Stanzi leads Cougars' comeback over Panthers
Saturday, October 01, 2005 Jack McDermott
Plain Dealer Reporter
Senior quarterback Ricky Stanzi made a triumphant return to Lake Catholic's starting lineup Friday night, rallying the Cougars to a 26-14 North Coast League win over the Panthers.
Stanzi, who suffered a mild concussion in the first half of last Saturday's win against Holy Name, led the Cougars back from an early 14-0 deficit.
"We were fortunate that it was only the slightest of concussions," Cougars coach Mike Bell said. "There was never any doubt in our minds that he wasn't going to be right back out there [last night]."
The Panthers (5-1, 1-1) took a 7-0 lead 41 seconds into the game after Lake Catholic's Bryan Vidmar fumbled on the opening kickoff, and EC's Cody Schuster recovered on the Cougars' 23. Elyria Catholic quarterback Rob McFarland completed a 15-yard pass to sophomore Richie Baker to the 8, and on the next play, Panthers junior Chase Mason ran up the middle for a touchdown.
Mason scored again, this time on a 16-yard run, with 6:19 left in the first quarter to cap a seven-play, 48-yard drive.
That would be it for the Panthers' scoring as the Cougars (6-0, 2-0) regrouped to trail, 14-12, at halftime.
Mason, who needed 89 yards to reach the 1,000-yard mark, collected 145 on 26 carries.
Stanzi was in top form, completing 13 of 20 attempts for 236 yards, including touchdown passes of 20, 17 and 70 yards to senior wide receiver Vince Petruziello. He closed out the scoring with a 3-yard pass to Dave Jaranovic, who caught the ball after it deflected off the hands of Elyria Catholic senior Nick Spahar.
"Stanzi's definitely a special kid," Elyria Catholic coach Dave McFarland said. "He's a phenomenal athlete.
"But I'm very proud of my kids and the way they hung in there. We went toe-to-toe with a great football team, and for the better part of the first three quarters, we had them on the ropes."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 800-767-2821
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.cleveland.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.ads/www.cleveland.com/xml/story/sh/shfot/@StoryAd"></SCRIPT>