By Phil Keren

Correspondent

The undefeated Aurora Greenmen showed off their big-play capability from multiple playmakers in a 49-14 win over Kent Roosevelt on Friday.

Aurora (8-0, 5-0 in the Suburban League American Division) had six plays of 20 yards or more — four on the ground and two through the air.

Five different players scored touchdowns for the Greenmen.

“Our kids, they’re so unselfish that they’re genuinely happy for each other no matter who scores or who’s running the ball,” said Aurora head coach Bob Mihalik. “They’re great kids.”

On Aurora’s opening drive, facing third-and-9, senior Lucas Manderbach took the handoff, ran around left end and broke away from Kent Roosevelt (2-6, 1-4) defenders for a 34-yard gain to the Rough Riders’ 1-yard line. Senior Cole Walton then powered into the end zone to put Aurora ahead, 7-0, less than 2 minutes into the game.

The second big play came on Aurora’s second drive.

This time, senior quarterback Ryan Dwyer dropped back and completed a 43-yard pass on a deep post route to senior receiver Zach Pannetti at the Roosevelt 5-yard line. Manderbach again ran around left end and this time found paydirt to give the Greenmen a 14-0 advantage.

Mihalik tipped his hat to Dwyer’s precise throwing.

“He has great accuracy all the time, but his deep balls are amazing,” Mihalik said. “We throw a lot of deep balls in practice because of his talent level. We want to take shots. We have a lot of fast, speedy kids who have the ability to get those big plays.”

Later in the first quarter, Manderbach closed the chapter on a five-play, 55-yard scoring drive with a 28-yard touchdown run right through the center of the Roosevelt defense.

At that point, Aurora led 21-0 with 13 seconds left in the first quarter.

Mihalik offered high praise to Manderbach for his play on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

“He’s an old-school football player,” Mihalik said. “He wants to hit. He likes to run the ball, but I think he enjoys playing defense more than he does offense.”

Manderbach rushed for 126 yards on six carries, caught one pass for 14 yards, recorded four tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack.

Senior Ben Lukasik made plays on special teams and offense on the Greenmen’s next scoring drive. Lukas returned a punt 15 yards to the Roosevelt 24-yard line. Three players later, he scored on an 18-yard run around right end to put his team ahead 28-0 at 9:55 of the second quarter.

After the Aurora defense forced its third three-and-out of the half, the Greenmen started its next possession on the Rough Riders’ 41-yard line. Dwyer fired a pass to a wide-open Pannetti, who caught the ball at the 30-yard line and raced down the sideline untouched for a 41-yard touchdown and a 35-0 lead at 8:27 of the second period.

Pannetti said he changed his pass route after the Roosevelt stuffed some of Aurora’s bubble screens.

“We kept running bubble (screens),” Pannetti said. “They kept jumping the bubbles and they were kind of killing us with that. We decided to run a quick hitch and go. The (Kent Roosevelt defensive back) would just squat and go straight to the bubble. So we knew I would be wide open and it worked out perfectly.”

Pannetti also offered kudos to Dwyer.

“I couldn’t have a better quarterback,” said Pannetti, who finished with three receptions for 94 yards and one touchdown. “In the summer, we were throwing routes, getting better and now it’s translating here. It’s awesome.”

Dwyer, according to Mihalik, has had reconstructive surgery on both shoulders during the last two seasons.

“Talk about a tough kid,” said Mihalik, who noted Dwyer deserves to have a great senior year after those two challenging off-seasons.

Through eight games, Mihalik noted Dwyer has yet to be sacked.

“That’s a credit to our offensive line,” Mihalik said. “And that’s also a credit to him and his decision making and how quick he gets rid of the football.”

The Greenmen closed out their side of the scoring ledger with a 42-yard touchdown run from Manderbach and a 1-yard run from senior fullback Tommy Tartabini shortly before halftime.

That final score was set up by a 66-yard run from junior tailback Xavier Board.

Board, who has shared carries with Manderbach this season, tallied 116 yards on nine attempts.

Mihalik said the coaching staff tries to have Manderbach and Board split the carries “to keep Lucas fresh defensively.”

The second half was played with a running clock, per Ohio High School Athletic Association rules.

The scoring in the second half came from Kent Roosevelt as junior backup quarterback Gavin

Peeps threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to sophomore running back Tyler Ellington and a 68- yard scoring toss to junior receiver Teddy Maccarone.

Mihalik praised the play of his offensive line, consisting of center Reid Acomb, guards Ewan D’Acres and Tyler Hanus, and tackles Brody Markle and Matthew Copley and tight end Alex Brooker.

“They’re all seniors,” Mihalik said. “They’ve been in our system since seventh grade, running the same plays, making the same calls. They have a secret language in practice making calls and communicating with each other. They’re communicating their blocking schemes with little tag words and little funny things.”