The Book Shelf LLC brings you a recap for week four Friday battle between the Parma Redmen and the Elyria Catholic Panthers.
PARMA, OHIO – They say in football it’s a game of inches, and for the Parma Redmen, those inches paid off Friday night in a thrilling 14-13 victory over the Elyria Catholic Panthers.
The inches needed for Parma came on the Panthers final drive, as EC’s kicker, Tanner Brooks, missed a 23-yard field goal in the final seconds that would have given the Panthers the win with :12 seconds left.
The Redmen defense stood tall in the final Panthers drive, making sure running back Daryl Davis Jr. didn’t break free to gain even more yards to put Brooks in a position for a shorter field goal.
“That kicker is one heck of a weapon,” Redmen coach Bruce Saban said of Brooks, who made two field goals before missing the potential game-winner.
“I certainly didn’t know it was going to come down to one kick, but hats off to him he made a bunch of kicks in the film.
“Our defensive philosophy in that last drive is just to make stops, and we did not want to put it in that kicker’s hands, but I think it was the right decision on their part to let the kid try to win it.”
With the win the Redmen improve to 4-1 on the season, and they are now 2-0 in Great Lakes Conference play.
The Panthers fall to 3-2 with the tough loss, 1-1 in the GLC.
Parma got a solid night from quarterback Kyle Lyon, who went 10-for-18 for 137 yards and a touchdown, and he also caught a 38-yard touchdown in the final quarter.
Redman running back Mark Post had 43 yards on the ground, but his throw to Lyon put Parma back to down just 13-12 after EC took a 13-6 lead in the fourth quarter.
Post also hauled in the two-point conversion that ended up being the difference.
Davis ran for 112 yards on 31 carries for the Panthers, quarterback Jeff Spencer was 18-for-28 for 144 yards.
Parma got off to a fast start, using a little improvisation from quarterback Lyon.
On their first possession and facing a 3rd-and-3 from their own 39, Lyon scrambled until he was able to find wide out Andrew Shields who smartly came back to the ball, made the catch and a nice move to race to the end zone to make it 6-0 with 9:32 to play in the first quarter.
The Redmen went for two and failed, but still had the early advantage thanks to the 61-yard touchdown pass from Lyon to Shields.
Parma’s defense was stout in the first half, making sure every time Elyria Catholic leading running back Davis Jr. touched the ball, he had little to know room to run.
Davis broke off a 14-yard run late in the half, but otherwise was a non-factor, and was held to a total of just 20 yards on seven carries.
Panthers quarterback Jeff Spencer had to work for every yard in the first half, and by the end of 24 minutes he was just 5-for-9 for 29 yards.
Parma was led by Lyon, who was 9-for-15 for 134 yards and the long TD to Shields.
The Panthers came out motivated to start the third quarter, and finally put a drive together that resulted in points, but not as many as they wanted.
Davis broke off a 14-yard run to start the Panthers drive, and Spencer found wide out Zach Evans with an 18-yard catch and run to advance the ball to the Parma 42.
Three plays later on third down Spencer came through again with his biggest pass of the night, as he found wide out Donovan Warfield with 
a 27-yard gain to put the ball on the Parma 13.
The Redmen defense forced a third down, and Spencer found Doug Taylor Jr. with what would have been an 8-yard touchdown and a possible lead.
Instead, a costly personal foul was called on the Panthers, and the ball was moved back forcing a 3rd-and-13 from the 17.
The Panthers couldn’t convert, and kicker Tanner Brooks hit a 34-yard field goal to make it a 6-3 Parma lead with 8:09 to play third quarter.
After a quick Parma possession, the Panthers went back to work, and moved the ball from midfield to the Parma 26, when Brooks again nailed a field goal, this time from 43 yards.
The kick with 4:26 to play in the third quarter made it a 6-6 game.
The Panthers second half dominance continued, as they started the fourth quarter on a long drive which finally netted them the lead for the first time.
The drive covered 72 yards in 12 plays and took 5:47 off the fourth quarter clock.
Davis ran for 30 yards on eight carries on the drive, and a huge fourth down penalty on the Redmen for offsides gave the Panthers a first down on the Parma three-yard line.
Running back Tony LoParo went the final three yards to give EC the 13-6 lead following the Brooks extra point with 6:10 left.
The Redmen came right back, as they threw a little trickery into their offensive game plan to take the lead back.
A big pass interference call put the ball at Panthers 48, and after a pair of Durham runs of 5 and 6 yards, the Redmen went into their bag of tricks.
From the 38 Parma called a double reverse, with the ball in the hands of running back Post, who threw a perfect pass to Lyon who was wide open for the touchdown.
Parma went for two, and Lyon hit Post in the back of the end zone with a jump ball for two points and put the Redmen back up 14-13 with 4:13 to play.
The Panthers used trickery of their own as they got the ball at the 41 to start their next drive, and on 4th-and-4 from the 47, Banjoff took the snap and rushed for 13 yards and a first to the Parma 40.
They continued to march downfield, and eventually got it down to the Redmen 8-yard-line with :12 seconds to play.
Brooks marched out to attempt the 23-yard field goal, and Parma called their final timeout to ice the young kicker.
It worked, as the kick went wide right, and the Redmen team and faithful celebrated the one-point 14-13 win.
Parma will host St.Ignatius on Saturday, October 1st at 7pm at Byers Field. Elyria Catholic in week six will play Holy Name at home on Friday, September 30th.
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