Springfield Ends Maumee’s Undefeated Streak
BY ANDREW ROWER — MIRROR SPORTS
Springfield handed Maumee its first loss of the 2008 season last Friday as Blue Devils senior quarterback Eric Page racked up 483 yards and scored seven touchdowns in a 55-41 upset win on homecoming night.
The Panthers actually began the game’s second quarter with a 20-6 lead but saw Springfield come back to score 21 unanswered points over the next 11 minutes.
Runs of 11 and 18 yards and a 26-yard pass to senior receiver Jake Glover helped set up Page’s second touchdown of the night just four minutes into the second and his extra point trimmed the lead down to seven at 20-13.
The Blue Devils defense then forced a quick punt after linebacker Rick Meek, defensive back Ray Watson and defensive end Tony Shepler – all seniors – combined for a trio of sacks during Maumee’s next possession.
Six plays later, Page connected with senior receiver Taylor Johnson for a 28-yard touchdown completion.
Page’s point-after tied the game at 20-20 with 1:56 left in the opening half.
Amazingly, both teams scored again before halftime.
Springfield caught a break when Watson recovered a Panthers fumble on the 46-yard line, setting up a 30-yard touchdown pass from Page to Glover.
Page’s extra point gave Maumee just 43.1 seconds to tie things back up.
After moving the chains with completions to junior receivers Nick Gebhart, Erik Studyvin and Damon Contat, Panthers junior quarterback Jake Goatley found Contat open once again – this time for a 21-yard touchdown play.
Jamie Brower’s extra point sailed through the uprights with just 5.7 seconds showing on the clock and the teams eventually took to the locker room with the scoreboard reading 27-27.
The Blue Devils retook the lead midway through the third quarter when Page broke free for a 66-yard touchdown run and converted the point-after, and Springfield then began the fourth by forcing a three-and-out Panthers punt.
Leading 34-27, the Blue Devils next saw runs of 14 and 46 yards by Page, setting up a 1-yard touchdown plunge from Shepler.
Page’s extra point pushed the score to 41-27 with 9:58 remaining in the game.
To their credit, the Panthers refused to give in, instead answering with a 50-yard touchdown pass from Goatley to Studyvin that was sprung by a nice block downfield by Gebhart.
Brower’s point-after brought Maumee back to within a touchdown at the 8:05 mark and the Panthers defense followed up by forcing an immediate Springfield punt.
Unfortunately for Maumee, though, the ensuing punt was fumbled and recovered by Blue Devils senior defensive end Patrick Hartman on the Panthers 16-yard line.
Page rumbled into the end zone one play later and then added the extra point for a 48-34 Springfield lead.
Sacks by junior nose tackle Josh Chung and senior defensive end Damian Smith then helped to give the Blue Devils the ball back after a turnover on downs, allowing Springfield to add an insurance touchdown on an 11-yard pass from Page to sophomore running back Alex Grogg.
Page’s extra point gave the Blue Devils 55 points on the night.
Maumee answered 48 seconds later when long Goatley passes to Gebhart and senior receiver Jay Hall set up a 1-yard touchdown run by senior running back Kyle Bowell.
Brower’s point-after cut Springfield’s lead down to 14 points, but that’s as close as the Panthers got.
The Blue Devils recovered the ensuing onside kick attempt and needed just one kneel-down by Page to effectively end the game.
Page scored the night’s first touchdown from a yard out just 3:45 in, after connecting with Glover for a 51-yard reception on the game’s second play from scrimmage.
The Panthers responded with three straight touchdowns by Bowell – one from 20 yards out with 6:32 remaining in the first quarter, one from 14 yards out with 5:44 still showing on the clock and the third from four yards out at the 1:44 mark.
Page ended up completing 9-of-16 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns and ran the ball 37 times for 306 yards and four more scores. He also connected on seven of the Springfield’s eight extra points.
Glover reeled in three of those passes for 107 yards and a touchdown and Shepler ran the ball seven times for 57 yards and a touchdown.
Watson (two sacks), Hartman (sack and a fumble recovery), Page and senior linebacker Rick Meek (two sacks) led the Springfield defense on the night, with Chung, Smith, junior brothers Ken and Jon Guercio and sophomore linebacker Nick Bombalicki also playing well.
Goatley completed 17-of-27 Maumee passes – to seven different receivers – for 294 yards and two touchdowns, despite being sacked six times.
Bowell gained 67 yards and four touchdowns on just nine carries and also caught two passes for 15 more yards.
Contat and Studyvin each recorded 67 receiving yards and a touchdown to lead the Panthers receivers and senior Mikkal Johnson (52 yards), Gebhart (50 yards), Hall (30 yards) and senior Bryant Hoffman (8 yards) also got into the act.
Additionally, sophomore running back Eric Long gained 20 rushing yards on three carries.
Linemen Drew Cleghorn and Ben Kurmin, linebackers Brad Kurtz and Anthony Chambers and senior defensive end Wade Weaver all shined for the Panthers defense, despite the loss.
The Blue Devils (4-3, 2-2 in Northern Lakes League play) will round out the regular season against Anthony Wayne (4-3, 2-2), Rossford (0-7) and Perrysburg (5-2, 3-1).
Maumee (6-1, 3-1) will face Northview (1-6, 0-4), Anthony Wayne and Southview (7-0).
MHS Boys Kick Past Southview
BY KYLE BORCHERS — MIRROR SPORTS
The Maumee boys soccer team beat Southview 2-1 at Kazmaier Stadium last Tuesday.
The Cougars actually took a 1-0 lead only 10:30 into the match, and even though Maumee looked sloppy early, the Panthers tied it up when junior Josh Nichols knocked one in with about 10 minutes left in the half.
With 6:15 remaining until intermission, senior Stefan Zilenovski scored on a header for what turned out to be the deciding goal. Senior Jamie Brower got the assist on a nice throw-in.
The Panthers outshot Southview 7-5 in the first half, and Maumee sophomore keeper Jake Olman had three saves.
Probably Olman’s best save, however, came about three minutes into the second half when he reached back high over his head to pull in the ball.
Later, junior Steve Bruder played solid defense to thwart a Southview breakaway.
With 3:30 left in the contest, Brower had a free kick from a tough angle for a potential insurance goal.
Although Brower had some nice tail on the kick, junior goalie Alex Jurek came up with the grab.
A shot by Maumee junior Austin Rine was just wide right with 45 seconds to go.
Finally, the last real scoring chance was with 25 seconds left, but the shot sailed high for the Cougars.
For the match, Maumee outshot Southview 16-10. Junior Zach Jackson had the goal for the visitors.
Jurek ended up with eight saves and Olman had four.
Central 3, Maumee 2
On Saturday, the Panthers lost 3-2 to Central Catholic at Kazmaier.
Brower and junior Nick Wong scored for Maumee.
For Central, Felix had a pair of goals and Tracey notched the other one.
Lady Panthers Tie Clay, Draw Springfield In Sectionals
BY KYLE BORCHERS — MIRROR SPORTS
Maumee and Clay played to a scoreless tie in girls soccer action at Kazmaier Stadium last Monday.
Then on Wednesday, Maumee lost 3-0 in a Northern Lakes League match at Southview.
The Cougars totally controlled the first half of play, but they had nothing to show for it, as it was nil-nil at the break.
Led by junior Amanda Freeman and seniors Kate Waggoner and Leslie Thomson, the Maumee defense kept the match scoreless, despite being outshot 14-2 by Southview.
Junior Kailey Paszko had the first shot for the Panthers, in the 26th minute, after Southview already had 12.
Paszko got another shot off 3:15 before halftime, but junior keeper Erin Roy made a nice save.
Maumee couldn’t continue the magic act it pulled off in the first half, as the Cougars scored barely a minute after intermission on a goal from senior Missy Szabo. Classmate Maggie Jackson had a nice assist on the play.
Minutes later, a header by Maumee senior Alyvia Lieber was wide left.
With 31:08 remaining in the match, senior Courtney Saba scored on a pass from Emily Bakian to make it 2-0.
After Freeman had done a great job containing senior Emily Beddoes – who looks like a gazelle on the field with her lanky figure and great speed – Beddoes banged in her own rebound when Thomson left the net to challenge her with 3:31 to go.
Southview outshot Maumee 9-5 in the second half, making it a 23-7 disparity for the game.
“We are satisfied with how we played against Clay, but disappointed with the Southview match,” said Maumee coach Steve Kikolski.
“Hopefully, we can gain some confidence and momentum to get on track before the tournament.”
The Panthers will face Springfield in the Division I sectional tourney on Wednesday, October 15 at Southview – a week after the Blue Devils host Maumee in Holland.
Bad news from last week is that senior Val Andryc, one of Maumee’s best defenders coming into the season, is out for the season with a knee injury – a problem that forced her to miss much of the 2007 campaign as well.
