CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Despite a slow first half, Benedictine found itself with an opportunity Saturday night at John Carroll’s Don Shula Stadium to take a late lead over Strongsville.
That’s exactly what happened with 1:16 left when J.J. Baldwin hauled in a 22-yard TD pass from Matthew Furst to put the Bengals up 21-17.
The Mustangs had an opportunity to work the ball down the field on their possession that followed, but with 38 seconds remaining, Antowine Smith came up with an interception to preserve the win and move the Bengals to 3-1.
“(Our coaches) were like, ‘They’re gonna test y’all, play defense.’ I was like, ‘Yes, coach.’” Antowine Smith said after the win. “And then I was looking back and I saw the pressure. Then I saw him throw it, and I got a ball call, so I had to go get it for my team and seal the game.”
Benedictine, ranked No. 21 in the latest cleveland.com Top 25 rankings, picked up two important wins in the first two weeks of the season, against Avon Lake and Canton South, before falling to St. Francis (N.Y.) in Week 3.
The Mustangs, meanwhile, picked up their first win in Week 3 against Berea-Midpark after losing to Avon Lake and Solon in the first two weeks of the season.
The last and only other time these two have squared off was a 27-9 Strongsville win last season. The Mustangs looked poised for a repeat of that Saturday, going into halftime with a sizable 14-3 advantage.
After a defensive stop coming out of the the halftime break, Furst hit Joey Pomnean to pick up a first down and keep the drive alive. Furst found Pomnean on a 15-yard pickup on the next set of downs and Jamere Church kept the sticks moving as the clock ticked down in the third quarter.
With 5:52 left in the third, Pomnean hauled in a 14-yard pass to complete a 10-play, 69-yard drive with Benedictine’s first TD of the evening.
“All summer we worked. We worked our butts off, training, man, we didn’t care. We didn’t care what the score was. We just want to come in and win,” Pomnean said. “We didn’t care what was going on. We were just running our routes, catching the ball, and doing whatever we could do to win.”
The score was 14-9 after a missed extra point.
After a Mustang three-and-out the Bengals took over in Strongsville territory late in the third quarter.
Jonathan Spikes picked up a first-down on third-and-long with a crossing route and the Bengals continued marching downfield into the fourth quarter.
The Bengals rode the hot hands of Pomnean and Church all the way into the Mustang red zone. Furst got a push into the end zone on fourth-and-1 and the Bengals took a 15-14 lead with 8:18 left.
The Mustangs wouldn’t go away.
A 37-yard field goal from Vincent Roncone put Strongsville back in front 17-15 with 5:52 to go.
The Bengals had time to work with, but needed points if they wanted to escape with a win. Baldwin delivered with a 22-yard TD reception in the back left corner of the end zone with 1:16 to go.
“Coach said if it’s a one on one, throw it,” Baldwin said. “I knew what defense they were in, so I knew how to run my route, how to stem it, and everything. (Furst) put it there and I made the play.”
That moved the ball back into the Mustangs’ hands for the final possession of the night.
That opportunity fizzled out quickly with 38 seconds remaining when Smith came up with an interception to preserve the Bengals victory.
“We went back into halftime and they talked to us,” Smith said. “We changed the defense around. We got our playmakers on offense the ball. We got six the ball. And we did what we had to do.”
Benedictine will be back in action next Friday when Shaker Heights stops by. Strongsville, meanwhile will be back on the east side for a trip to Euclid.
