High school football playoffs: Elyria staggered early, suffers first-round knockout to Wadsworth

WADSWORTH — In postseason football, he who strikes first, strikes best. That was the theme at Art Wright Stadium on Friday night as Wadsworth ran — or better yet passed — roughshod over Elyria, 44-13, in the opening round of the Division I playoffs. By the time the Pioneers caught their breath, the Grizzlies were out in front 23-0 and, for all practical purposes, the game was over. Wadsworth (7-4) advances to play Medina next week seeking to revenge an earlier defeat. Elyria finishes 5-6. "That was part of the plan," Wadsworth coach Justin Todd said. "We knew we couldn't wait to react. That's football. You've got to go out and initiate the fight." "They threw the first punch and we just didn't recover until it was too late," Elyria coach Devlin Culliver said. "Hats off to them. They're a good team. We just didn't come out and set the tone. They set it." The Grizzlies certainly did set the tone. Elyria won the toss and elected to go on offense. That might have been an unwise decision. Wadsworth stopped the Pioneers on a three-and-out with a couple of bad snaps hurting the series. Elyria senior center Markhi Boone was out on concussion protocol forcing Culliver to insert a freshman in the lineup. "We wanted to play as physical as possible," said Wadsworth's Aaron Ries, a two-way lineman and state wrestling champion. "We knew they had a lot of good athletes. You just have to hit them in the mouth." Wadsworth was forced to punt but Elyria was offside on the attempt giving the Grizzlies a fresh set of downs. That's all they needed. Luke Fischer hooked up with Will Stark for a 52-yard touchdown and the horse was out of the barn. "Absolutely," senior linebacker Isaiah Johnson said. "We didn't bring the aggressiveness that we usually bring into a game. We came in the second half. We made some little adjustments and it went how we wanted it to go. We kept having little blown coverages and stuff like that." Another bad snap on a punt attempt ended up being a safety giving Wadsworth a 9-0 lead with 6:01 to play in the first quarter. "It was huge," Todd said. "Special teams can change a game, right? Anytime you get a positive play on special teams, it gives you an opportunity to capitalize." Fischer and tailback Kyle Figuray took over from there behind Wadsworth's undersized but quick offensive line. Fischer tossed three touchdowns — two to the fleet Aaron Keating — and finished with 264 yards passing. Figuray scored twice and rushed for 93 yards. "The whole game plan this week was to throw the first punch," said Figuray, who had missed a couple of games with an injury. "We knew we were probably a little undersized, especially in the box. Throw the first punch and keep going till the last whistle." Elyria did show its heart by moving the ball late in the half but settled for a pair of Tim Rader field goals. Wadsworth led 30-6 at halftime. "We found ourselves scrambling to get back in the game," Culliver said. "The whole moment was probably bigger than what we anticipated. "The center we put in is a ninth-grader. I'm sure he felt the whole world was crashing down on him. Big job to be thrown into a playoff game." Lance Glover was the bulwark in the backfield, finishing with 116 yards and the Pioneers' lone touchdown, an 18-yard run that pulled Elyria within 30-13 with 8:00 left in the third quarter but that was about the sum of the offense. "The season didn't go as we expected it to," Glover said. "You have to go out and play hard. I appreciate the effort from everybody." Penalties played a part, too. Elyria was called for 13 penalties for 101 yards. Wadsworth was flagged nine times for 100. The Pioneers couldn't get its passing game off the ground. Elyria finished with -4 yards throwing the ball and quarterback Ryan Klotz was sacked three times and had a bad snap roll past him for a 20-yard loss. Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com