Cleveland Heights Bolts to Early Lead And Defeats Lorain, 39-21

Cleveland Heights head football coach Jeff Rotsky rattled off a great many things he felt proud of after his team manhandled Lorain, 39-21, on Friday night, including his team’s unblemished 4-0 record.

But when the conversation turned to the Tigers' offensive line, the passion of the Tigers' fourth-year coach couldn’t be contained.

“Write these names down: Kyle Dodson, John Johnson, Markus Hawkins, Noah Scalish, Densel Pillars, Chase Bell, Anthony Simmons and Clinton Cooper,” Rotsky said. “Eight guys. We controlled the line of scrimmage. When you can run the ball, it allows us to play-action and do some of our other things off of that, which is a blessing.”

Behind that line, the tandem of Marcus Bagley and Braxton Gamble led a Tigers attack that crashed into the Titans (2-2) for 174 yards on the ground to defeat their Lake Erie League foes at George Daniel Stadium.

Bagley, who finished with 89 yards on 10 carries, is certainly pleased to have those guys up front blocking for him. This rushing performance comes on the heels of the team’s 191-yard game against rival Shaw last week.

Senior right guard John Johnson, one of the members of that lauded line, is glad to receive accolades from the coach and is happy his team is 4-0 for the second time in his four years at Heights, the first coming in his freshman year.

“It feels great that coach believes in us that much,” Johnson said. “It makes us believe in each other more.”

With comfortable winning margins in each of its first four games, the team is growing in confidence and beginning to dream a little more about what might lie ahead.

“Everybody’s happy. We’re doing good this year and we’re on a roll,” Bagley said. “So we need to keep it up against Euclid next week. Go out there and play hard and leave everything we’ve got out on the field.”

Cleveland Heights receiver Shelton Gibson made sure the Tigers burned bright from the start.

With the Tigers lining up in a five-wide receiver set at their own 9, the junior track star snared quarterback Bryce Jones’ pass 15 yards up the field and over the middle. Gibson sprinted the rest of the way home to put Cleveland Heights up, 7-0, at 7:41 of the first quarter.  

Cleveland Heights seemingly caught a quick break as Lorain fumbled away the ensuing kickoff at the Titans’ 30. But on 3rd-and-goal from the 20, Gibson tipped up a pass along the sideline that Lorain’s Reggie Williams caught for an interception while falling out of bounds at Titans’ 4. But what initially seemed like misfortune for the Tigers turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Pinned deep in their own territory, the Titans attempted to run on 4th-and-1 at the 13 but were stopped short and gave the Tigers a short field to exploit. Two plays later, Gamble, who finished with 76 yards on 12 carries, hopped into the end zone for a 13-0 lead at 2:27 of the first quarter.

Lorain responded immediately with a 13-play scoring drive from its own 26 that featured only two passes as Pablo Gonzalez punched it in from 4 yards out to draw the Titans to 13-7 at 8:56 of the second quarter.

After the teams exchanged punts, Jones found Dorien Hudson for a 38-yard pass on 3rd-and -6 at the Tigers’ 34 that set up Bagley’s 28-yard scamper on the next play. That put the Tigers up, 19-7, with 2:42 left in the first half.

On the Tigers’ opening drive of the second half, the offensive line demonstrated its prowess.

Starting at its own 27, Bagley ripped through open holes on the drive’s first four plays for 36 yards. After Jones hit Raijon Long for a 23-yard pass, Gamble ripped off three runs of his own to place the ball at the 1. Jones did the rest as he leaned in for the final measure and a 26-7 lead at 8:22.

In between that scoring surge and the extra point, lineman Simmons hurt his knee, which delayed the game for some 15 minutes. He was  eventually carted off the field, but coach Rotsky had no immediate word on the severity of the injury.

Heights seemingly played even more-inspired football after Simmons’ injury as they sacked Titans quarterback Collin Bryant twice and forced Lorain to give the ball back after three plays.

In five plays, Gamble punched in his second touchdown from the 1 to give the Tigers an insurmountable 32-7 lead at 5:04.

Hudson caught Jones’ 10-yard TD throw that was sandwiched by a pair of Lorain TDs in the fourth quarter to end the Tigers’ scoring.

Cleveland Heights  13  6  13  7  39

Lorain                         0  7    0  14 21

1st Quarter

Cleveland Heights - Gibson 91 pass from Jones (J. Jones kick)

Cleveland Heights - Gamble 6 run (kick failed)

2nd Quarter

Lorain - Gonzalez 4 run (Dull kick)

Cleveland Heights - Bagley 28 run (run failed)

3rd Quarter

Cleveland Heights - Jones 1 run (J. Jones kick)

Cleveland Heights - Gamble 1 run (kick failed)

4th Quarter

Lorain – Nogueras 9 run (run failed)

Cleveland Heights - Hudson 10 pass from Jones (J. Jones kick)

Lorain – Miller 5 run (Nogueras run)