Ground game dominant as Eagles get 64-17 home win over Rossford

Eastwood rolls with 30 points in 1st quarter

Eastwood's Jordon Faykosh breaks up a pass intended for Rossford's Noah Asmus in Friday night's Northern Buckeye Conference game.

THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH
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Eastwood's Jordon Faykosh breaks up a pass intended for Rossford's Noah Asmus in Friday night's Northern Buckeye Conference game.

PEMBERVILLE — With pivotal playoff points at stake, Eastwood put up plenty of points on the scoreboard early and often Friday night in a decisive Northern Buckeye Conference win.

The Eagles jumped all over Rossford, seizing a 30-point lead in the first quarter and rolled to a 64-17 victory.

Eastwood had eight rushing touchdowns by five different players. Senior Devin Snowden scored on his first two touches and finished with a game-high rushing 129 yards.

“It was a great feeling to go out and score on the first few touches,” Snowden said. “That got the team fired up and it rolled throughout the game. The main thing we are striving for right now is the playoffs. We're working to do everything we can to get there.”

The Eagles (6-2, 4-1 NBC) came in ranked sixth in Region 16 in Division V. The win over Rossford, which is in Division IV, meant big computer points for the Eagles. The top eight teams in each region make the playoffs.

Brent Schlombohm rushed for 104 yards and one score, while Grant Geiser added 77 yards and two TDs.

PHOTO GALLERY: Click here to see more photos from the game

Eastwood amassed 374 yards on the ground and 462 overall.

Rossford (5-3, 3-2) was playing without its starting quarterback Kyle Sherman, who is out with a broken collarbone. The Bulldogs had 321 yards of total offense. Quarterback John Allen completed 15 of 34 passes for 215 yards and one touchdown.

The Eagle defense did its part as well, forcing five turnovers.

Eastwood's Brent Schlombohm, who had 104 yards rushing, runs past Rossford's Noah Asmus.

Eastwood led 30-0 after the first quarter, 37-10 at the half, and 44-17 at the end of the third quarter.

“I thought we had a really good week of practice offensively and it carried over here,” Eastwood coach Jerry Rutherford said.

Rossford had given up just seven points in its last three games. But the Eagles scored 30 points in just under 10 minutes.

Eastwood stopped Rossford's fourth-down conversion attempt on the Bulldogs' first possession. Snowden then ripped off a 71-yard TD run on the next play to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead 3:04 into the game.

After the Eagles forced a three and out, Snowden scored on an 18-yard run for a 13-0 lead.

“That's Snowden. He's explosive,” Rutherford said.

Eastwood went up 16-0 on Lucas McCullough's 25-yard field goal with 4:05 left in first quarter.

The Eagles grabbed a 23-0 advantage as Michael Glaze returned an interception 23 yards for a score with 3:47 left in first quarter.

Eastwood continued to pour it on as Schlombohm scored on a 10-yard run for a huge 30-0 cushion just 9:59 into the game.

Geiser's 18 yard TD scamper made it 37-0 early in the second quarter.

“We have one of the best offensive lines around,” Geiser said. “They know their responsibilities and they work hard and it paid off today.”

“Without them we can't go anywhere,” Snowden added.

Rutherford said he couldn't single out anyone on his offensive line and instead credited all of them: Jacob Rahe, Shane VanVorce, Andrew Blair, Tyler McCrory, and Jack Heckman as well as tight end Grant Peters.

“I thought early in the week was a point in the season where they started to get it,” Rutherford said. “They looked like they were picking up on things. We can do a lot of different things.”

Rossford got on the board on Hector Aguirre's 37-yard field goal that made it 37-3 with 5:56 left in the second quarter. The Bulldogs then scored on a 14-yard drive that covered 87 yards. A halfback pass from Dylan Losiewicz (team-high 70 rushing yards) to Noah Asmus made it 37-10.

But it took Eastwood just 1:11 to score on its first possession of the second half as Geiser's went in from 22 yards.

Eastwood was playing without one of its top three backs, Brennan Seifert, who has a shoulder injury. Ryan Mang added two rushing TDs in the fourth quarter, while Mitchell Davidson also scored on a 37-yard run late.

“We are pretty deep [at running back],” Rutherford said. “Grant stepped in well. Mangs has worked in and he scored twice.”

Eastwood hopes to earn no lower than the fourth seed to ensure a home game in the postseason opener.

“This is real big,” Geiser said. “Last week we were second in the region and we dropped down to six. Hopefully we'll get a spot in the playoffs. But it would be really nice if week 11 we could play out here again.”