The Elyria Catholic Panthers will face off against the Lake Catholic Cougars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Lake Catholic took a loss in their last contest and will be looking to turn the tables on Elyria Catholic, who comes in off a win.
Lake Catholic will square off against a team with plenty of momentum: Elyria Catholic extended their winning streak to three on Friday. The Panthers strolled past St. Vincent-St. Mary with points to spare, taking the game 28-14.
Elyria Catholic got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Corey Armelin out in front who rushed for 81 yards and one touchdown. The bulk of those rushing yards came from one huge play: a run that gained an incredible 65 yards. Zion Castillo was another key rusher, rushing for 130 yards and one TD.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Elyria Catholic was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 299 rushing yards. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 82 rushing yards per game earlier this season, but in their last five games they've averaged 258.7.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Elyria Catholic's defense and their five sacks. Jaseer McElya was especially locked on to St. Vincent-St. Mary's QB and sacked him three times.
Meanwhile, Lake Catholic unfortunately witnessed the end of their four-game winning streak on Friday. They fell 28-21 to Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. While the Cougars had to settle for second, they closed the game well in the third quarter, where they outscored the Royals 7-0.
Elyria Catholic will have to contain Danny Zmorowski as he made an impact in Lake Catholic's last game. He rushed for 101 yards and a pair of scores.
The win got Elyria Catholic back to even at 3-3. As for Lake Catholic, their loss dropped their record down to 4-2.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the trenches. Elyria Catholic has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 170.3 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Lake Catholic, though, as they've been averaging only 94.5 rushing yards. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Elyria Catholic was dealt a bruising 49-6 defeat at the hands of Lake Catholic when the teams last played back in October of 2024. That contest was all but decided by halftime, at which point the Panthers were down 35-6.
