Comets win open in spite of themselves

by PAUL MORTON

Associate editor

The Amherst Comets football team overcame two teams Friday in defeating the Elyria Pioneers, 52-34.

The Comets overcame nine penalties, mostly on defense, a muffed punt, and an interception to win the season opener for both teams. A potent offense scoring multiple touchdowns in three of the four quarters stopped the Pioneers from stealing the win.

"We needed every bit of it," said Amherst head coach Kevin Fell. "We were our own worst enemy."

The Comets scored on the opening drive of the game when Matt Elbert booted a 33-yard field goal. The rest of the night he exercised his right leg kicking seven extra points after touchdowns.

Elyria failed to score in the first period, although the Comets tried to help them. On third down and 17, Amherst was called for pass interference, giving the Pioneers a first down on the Amherst 19 yard line.

The Pioneers advanced the ball to the 14 before turning it over on downs. From there the Comets mounted a 10-play drive that ended with Benjamin Schwinn hauling in a 21-yard pass from quarterback Andrew Eliopoulos with 9:24 left in the second quarter.

Elyria went three and out on their next drive, and Elbert returned the punt to the Pioneer 28. Two plays later Shane Bockey carried the ball in from 16 yards out for a 17-0 lead.

"Shane Bockey, our fullback, ran wild," Fell said. "He's just a fullback. He's the third guy that gets to carry the ball. But they had Brandon Kish kind of bottled up. So you figure if they're going to stop him, Brandon Morgan ought to get loose. I swear if Brandon Morgan had kept his feet he could have had two more touchdowns."

Morgan got the first of his two touchdowns at the 3:06 mark in the second quarter after Elyria had scored on a long kickoff return and a long touchdown pass. Morgan caught a 20-yard pass from Eliopoulos to put the Comets up 24-6.

Amherst had been flagged for pass interference on the two-point conversion try following the first Elyria touchdown, and they were called for another interference call on Elyria's drive following Morgan's touchdown. Neither of those calls resulted in points for Elyria, but Eliopoulos's interception and a third pass interference call led to the Pioneer's second score -- a three-yard pass from Dan Poskocil to Dan Juchem.

The Comets stopped the two-point conversion attempt, and held a 24-12 lead at halftime.

Elyria took the second half kickoff, but failed to move the ball. They punted and Amherst moved the ball 60 yards to score on a 20-yard pass from Eliopoulos to Josh Gonzalez.

"He's a pretty dominating receiver," Fell said. "He's a big strong kid."

Elyria failed to move the ball on their next possession, but Amherst muffed the punt and the Pioneers recovered on the Amherst 18. Four plays later Travis Noble found the endzone for the touchdown and again on the two-point conversion to bring the Pioneers to within 11 points, 31-20.

Kish would finally find the goal line with 1:15 left in the third period. The two teams scored two more touchdowns a piece in the fourth quarter for a final score of 52-34.

"We've got a good football team, but we got run around today," Fell said. "I've got to give credit to Elyria. They're going to be right in the hunt."

The Comets come home Friday to host the Midview Middies. Midview defeated Warrensville Heights on Friday, 8-7.