High school football: Longest losing streak in Elyria High history finally ends

ELYRIA — It's over. The longest losing streak in Elyria High history ended Friday night as the Pioneers hung on to beat Bedford 7-6. The win snapped a 15-game skid and is the first at the 'new' Ely Stadium. It wasn't a thing of beauty and it certainly wasn't easy. The winning point sailed just inside the left upright from soccer player Carter Pycroft, who wasn't even listed on Elyria's roster, with 3:45 left in the third quarter. The defense and a tired Jaheim Atkinson took it from there. Atkinson, the younger brother of Chris, who led Elyria's rushing attack for three years under Kevin Fell, finished with 140 tough yards on 29 carries. He had 137 a week ago in a tough loss at Midview. "It meant a lot," Atkinson said, dripping with sweat and still trying to shake off leg cramps that cropped up for the second straight week. "We kept fighting. We got the taste in our mouth so now we want more." First-year coach Devlin Culliver had several players go both ways out of necessity. He was determined to have the best athletes and players on the field, and it worked out. "I guess in the past (Elyria) did some two-platooning," he said. "We don't have enough kids to do that so I told the kids they have to go both ways this year. The coaching staff, we coach both sides of the ball. I'm yelling for the defense, the defensive coaches are yelling to the offense. How we're going to win the game, we'll take it any way we can." The defense was stellar, holding a potent Bedford backfield to 125 yards on the ground. The Bearcats totaled only 196 yards of offense. "We knew that No. 1 was going to try to run it," junior split end and linebacker Jesse Stevens said of quarterback Dasjon Dash. "We had to hit him. He started easing up. "At halftime they were up, but we didn't put our heads down. We came out with the same mentality to hit him and keep hitting him." It was Stevens who got the call on fourth-and-goal at the 2-yard line. He powered his way in to tie the game. Pycroft's kick sailed like a knuckleball but made it through the uprights. "It felt great," Stevens said of the TD. "The line, they got a good push. It felt good scoring on our home field." The saving play of the game came on a second down near midfield with 4:03 left. Dash rolled out to pass but Michael Knapp, who was in on at least a dozen tackles, came in from the right side and drilled him, causing a fumble. Jazariean Drummer recovered at the Bedford 41. "I set up on the receiver so the (tight) end didn't see I was coming," Knapp said. "I fired off the line and gave him a lick. Phenomenal effort by everybody on defense, even the subs. Everybody was ready, everybody was hyped on the sidelines." "Mike Knapp's an old-school football player," Culliver said. "That's why I love him. He's hard-nosed. He's like a Clark Kent type of kid, clean-cut kid, very nice and polite, but on the football field he turns into an animal. We needed someone to make a play. I'm glad it was him." The Pioneers were relieved and excited. "It was just an amazing job by everybody that touched the field," Knapp said. "After three years now and only winning two games counting tonight, it's been tough. It beats you down on Friday nights when you're hurting and you're trying to take a shower with all the turf burns and all that crap. It just felt great to finally win and celebrate." "It's been too long," said junior quarterback Daylan Sharlow, who passed for 94 yards. "We've got to keep going. This isn't the last one." "I've been waiting for this for a long time," senior two-way lineman Nate Bryant said. "A lot of sleepless nights. That game (last week) didn't define us at all." Culliver may have done his best coaching job getting the kids ready for Bedford after the disheartening loss to Midview. "They were thinking the whole season hung on game No. 1," he said. "I had to explain it doesn't. The whole season hangs on the whole season. I told them tonight we won so our season didn't hang on Game 2, either. You play every game week-by-week." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. Elyria 7, Bedford 6 Bedford 0 6 0 0 —6 Elyria 0 0 7 0 —7 Scoring B— Verterio Smith-Lowery 13 pass from Dasjon Dash (kick blocked) E— Jesse Stevens 2 run (Carter Pycraft kick) Team statistics &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;E &emsp;&emsp;B First downs &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;16 &emsp;&emsp;13 -- by rushing &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;8 &emsp;&emsp;8 -- by passing &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;5&emsp;&emsp;3 -- by penalty &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;3 &emsp;&emsp;2 Yards rushing &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;168 &emsp;&emsp;125 Yards passing &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;94 &emsp;&emsp;71 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;262 &emsp;&emsp;196 Passes att./comp. &emsp;&emsp;17/9 &emsp;&emsp;13/4 Intercepted by &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;1 Fumbles/lost &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;3/2 &emsp;&emsp;1/1 Penalties/yards &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;10/100 &emsp;&emsp;8/55 Individual statistics RUSHING—(B) Andre Bethea 8-48, Kharon Fletcher 5-39, Jaylan Clark 2-28, Dasjon Dash 10-9, Allen Cameron 2-7, Desean Courts 4-(-1), Raymell Hester 4-(-5). (E) Jaheim Atkinson 29-140, Daylan Sharlow 9-26,Core'Aun Washington 1-2, Jesse Stevens 2-0. PASSING—(B) Dash 4-11-71-1-1, Desmond Whitfield 0-2-0-0-0. (E) Sharlow 9-17-94-0-1. RECEIVING—(B) Jaylen Redman 1-32, Andre Bethea 1-20, Verterio Smith-Lowery 1-13, Ryan Klotz 1-6. (E) Andrew Palos 3-51, Washington 3-29, Jesse Stevens 2-19, Drummer 1-(-3).