High school football: Elyria Catholic drops Elyria from next season's schedule

ELYRIA — The Battle of Elyria has been put on hold. Heather Beck, Elyria High's athletic director, said she received a call from Elyria Catholic AD Jim Piazza that the school had picked up Liberty-Benton to replace Elyria for next season's opener. This comes on the heels of former EC coach Brian Fox leaving the Panthers to become Elyria's coach. "I actually found out through a direct message on Twitter that they had picked up Liberty-Benton", Beck said. "Jim (Piazza) called to confirm." Liberty-Benton, a Division V school near Findlay, finished 8-4 last season, losing in the second round of the playoffs to Liberty Center. Piazza said the Panthers will travel to Liberty-Benton to start the season. It's a one-year contract. "Emotions are running high right now and we thought it best to take a break," Piazza said. Fox had mixed emotions about the rivalry game being canceled for next season. "Some ways are good and some are bad," he said. "I hated the attention of the move. I don't like to be in the spotlight or being the topic of conversation and it would be hard to go against the young men I love. "On the other hand, this is very late in the process and puts us in a bad spot trying to find a Week 1 opponent. It's definitely not ideal for any team to have a week up in the air with very few options." As of now, Elyria has no one scheduled for the first week of the season. The schools have played seven times since 2010 with the Pioneers winning five and the Panthers two. Elyria Catholic won 14-6 at Dan Reaser Stadium last season. This year's game would have been played at Ely Stadium. Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.