Eastwood senior playmaker Andre Lewis runs over Maumee senior defensive back Carson Graetz for a big gain. (Lee Welch | Sentinel-Tribune)
PEMBERVILLE — When Maumee joined the Northern Buckeye Conference, and Evan Karchner became the Panthers’ head coach, it was common knowledge that it was only a matter of time before the Panthers became contenders in the league.
The Panthers gave Eastwood a scare at Eastwood’s Freedom Field at Jerry Rutherford Stadium Friday, but Eastwood escaped with a 27-15 victory.
“They kept going until the very end and they still had fight in them. But we just got the upper hand,” said Eastwood 6-foot-2, 230-pound senior lineman Paul Lautzenheiser.
“We had a really good gameplan and we were hoping that it was going to work well and we executed it well, and I’m glad at the end of the day we came out on top,” Lautzenheiser continued.
Eastwood junior quarterback Drew Luidhardt completed 19-of-27 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions.
Luidhardt took over for experienced senior quarterback Kadyn Donnell, who broke his finger running with the football in the Eagles’ season opening win over Kenton.
Donnell has continued playing his linebacker position with a wrapped hand and had two key interceptions Friday.
“At the beginning of the season, I thought if he injured himself it was going to be on defense. I was worried about him — you know, we’ve got our quarterback playing middle linebacker and then he ends up getting hurt running the ball,” Eastwood coach Sam Cotterman said.
“He’s been a force on the defensive side and he’s getting better every week. Drew is doing a good job stepping in there and I can’t give him enough credit.”
Eastwood senior Andre Lewis had six catches for 112 yards and one TD, sophomore Cam Schumaker had five catches for 80 yards, senior Dayquan Oliver caught three passes for 62 yards, senior Connor Norton had two catches for 24 yards, senior Brock Messinger had two catches for 21 yards, and senior Kevin Lewis caught one pass for six yards.
Messinger also had a nine-yard TD catch from Luidhardt in the second quarter. Lautzenheiser says those guys are a big reason for Luidhardt’s success.
“They are incredible. Those guys are special,” Lautzenbeiser said. “Drew is a great quarterback and Dre (Andre Lewis) is amazing, and so is Dayquan, Kevin, and Brock. Cam never stops either.”
Eastwood’s ground game was hardly overshadowed by their passing game, either, garnering 139 yards, although they were tough yards to earn. Kevin Lewis ran for 65 yards on 19 carries, Luidhardt ran for 30 yards on eight carries, Schumaker ran for 25 yards on four carries, and Oliver had a 16-yard TD run in the first quarter,
Donnell loves the way Luidhardt has sparked the offense in much the same way he did last year.
“It was tough going down with my broken pinky on the first day of the season,” Donnell said. “It was hard, but I bounced back. I had faith in Drew — that is my guy. I love him to death. He took over for me and he’s just been running with it. I love that for him. It’s still nice to still be able to play defense and I’m going to keep doing what I can for these guys.”
On defense, Donnel also had 1½ sacks for minus-11 yards, plus Lautzenheiser says Donnell’s two interceptions say it all.
“That is huge,” Lautzenheiser said. “Kadyn has been out and he’s had his hand clubbed up and to have that happen where he gets two interceptions is pretty special.”
Eastwood stays unbeaten at 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the NBC, while Maumee falls to 3-2 and 0-2, but the Panthers opened league play taking on two of the teams expected to contend for the title — Oak Harbor and Eastwood.
“A couple years ago Maumee was getting beat up by Eastwood, and even last year we got beat up by Eastwood and Oak Harbor,” said Karchner, a Maumee alumnus, former Bowling Green State University player and former Eastwood assistant coach.
“That was a close game. We were in there and we could have won that game. We have got to stop making a few mistakes and keep getting better,” Karchner continued.“Like I told everybody, and I said it last year, everybody better get their wins in now because we are going to win here soon. We’re going to be a tough team to beat.”
Fate seemed to be going Maumee’s way when All-Ohio senior soccer player Blake Wagener booted a 53-yard punt, which was mishandled by the Eagles and Maumee junior Colin O’Neill fell on it at the Eagles 5-yard line.
On the ensuing play, Maumee stacked the right side of their offensive line and senior back Cody Wulf plowed his way in for a 5-yard TD run, and suddenly the Panthers trailed by just one, 14-13, with 6:22 remaining in the third period.
Wagener’s conversion kick was blocked, but the Eagles’ defensive line was penalized for jumping over center, and from 1½ yards out, Wulf plowed his way in again for a two-point conversion, giving Maumee a 15-14 lead. The upset appeared to be in the works.
However, Luidhardt responded by throwing a perfect strike 40 yards through the air, catching Andre Lewis in stride, and Lewis outran a defender for a 64-yard TD, putting the Eagles back up, 21-15 with 2:08 left in the third period.
After Eastwood forced Maumee to turn the ball over on downs at the Eagles’ 30-yard line, Luidhardt executed a 16-play, 70-yard drive that took 8:06 off the clock, and he even finished it off the scoring on a one-yard TD run, giving the Eagles an insurmountable two-touchdown lead with 3:30 remaining.
Maumee junior southpaw quarterback Ben Kubicz was a threat the entire game, completing 12-of-22 passes for 142 yards, and leading a running game that accumulated 103 yards.
Plus, the Panthers opened the scoring on a 50-yard TD run by the 6-1, 210-pound Wulf to take a 7-0 lead just over three minutes after the opening kickoff.
“You can gameplan all you want, but they do their stuff well,” Eastwood coach Sam Cotterman said. “I thought we did a good job — we let out one big, long run that ended up being a touchdown, but then you look past that and we did a good job of squeezing and stuffing the run.
“But their play-action, I mean the quarterback puts it in the right spot and when you are making the linebackers decide and then you’ve got them coming up to the run, it’s hard to defend. They did a great job of it.”
Schumaker was also a big part of Eastwood’s defense with 6½ tackles, Oliver had 4½ tackles, and Lautzenheiser and Norton had 3½ tackles apiece.
