Go here to see a photo gallery from the game. NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio — Teetering on the edge of a playoff berth, North Royalton needed to make a statement in Friday night’s matchup with Parma.
Parma's Cameron Thompson gets wrapped up by North Royalton defender Dragan Pantic after a short gain Friday.
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(Thomas Ondrey / PD)
Go here to see a photo gallery from the game.
NORTH ROYALTON, Ohio — Teetering on the edge of a playoff berth, North Royalton needed to make a statement in Friday night’s matchup with Parma.
Following their 42-7 rout of the visiting Redmen, it is safe to say the Bears were heard loud and clear.
North Royalton set the tone early, getting their first score on lineman Azarie Battle’s 24-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown just 20 seconds into the game. Running back Logan Pearce kept it going in the second quarter, scoring on touchdown runs of 3 and 82 yards.
The Bears, who led 20-0 at halftime, stayed just as aggressive in the second half.
Three third quarter touchdowns pushed their lead to 42-0. At that point, many of North Royalton’s starters were taken out of the game.
“We were ready to play coming out of the locker room,” said North Royalton coach Nick Ciulli. “We were prepared. This is a big game for us.”
“We were all fired up all week,” said Pearce, who finished with a little less than 200 yards rushing. "It was really a team effort.”
On the other sideline, Parma coach Rob Cyr was understandably disappointed. The Redmen were just as much in the playoff hunt, needing a win to stay alive.
“We played a poor game,” said Cyr. “We didn’t do things that we’ve done all year. It wasn’t just mental mistakes. We had trouble doing so many things.”
The Bears, now 8-1 on the year, will look to win an outright championship in the Northeast Ohio Conference Lake Division when they play Normandy next week.
The Redmen (7-2) will try to finish strong against Valley Forge.