St. Edward Eagles named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard

MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) Eagles have officially been named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its fourteenth year honoring football.

This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for 100 of the top teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Rankings. For football, only 50 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 17,000 competing varsity teams, this puts the Eagles ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!

In order to be eligible, the team not only had to be nationally ranked, but also had to win a state championship. Beating Colerain 24-10 in the OHSAA Division I state championship contest on Friday, November 30 marked the completion of an incredible 11-3 season — and earned St. Edward an invitation to the Tour of Champions.

Trailing 10-7 at intermission, St. Edward's defense stepped up in the second half and shut out Colerain. The Eagles, meanwhile scored 17 straight second half points at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio to secure St. Edward's third state football title in five years and the school's fourth overall. Quintel Kent reeled in Garrett Dzuro's 19-yard scoring strike to put St. Edward up 24-10 with seven-minutes, 15-seconds remaining in regulation to cap the game's scoring.

Much like they did throughout the second half, the Eagle defense came up big in the fourth quarter, stopping Colerain at the Eagle five and 37-yard lines to secure the win. Jordan Castleberry scored on a one-yard run in the second quarter before Gianluca Russo knotted the score at 10-10 in the third quarter with a 25-yard field goal. Kent then gave the Eagles the lead for good when he hauled in a 23-yard scoring strike from Dzuro late in the third quarter.

Dzuro completed all 12 of his passes for 150 yards and a pair of scores, while running for 74 yards on 18 carries. Castleberry led an Eagle ground game that churned out 192 yards, with 89 yards and a score on 19 carries. Kent caught eight balls for 120 yards and the two touchdowns as St. Edward out yarded Colerain 342-245. Rosario Riggs and Richard Johnson led the St. Edward defense with 11 tackles each. Riggs was in on a pair of sacks, while Daylan Jernigan recovered a fumble and picked off a pass. St. Edward opened postseason play with a 21-19 win over St. Ignatius. Then, following a 56-35 triumph over Euclid, the Eagles kicked in the door to the Final Four with a 24-14 victory over Mentor. St. Edward bumped Olentangy Liberty from state championship contention with a 42-16 semifinal win to set up the championship bout with Colerain.



The Eagles opened the season with a 42-39 loss to Mentor. Then, following a 21-20 loss to Cass Tech, St. Edward upended Cathedral Prep 35-3 to start the season 1-2. The Eagles tacked on five more wins before dropping a 21-7 decision to St. Ignatius. St. Edward did not lose again and outscored its opposition 452-261. Tom Lombardo's club held seven foes to 14 points or less, while scoring 30 points or more eight times.

Having won 11 of its final 12 contests of the year, St. Edward set itself up for some rather high rankings come season's end. Not only are the Eagles the top-ranked team in MaxPreps' Ohio Division I Rankings, St. Edward is the best team in all of Ohio. Lombardo's club is ranked No. 10 in MaxPreps' National Rankings and played its way into the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Writers' Poll at No. 24!

These incredible season achievements have earned the St. Edward Eagles an invitation to the 14th Annual Tour of Champions. Please join us in the gymnasium for a pep rally as we celebrate with the football team, coaching staff, students and fans on Friday, January 11 at 2 p.m.

For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.