<H1 class=red>Eagles second to none
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St. Ed dominates second half, tops No. 1 Glenville
Sunday, November 20, 2005 Eddie Dwyer
Plain Dealer Reporter
St. Edward's standout junior safety/ tailback Nate Oliver stood tall against the brisk winds in Par ma's Byers Field on Saturday night and talked about the Eagles' second-half domination.
"They hadn't played four quarters all year," Oliver said after St. Edward took command of the final 24 minutes and wore down previously undefeated Glenville, 17-7, in the Division I, Region 1 championship football game. "We came out in the second half, made them play four quarters and showed them what football is all about."
The Eagles (12-0), behind big-time performances by Oliver, junior tailback Frank Edmonds, senior quarterback Brandon Frohnapple and their relentless offensive line and defense, eliminated the nation's sixth-ranked team and staked claim to being the top program in The Plain Dealer's seven-county coverage area.
Glenville (12-1) and St. Edward finished 1-2, respectively, in the final regular-season area poll.
"We came out in the second half with the intentions of just slamming it down their throats," said Eagles 6-4, 290-pound all-district senior offensive tackle Joe Thomas, who helped show the way for Edmonds' 151 rushing yards on 27 carries and Oliver's 117 yards on 15 carries. "This is huge, it's just huge. This shows the whole city what we're made of."
What St. Edward coach John Gibbons is convinced his team is made of is courage. He said his Eagles showed that time and again as they "hung tough" with the Tarblooders in the first half.
Glenville, which defeated St. Edward, 32-7, in last year's regional semifinals, struck first on a six-play, 56-yard march.
On third-and-15 from the Eagles' 32, Tarblooders all-district senior quarterback Arvell Nelson found senior wideout Bryant Milligan on a crossing pattern. Milligan made a nice running catch, juked a defender at the 5 and went into the end zone. Alex Bonilla's extra point extended Glenville's lead to 7-0 with 6:32 remaining in the opening quarter.
The key play in the drive was a 31-yard pass from Nelson to senior wideout Daven Jones, which came off a third-and-12 from the Tarblooders' 42.
St. Edward responded with a 27-yard field goal by junior Ben Rios and the Eagles dodged a bullet when senior wideout/defensive back Mark Dvoroznak recovered a fumble at the St. Edward 9. The recovery came after Glenville senior tailback Bruce Frieson raced 52 yards to the Eagles' 2.
"It was in the trenches, they dominated," said Tarblooders coach Ted Ginn Sr. "If we didn't make mistakes in the first half, I think we would have been OK. But all hats are off to St. Eds, they have a great team."
The domination Ginn spoke of started with a seven-play, 93-yard drive that gave the Eagles their first lead of the night, 10-7, with 2:46 remaining in the third quarter. The drive featured a 1-yard touchdown run by senior fullback Matthew Staples and was highlighted by a 70-yard run by Oliver that gave St. Edward a first down at the 15.
Following an interception by senior cornerback Chris Divis, the Eagles, behind Frohnapple, marched 77 yards in 12 plays and scored on a 6-yard run by Oliver with just over nine minutes left.
St. Edward's defense then bottled up every comeback attempt by the Tarblooders and the Eagles' faithful among the standing-room crowd of 12,000-plus stood and cheered as Oliver's second-effort running took its toll on both Glenville and the game clock.
The Eagles, who totaled 407 yards of offense, will face Massillon (12-1) in the big-school state semifinals Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Rubber Bowl in Akron. St. Edward will be attempting to advance to the Division I championship game for the second time in three years.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 216-999-4677.
