Lehman’s CJ Olding got behind the Riverside secondary for this third quarter touchdown catch…one of three for the Cavaliers’ junior in the second half. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Sonny Fulks)
CJ Olding had the biggest night in his athletic life – 3 TDs – and Lehman puts horrid first half behind them in a scintillating second half comeback over Riverside. 6-1 Cavs stay at the top of TRC standings.
DeGraff, OH – Lehman coach Dwane Rowley took deep breaths for most of the first half of Friday’s 34-18 win over Riverside (3-4, 2-2 in TRC).
Trailing 12-7 at the break, after a stirring CTJ speech at halftime the deep breaths were replaced by sighs of relief in the second half…fueled by three touchdown catches by junior wide receiver CJ Olding.
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In an amazing turn of football execution, the Cavaliers (6-1, 4-0 in TRC) survived a horrid first half – poor tackling, missed assignments, muffed onside kicks, and a botched punt recovery at midfield that allowed Riverside to take the halftime lead.
Then, thanks to Olding, quarterback Turner Lachey, and running back Da’Ron Pride, they powered their way past a spirited Pirates effort in the second half to keep pace with Northridge in the TRC standings, and claim catbird’s position for an outright title shot with three games left to play.
Da’Ron Pride’s touchdown got the Cavaliers on the board in the second quarter.
“That was a bad first half,” Rowley admitted. “And we just came in at halftime and challenged the entire team. But CJ Olding stepped out in the second half and really shined…showed us everything he was capable of. And then Da’Ron, we’ve been challenging him all year to be running back he was at the end of last season. Tonight was the game we needed him to step up and he really stepped up and handled the challenge.”
Lehman had never beaten Riverside in the short history of the reconstituted Three Rivers Conference. And after a scoreless first quarter in which the Cavaliers tackled poorly, and failed to do much with the football on their lone possession, it looked like that ignominious trend might continue when Riverside quarterback Brody Osborne waltzed into the end zone for a touchdown, virtually untouched for a 6-0 lead. It capped a 15-play drive, and 6:33 seconds in which the Cavaliers grabbed and whiffed in their efforts to tackle.
But the Cavaliers have become a talking point in Division VII, Region 28, of late…for their ability to immediately ignite on offense. And with 4:42 remaining before halftime running back Da’Ron Pride showed why he might be the toughest back to bring down in the TRC. Running the ball on three plays of an eight-play drive that covered 61 yards, including a 40 yard hookup between Lachey and Olding, Pride powered into the end zone from three yards out to put Lehman ahead, 7-6.
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The defense stiffened on the ensuing Riverside possession, forcing the Pirates to punt. And needing field position on a sloppy field to score again before the half, Riverside did their best to give it to them. Forced to punt, they nearly whiffed on it, dribbling the ball about fifteen yards on the ground downfield. One of Lehman’s up men tried to field it, muffed it, and Riverside jumped on the fumble to recover at the Cavalier 41 yard line.
With 2:24 left before halftime they quickly moved the ball inside the Lehman 10 yard line, threatening to score. A holding penalty moved them back, where on fourth and goal from the 32 they took advantage of a blown coverage, connected for 28 yards and a first down, and then scored from three yards out to take a 12-7 halftime lead. Both Riverside PAT efforts were no good in the first half.
Dillon Schmiesing’s third quarter touchdown catch gave Lehman its first lead.
Lehman received the ball to start the second half, but again fouled up an onside kick attempt, giving Riverside the ball on the Cavalier side of midfield. But they quickly got the ball back when on a third down screen pass defensive tackle Kaden Lee stepped in front of the intended receiver, picked it off, and gave the Cavaliers the ball back at midfield. Four plays later Lachey connected with Dillon Schmiesing for 21 yards and a wide open touchdown to give the Cavs the lead, 14-12.
The defense again held Riverside, forced a punt, and with 5:47 in the quarter Lachey hit CJ Olding for 47 yards and a touchdown behind the Pirate secondary to extend their lead to 21-12.
Riverside came right back, moved the ball to the Lehman six yard line, and on fourth and six scored right through the middle of the Cavs run defense to cut the deficit to 21-18…Riverside again missed on a two-point PAT conversion.
Lachey and Olding were rolling now in the fourth quarter, picking the Riverside secondary apart when his receivers were able to run in the six-inch mud between the hash marks. Lachey again found Olding open for an 11-yard scoring play and they jumped their lead back to two possessions, 27-18.
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But with 6:04 left in the game Riverside mounted another drive, only to have their scoring opportunity negated by a Cavalier interception on the ten yard line.
Now Da’Ron Pride took over, breaking his biggest run of the night to move the ball to the Riverside 34 yard line. From there Lachey danced his way to the 16, and with 1:16 left in the game he threw the ball into the end zone, it was deflected…but into the diving hands of Olding for his final touchdown of the night…34-18, Lehman.
The three offensive stars – Lachey, Olding, and Pride, had accounted for about 250 of Lehman’s total of 304 total yards for the game. Olding caught seven passes for 121 yards – and three scores during the Cavaliers’ 27-point second half scoring surge.
“Our line made the holes with some good blocking, and I ran through ’em,” said Pride, simplifying the obvious. “We played as a family and believed in ourselves [after the first half].”
CJ Olding couldn’t remember ever having a better day athletically.
“Not really,” he said. “But I never really played football before this year. Tonight was cool, it was loud, but it was our first time to beat Riverside and we practiced hard all week. We wanted to beat them, and they wanted to beat us.”
But best night of his life?
“Uh, yeah, pretty close,” he said. “Top ten, for sure.”
Turner Lachey twists his way out of a tackle during the Cavaliers’ 27 point scoring surge in the second half.
Turner Lachey shed some light on the halftime adjustment made in the locker room that allowed them to flip the script, and the game.
“He (Rowley) just told us to get our nerves out. We were playing way too nervous. We knew if we came out and played the game we can play they couldn’t stop us.”
Lachey had ignited the offense, throwing for two-thirds of that 304 yards of offense, and gave ample credit to Olding and his big night.
“I’m back there scrambling and I know that #1 (Olding) is open down the field. I just chucked it up and knew he’d catch it. We knew we had to start throwing the ball [in the second half] because our run game wasn’t working. We had to throw and score because they were running the clock down the whole night.”
For all his efforts, the scrambling, 44 yards rushing, and handling the kicking duties, he’s bound to be sore on Saturday morning. He took some shots.
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“Yeah, but we have an ice bath and I’ll be alright.”
And was it best night of Lachey’s life?
“Uh, yeah, it’s up there. But I struggled in the first half, bad. I didn’t make the right reads, but it was good to come out like we did in the second half.”
Lehman’s Devin Pride (#13) stands up Riverside runner Gunner Carpenter during a goal line stand in the fourth quarter.
Deep breaths, sighs of relief, the worst possible field conditions, and a stubborn effort by Riverside…it all ended well for Dwayne Rowley, a long-time assistant for Dick Roll before taking over the head coaching position last year.
“He just has a passion for the game,” says Roll. “He was the right guy for the kids, and the right guy for the job.”
“Worst field we’ve played on…the mud…we had some adversity, and we overcame it tonight,” smiled Rowley, afterwards. “I’m super proud of these kids. It’s a great team – great players, great kids – and I just love coaching them.”
Obviously, one of his best nights, too – their first win over Riverside.
And the talking about Lehman continues.
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