Linemen headed for Ohio State, Michigan lead St. Edward past McKinley in OHSAA playoffs

PARMA − Training for the Olympics in Paris? Run the steps on the press-box side of the stadium in Parma - 40 rows.

Trying for next month's state football finals in Canton? Run like mad away from Byers Field. Lakewood St. Edward might be there.

Two-time defending state champion St. Ed's flashed gold-medal form Friday night in a 41-17 conquest of McKinley, at Byers.

The Eagles (12-1) advanced to the OHSAA Division I regional finals next Friday against Medina.

Head coach Tom Lombardo gave a 34-3 first half on Friday two thumbs up.

"That was pretty good-looking football," he said.

McKinley players did what they could and seemed anything but depressed while clearing out of the locker room, picking up food boxes on their way to charter buses.

"It was a season of ups and downs, definitely, but these dudes never quit," third-year head coach Antonio Hall said. "No matter what the circumstances, they came out swinging. I'm proud to death of that."

"Nine wins. Third round of the playoffs. A second consecutive league championship. A lot of young guys coming back. I hope it's heading in the right direction."

Third-round playoff games are at neutral sites. Byers Field wasn't that neutral, being 10 miles from St. Edward High School.

Byers' capacity, 11,200, makes it the second largest stadium in Cuyahoga County behind the one the Browns use.

Does it matter where St. Ed plays?

McKinley's home, Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, is an Eagles' field of dreams.

They won the 2022 and 2021 state championships at Benson. They took the 2018 state title there.

Maybe location matters a little.

St. Ed's has serious trouble finding regular-season opponents. The Eagles have agreed to playing at Massillon.

Their only 2023 loss was at Massillon. Their only 2022 loss was at Massillon. They won at Massillon in 2021.

"We would like to have a home and home with Massillon," St. Edward athletic director Pete Kahler near the Eagles' bench Friday.

Kahler said there is no contract for a 2024 game at this point.

Lombardo is in his ninth season as the St. Ed head coach. The year before he arrived after a stint at Medina Highland, St. Ed's won the 2014 state title under coach Rick Finotti. Then the Eagles repeated in '15 under Lombardo.

What makes the 2023 Eagles tick?

"Did you see their offensive line?" said the McKinley coach, Hall, a former All-SEC lineman who said the Eagles have the best high school line he has seen.

It includes two Ohio State commits, twin brothers Devontae and Deontae Armstrong, and Michigan-bound Ben Roebuck.

Behind that group, speedy little Brandon White seemed like a grape behind a ribeye, in effect hiding until it was time to zip through a hole.

Hall agreed that White evokes memories of Dri Archer, one of Kent State's better players in recent times.

Assorted White runs made up almost all of a 70-yard drive that gave St. Ed a 6-0 lead.

Bulldog senior Keaton Rode completed five of his first six passes, mostly short stuff, but also a 20-yard downfield strike to Xavier Harris.

St. Ed's countered with a tall, agile pass rush featuring 6-foot-5 Troy Regovich inside and 6-4 Loghan Thomas (Notre Dame recruit) outside.

Winning the field-position game led to a 12-yard touchdown squirt up the middle by White.

Rode got good protection and found soft spots in the coverage before a dropped pass squelched a drive inside the 20. Rode the QB was Rode the kicker on a 30-yard field goal that made it 12-3.

A knee injury to Casey Bullock, a talent QB who is committed to Davidson, has left junior Thomas Csanyi on the field much of the season, including Friday.

Csanyi's first start was the Game 5 loss at Massillon, where he went 14-of-29 passing for 153 yards. Against McKinley, he went 13-of-15 for 163 yards and three TDs.

"It was an adjustment," Csanyi said. "I played against Massillon in a JV game, then I was playing against them in the varsity game.

"It helps to have that varsity experience now."

White's 125 rushing yards in the first half opened the St. Ed's passing game, and it became as if the Eagles was sprinting those 40 steps and all the while gaining steam.

Two touchdowns off interceptions produced the 34-3 halftime lead.

On a chilly night at a game decided early, a crowd that looked to number about 2,500 gradually cleared out in a second half mostly conducted on a running clock.

Two late TD passes from Rode to Quincy, who finished with nine catches for 140 yards, ended the running clock.

The next St. Ed's opponent, Medina, edged Cleveland Heights 22-21 Friday in Strongsville.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton McKinley falls to St. Edward in OHSAA football playoffs