St. Edward 56, Euclid 35: Castleberry returns, Eagles back in D-I, Region 1 final

PARMA, Ohio — St. Edward and Mentor opened the season against each other.

One will end the other’s high school football season in a week.

Byers Field in Parma left bitter memories a year ago for St. Edward because of next week's foe. The Eagles erased them the last two weeks. First, beating rival St. Ignatius and again Friday night with a 56-35 victory against Euclid in their OHSAA Division I, Region 1 semifinal.

Mentor advanced with a 36-6 victory against Canton McKinley in Friday’s other regional semifinal.

The results prompted coach Tom Lombardo to hype up his players for the week’s preparation ahead. Snow flurries fell, and he reminded them of the 42-39 loss to open the year and their chance that awaits for additional redemption.

The location of their rematch will be announced Sunday.

“We’ve been through the ringer with a great schedule,” Lombardo said. “These kind of high-scoring games we’ve been in, tight games with St. Ignatius that were kind of low scoring, we’ve kind of done it all. We started with one of these types of games with Mentor, and we found a way to win this one.

“We’ll see. It comes full circle next week.”

Senior running back Jordan Castleberry returned Friday after missing the second half last week. The 5-foot-7, 195-pounder rushed 26 times for 196 yards and two touchdowns. He scored a third TD early, taking a swing pass from Garrett Dzuro on a 90-yard ride down the Euclid sideline.

Castleberry added 110 yards receiving.

“I had fresh legs this week,” Castleberry said. “I had a great, great week of practice. My O-line told me, ‘Look, you sacrifice for us.’ I told them I’m going to sacrifice for them.”

A week ago, Dzuro led the seventh-seeded Eagles (8-3) in his absence. The quarterback shared the moment on the track at Byers Field with his grandmothers over a cell phone because they could not attend the game.

Castleberry said the death of his grandmother, Johnnie Mae Castleberry, was the reason why.

“Every game is for my grandmother,” he said. “Every game is for my mother. I love my family, and I dedicate everything to them. We came from nothing.”

St. Edward emerged Friday night from a back-and-forth start in which third-seeded Euclid (9-3) took an early lead. When Castleberry and the Eagles answered, so did the Panthers.

Euclid pulled even late in the third quarter on Vincent Jackson’s 35-yard wheel route pass to Atiba Fitz.

Then Castleberry broke loose on a pair of runs, the last ending with him crossing the goal line on a 13-yard jaunt.

As the snow came down harder, so did St. Edward.

“I thought I was in a Madden game,” Castleberry said. “I thought I was Saquon Barkley for a minute. It was pretty cool. Coach Lombardo said no heaters. Around this time last year, we had heaters. Everybody had a coat.”

Not this year.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Lombardo said. “It was football weather.”

In addition to Castleberry’s effort, Dzuro rushed for 103 yards and two TDs on 18 attempts. He iced the game on a 20-yard run late in the fourth quarter as a light snow fell even more.

“I guess the moment got the best of me,” Dzuro said.

But not too big for him.

The quarterback also threw for 264 yards on 9-of-16 attempts. He finished with three touchdown passes to Castleberry, Michigan commit Quintel Kent and junior Mackenzie Wainright. The effort prompted Euclid coach Jeff Rotsky to approach the St. Edward postgame huddle to congratulate Dzuro. He told the QB he reminded him of a former player.

“I really appreciated it,” Dzuro said. “It’s nice words.”

In Euclid’s final game, Michigan State commit Brandon Wright ran for 117 yards and a TD on 16 carries. Titus Jackson raced past the Eagles’ defense for 98 yards and two TDs on just three receptions. Meanwhile, junior QB Dion Valentine finished with 176 yards passing and three TDs — just like Dzuro — missing only that one play in which Vincent Jackson subbed in for him.

Penalties have been Euclid's Achilles' heel in its first two losses. On this night, the Panthers committed just two of them for 10 yards.

Turnovers ultimately ended Euclid's season. It committed five of them. The pressure on Valentine did not help, either.

One of these teams figured it would get a rematch with top-seeded Cardinals (11-1), who beat Euclid late in the year. The Eagles will get their chance after opening this year and closing last year with losses to them.

“It’s definitely a big relief,” Dzuro said, “and I still got something to prove. We’re going to keep coming.”

Contact sports reporter Matt Goul on Twitter (@mgoul) or email ([email protected]). Or log in and leave a message below in the comments section.