodical funk for much of the third quarter as both teams laid into each other like two brick walls colliding. Ryan Dengler broke the tie late in the third and gave the Invaders their first lead of the evening on a 64-yard foot race to the goal line. Another missed extra point put the Invaders only up six points, as they led 20-14.
Furry put the Longhorns back in front with an immediate turnaround, going down the left side of the field for a sixty-five-yard touchdown. The Longhorns led 21-20 in the fourth quarter and would just need a few more stops.
Unfortunately for Lutheran West, Dengler would not allow his team to be denied their third straight victory.
Dengler put his team at the sixteen-yard line before taking a play off to catch his breath. It just so happened the play would be the eventual game-winning score for the Invaders.
Matthew Ashe, who is listed as an athlete on the Normandy roster, showed why he is so crucial to the Invaders’ success when he took the snap from shotgun and sprinted to his right for the touchdown.
“It’s a play we’d been running all night,” stated head coach Brian Darden. “Matt Ashe is a super athlete, so we feel comfortable putting him in any and every situation.”
For those who didn’t know, Ashe was originally a quarterback for the Invaders, so throwing the ball could have been an option. Darden prefers to have Ashe out there in all different kinds of situations.
“He has a stellar arm. Like we told him, he can either try to be the backup quarterback and sit on the bench or he can be the best athlete on the planet. And that’s what he’s been these last three weeks.”
Ashe finished with 137 all-purpose yards and scored both a rushing and receiving touchdown for the Invaders.
The teams exchanged possessions for the last few minutes before the Longhorns got one final chance. With twenty-two seconds remaining in the game, Rory Zakareckis could not move the ball past his fifty-yard line and was stripped on the final play of the game by Darion Green as time expired on the Longhorns with Normandy claiming the 26-21 victory. Zakareckis did have one of his grittier performances, as the Senior Quarterback earned 59 passing yards on five completions while rushing ten times for 64 yards. Zakareckis did fumble twice in the game, one of them coming on that last play from scrimmage.
“I’m just proud of my guys. They went out there, they worked really hard,” Darden mentioned after the game. “Didn’t give up. (They) overcame the tough adversity and handled their business.”
“It was a great game played by two tough teams,” Lutheran West Head Coach Frank Petroff said following the loss. “We just could not get over that hump. We could not capitalize, we made too many mistakes throughout the football game on both sides of the football. It always seemed like we had our backs against the wall. They did an outstanding job, outstanding job. They’re a good football team.”
Normandy’s Darden shared those same thoughts about the game.
“It was a hard fought game for sure. We ended up resorting to a lot of running,” Dengler said after the game. “The most physical team won.”
Dengler also mentioned how the locker room definitely feels the tide turning for the better.
“A lot of momentum now. Everyone’s up, ready to advance to the next week and get better. See if we can get another win.”
When asked about the next two weeks against Parma City School District rivals Valley Forge and Parma, Dengler talked about the team’s familiarity with the schools and the road ahead for the Invaders.
“Those are rivalry games so anything can happen. It’ll be competitive, but I think we get the win though. Definitely.”
Darden kept it short and sweet after the game when asked about the Patriots and Redmen.
“They better be ready.”
Player Of The Game: Normandy Senior Quarterback Ryan Dengler
Dengler carried the ball 23 times, gaining 212 rushing yards and scoring once on the ground. The other part of Dengler’s offensive attack saw him throw for 108 passing yards and a touchdown on 5-12 passing.
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