Logan Fincham celebrates a touchdown during Friday’s win over Kent Roosevelt. For the game, the Rockets’ runner had 190 yards on the ground and a pair of touchdowns.
Robin Golden/Special to Portage Sports

By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Friday’s visit to Kent want far better for Logan Fincham than the last time.

In a Week 3 matchup with the Roosevelt Rough Riders a year ago, the Streetsboro running back was on his way to a monster game, with 83 yards and a touchdown in the first half, before being forced out of the game with a broken collarbone.

In Friday’s Week 5 showdown, completed that monster game that had previously eluded him and ran the Rockets to a 41-24 Metro Athletic Conference win over the host Riders.

Fincham’s night featured 190 yards on 31 carries and a pair of touchdowns.

Liam Fincham (8) celebrates as his teammate Kyle Giacomo crosses the goal line for a fourth-quarter touchdown on Friday in Kent.
Robin Golden/Special to Portage Sports

He was a workhorse, using a series of powerful runs, but also showcasing the ability to hit the holes fast and be elusive against would-be tacklers.

“Logan is a player who always seemed to be overshadowed a little bit. Cohen (Klimak) his sophomore year, Marcus (Council), Janiere (Cook) and Ayden (Kneubel) last year,” Streetsboro head coach Pete Thompson said. “This year, he is healthy, and he has taken on the challenge of being our primary back. He has worked really hard, and I am happy for him.”

Fincham’s second touchdown of the game was arguably the most important score of the night.

He crossed the goal line from 11 yards out with 7:53 to play, with Logan Sadowski, who had a big night as well, hitting the extra point to give Streetsboro (4-1, 2-0 Metro Athletic Conference) a 34-24 lead.

Just moments prior, it appeared the Roosevelt was prepared to take the lead.

To begin the fourth quarter, the Riders (2-3, 0-2 Metro Athletic Conference) had the ball second-and-goal from the 1-yard line, trailing 27-21.

However, while set up in a Wildcat formation, the snap went over the head of the backfield and turned into a 17-yard loss.

“That play was a huge change in momentum in the game,” Thompson said.

Two plays later, the Riders, had to settle for a 31-yard field goal from Isan Roberts to cut Streetsboro’s lead to 27-24.

That set the stage for Fincham’s second score — on a drive that was aided by a huge passing play between Colton Cox and Liam Fincham.

On a scramble play during the scoring drive, Colton Cox rolled out to his right, looking to find anyone who was open. He found Liam Fincham alone down the right sideline and after a Roosevelt defender engaged on Cox as a ball-carrier, Cox floated a pass to Liam Fincham, who rumbled 42 yards for the first down and more.

Kent Roosevelt receiver Sevyn Jones goes up high to pull down an acrobatic catch.
Robin Golden/Special to Portage Sports

Roosevelt’s ensuing possession began with 7:50 on the clock and the hopes of a rally, but the attempt quickly derailed on a 35-yard intentional grounding penalty. The back-tracking led to a punt and new possession for the Rockets, who pushed their lead out further on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Cox to Kyle Giacomo with 3:23 in the game.

While Fincham racked up yards on the ground, the Rockets’ featured a series of players who made impact plays.

Sadowski not only hit on two field goals (26 yards and 36 yards), and both could have easily been good from 50 yards out, he also was perfect on his extra points and perfectly executed an onside kick in the second quarter. On the play, Sadowski pushed the ball off the tee, sprinted out in front of it, shielded Roosevelt while waiting for the ball to travel the required 10 yards, then once it did, he fell on it to give Streetsboro possession.

“We have an arsenal of kicks that we practice the heck out of all the time,” Thompson said. “That onside kick was something we picked up on while watching film. Our defensive coordinator Wezlee Spence and myself saw something we thought could work and it did.”

Additionally, Jerry Benci had a pair of interceptions, with one coming in the third quarter and the other coming in the fourth quarter. 

Giacomo not only had his receiving touchdown in the fourth quarter, but, defensively, he was constantly living in the Roosevelt backfield.

Cox ran for 73 yards and two first-half touchdowns, and he also completed 7-of-13 passes for 103 yards and a score.

Streetsboro quarterback Colton Cox gets around the edge during a second-quarter run.
Robin Golden/Special to Portage Sports

As a team, Streetsboro rushed for 312 yards on 55 carries (5.7 per attempt), spending much of the game in a power stack-I formation.

“Our offensive line takes a lot of pride in the run game when we are in that formation,” Thompson said.

Roosevelt’s offense showcased its big-play ability, but could not find the consistency to keep up with the Rockets’ scoring.

Wide receiver Zach Coleman scored the first two touchdowns for the Riders — both in the second quarter. Both on screen passes out wide, Coleman ran along the right sideline for 70 yards on the first score (to tie the score in the second quarter 7-7), then he ran along the left sideline for 73 yards to score again to cut Streetsboro’s lead to 21-14.

For the Rockets, drives ate up more of the clock and didn’t showcase big chunk plays as often.

For the game, Streetsboro ran 68 plays to Kent Roosevelt’s 41. At halftime, the disparity of offensive plays was far more noticeable with Streetsboro at 48 plays and Roosevelt with only 13.

Coleman finished with 158 receiving yards and five receptions to go along with his two scores for the Riders. Sevyn Jones had four receptions for 78 yards. On the ground, Makhi Jones had 66 yards (54 coming in the second half) and came alive in the second half.