GRAFTON, Ohio – When Midview quarterback Dustin Crum sprinted 44-yards down the middle of the field for a fourth-quarter touchdown Friday night, it gave the sophomore 200 yards rushing on 20 carries.
It also gave him his second rushing score to go with five passing touchdowns.
And it made the score 83-50.
As you can see, Friday’s all-you-can-score buffet in Grafton had a plateful of big statistics. The teams combined for more than 1,100 yards of offense, and the 83 points scored by Midview is the most by an Ohio team this season.
Check out the full recap and slideshow from Midview’s win against No. 24 Rocky River.
Midview’s 83 points is not even close to the Ohio record of 165, accomplished by Medina in 1923, according to Ohio High School Athletic Association records. Twenty-three teams have scored at least 110 points in a game, but none since 1930.
The 83 points is believed to be a Midview school record, but not the first time the Middies scored 80 points. They beat Oberlin 80-12 in 2002.
This is also not entirely new territory for the Pirates, who lost 76-48 last season to North Ridgeville.
So how did Midview and Rocky River combine for 133 points in Week 4? Here’s a closer look:
Onside kicks
Field position played a part in the outcome. The Pirates fell behind 20-0 in the first quarter, and after scoring their second touchdown with 9:39 left in the second quarter – making it 27-14, Midview – they realized trading scores wasn’t going to work.
So the Pirates started trying onside kicks, but couldn’t recover any.
“The offense kept getting the ball at the 50-yard line,” said Middies coach D.J. Shaw. “That had a lot to do with it.”
The Middies, meanwhile, starting kicking high, short kickoffs, and even got to one before the Pirates. The first came with 4:38 left in the first half and led to the offense’s seventh touchdown in seven possessions and a 48-21 lead.
Efficient offense
Even if the Pirates had kicked deep on their kickoffs, the Middies were in such an offensive groove that it likely wouldn’t have mattered.
The Middies scored on 11 of their first 12 possessions, only being stopped by halftime. Actually, halftime wasn’t as much the culprit as a penalty that negated a pass deep into Pirates territory in the final seconds of the second quarter.
The Middies didn’t punt until 2:53 remained in the third quarter, and didn’t fail to score again until a clock-draining final drive.
Crum was 17-of-20 passing in the first half and finished 24-of-31 for 253 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for two scores. Not what you’d expect from a sophomore in his fourth varsity start.
“He’s just efficient and makes the right decisions,” said Shaw. “He’s basically playing like a senior right now.”
Running back Brett Zupancic, at 5-foot-11, 249 pounds, was tough for the Pirates to bring down all night. He had 24 carries for 162 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Logan Bolin had 10 catches for 115 yards and four touchdowns. While some of those were quick screens, Bolin also made some tough catches, including one in the third quarter on which he out-jumped a defender for a 24-yard score.
What was the biggest reason Midview and Rocky River combined for 133 points in Week 4?
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The Pirates kept up
The Middies probably would not have reached 83 points if the Pirates hadn’t been chasing them on the scoreboard. The clock ran briefly (under the new point differential rule) early in the fourth quarter when the Middies took a 76-42 lead, but the Pirates scored barely two minutes later to revert to normal timing.
The Middies finally go the clock running for good in the final five minutes after Crum’s final touchdown gave them a 33-point lead.
After falling behind 20-0 early, the Pirates mostly traded scores with the Middies the rest of the way.
Quarterback Matt Lowry was 11-of-24 passing for 245 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 170 yards and three scores, including a 71-yard run in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, Lowry connected with Patrick Connors for a 76-yard touchdown and Evan Nugent returned a kickoff 76 yards for a score.
If the Pirates had recovered a couple onside kicks, the game might have had a different outcome, or at least been in doubt into the final seconds.
Or even still going today.
Source: http://highschoolsports.cleveland.com/