CLEVELAD, Ohio — Villa Angela-St. Joseph could do no wrong on senior night Friday at Gutbrod Field.
The Vikings logged 529 yards of offense, including more than 400 yards on the ground, as they rolled past Gilmour 48-14, in a potential Division III, Region 9 playoff preview.
“Well, first of a lot of people have counted us out since Bo Jackson went out,” Vikings head coach Jeff Rotsky said. “The greatest thing is our kids, they play for each other… Now, that’s good football team. They’re rated seventh in the state. You know, we’re unrated. People don’t like the Vikings. I don’t know why, but hopefully, after this, they’ll start to maybe give us a little bit more respect.”
Gilmour entered the week second in the OHSAA computer ratings, while the Vikings are 10th.
Both VASJ, ranked No. 14 in the latest cleveland.com Top 25 rankings, and No. 22 Gilmour have clinched playoff spots, but the Vikings had more to gain with a chance of moving into a top eight spot and hosting a playoff game on the line.
The odds of staying in the top four, which guarantees home-field advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs, are still in Gilmour’s favor.
After being forced to punt on their opening drive the Vikings hit a home run with an 83-yard TD run that pushed T.J. Moore over 1,000 for his career.
The Lancers answered with a series of completions from Cooper Panteck before Aidan McNamara punched in a six-yard TD.
When the Vikings got the ball back, it was clear they had found some momentum in the run game.
Ronnie Taylor Jr. broke off a 45-yard run to set up his first TD of the night late in the first quarter.
“Oh, I get so excited. I mean, there’s no better feeling than handing the ball off and he takes it for 80,” Vikings quarterback Johnny Vuraich said. “I mean, T.J. and Ronnie are great. They’ve they’ve picked up the load from Bo just amazingly. Obviously, he’s a great player, but T.J. and Ronnie are great players too. They’ve stepped up immensely.”
On the next VASJ possession Vuriach found Purdue commit Brian Kortovich for a 32-yard pickup before Taylor Jr. found the end zone again on a 10-yard run to give the Vikings a 20-7 halftime lead.
After forcing a Gilmour three-and-out to open the third quarter the Vikings scored again on a 20-yard pass from Vuriach to Kortovich.
The Lancers put another TD on the board with a 28-yard Cooper Panteck completion to Ohio State commit Brody Lennon, making the score 28-14, but that was the last time Gilmour found the end zone.
The Viking defense gave the Lancers problems all night. Braylon Russell came up with a pair of interceptions, while the Vikings’ secondary batted down several passes. The defensive front logged five sacks on the night.
“We just followed the gameplan that coach gave us and executed that. We knew they were going to be good, they‘re 9-0, but they were talking in some interviews and we just couldn’t go for that,” Russell said. “We just gotta keep locking in, grinding in practice every day, putting the work in and it’ll all pay off.”
The Vikings were far from finished, however, Vuraich finished a 133 passing yard day with his second TD pass on a 53-yard bomb to Savion Lewis.
The Lancers turned the ball over on downs after Panteck was sacked just outside of the redzone.
When the Vikings got the ball back Ronnie Taylor Jr. needed just one play to extend the VASJ lead, making a 72-yard house call to make the score 41-14 at the end of the third quarter.
Taylor finished the game with 153 rushing yards and three TDs, while Moore put up 243 rushing yards and two TDs, including a one-yarder to push the Vikings to 48 points.
“We hit some big pass plays too, but I’ll tell you what, T.J. always does T.J., but Ronnie Taylor stepped up a big time,” Rotsky said. “Ronnie Taylor ran it hard today, and I’m proud of him, so that was great news for us.”