By Phil Keren

Correspondent

Streetsboro was dominant on both sides of the ball in a commanding 55-0 win over Norton on a rainy Friday night.

“By far, this is our most complete game (of the season),” said Streetsboro head coach Pete Thompson. It came against a Panthers team that entered also unbeaten in league play.

After notching this impressive road victory, Streetsboro remains undefeated at 6-0 overall, and now sits alone on top of the Metro Athletic Conference with a 3-0 mark. The Rockets also snapped a three-game losing streak to Norton, which had won the Metro Athletic Conference championship in each of the last three seasons.

In last year’s 35-14 loss to Norton, Thompson said he felt the Norton defensive line won the battle at the line of scrimmage. Knowing that a wet-weather game would likely be won in the trenches, the Rockets’ coaching staff challenged the offensive linemen to turn the tables on the Panthers and seize control of the line of scrimmage.

“I’m very proud of our kids upfront tonight,” Thompson said. “Our offensive line and defensive line played out of their minds tonight.”

Streetsboro took command of the game on the opening drive and sustained a strong effort and precise execution throughout the contest. On the game’s initial possession, the Rockets put together a seven play (all runs), 61-yard drive that ended when senior quarterback Cohen Klimak scored on a 2-yard run around the right end.

Highlights of that scoring march included runs of 21 and 17 yards from sophomore running back Marcus Council.

“I really think that opening drive for us kind of set the tone,” Thompson said. He noted he and his staff rolled out a variety of formations and attacked different areas of the Norton defense.

Thompson tipped his hat to his coaching staff, noting they did a “tremendous job” putting together a solid game plan.

After the offense garnered momentum on the opening scoring drive, the Streetsboro defense kept that energy going when they held Panthers sophomore running back Jason Beverly to no gain on fourth-and-2 at midfield. Two plays later, Klimak ran down the line to his right, pitched the ball to Council, who then made a few crisp cuts to his left and broke away from the Panthers’ defense for a 48-yard touchdown.

Streetsboro already had a 14-0 less than halfway through the first quarter. Thompson offered kudos to Council for his elusive running on a rain-soaked field.

“His cuts, his vision, you can’t teach some of that, you can’t coach some of that,” Thompson said. “He’s got that special innate ability for that … he’s going to continue to get better.”

The Rockets’ defense again stopped Norton on a fourth-down play and allowed the offense to take possession near midfield. Playing at a pace that was just a touch slower than a 2- minute drill, Streetsboro drove 54 yards in eight running plays and took a 20-0 lead when Klimak scored on a 1-yard sneak with 2:07 left in the first period.

Early in the second quarter, Rockets junior running back Janiere Cook scored on a 40-yard scamper to give his squad a 27-0 advantage. On the previous play, Klimak and Cook connected on a throwback screen pass that chewed up 31 yards.

The Streetsboro defense then closed out the first half with two touchdowns of its own. On

Norton’s next possession, the Panthers quarterback dropped back to pass, but the ball slipped out of his hands before he went into his throwing motion. Cook scooped up the ball and hit paydirt on a 13-yard return to give the Rockets a 34-0 lead at 8:50 of the second quarter.

Norton then put together an 11-play drive that moved the ball from its own 22-yard line to the Streetsboro 45-yard line. This time, when Norton’s quarterback dropped back to pass, a hit by Klimak jarred the ball loose, Council picked up the treasure and sprinted 48 yards into the end zone at 2:29 of the second period.

“Those types of things take the wind out of their sails and to get two of them is pretty special,” Thompson said.

The Streetsboro leader also praised the defensive effort, and singled out the play of junior linebacker Ayden Knuebel.

“He’s a hybrid kid for us,” Thompson said. “He’s a linebacker by trade, but he has the ability to put his hand on the ground, and he allows us to seamlessly go back-and-forth between a three- front and a four-front. He is the strongest kid on our football team. He’s fast, he gets to the ball. He’s made our defense more versatile.”

Thompson noted his players and staff had this game “circled on our calendar” as they worked out during the off-season.

Observing that Norton had played well in all phases during the previous few weeks, Thompson noted he and his staff made sure their team was fully prepared for this conference showdown.

“It was a tough week of practice for us,” he said. “We challenged our kids all week. It wasn’t easy. We were on them pretty good.”