On Lorain’s senior night, the Titans picked the best time to play their best game.
After multiple Lorain losses were tied to second-half collapses, the Titans changed the narrative on the night they honored their seniors.
In a 35-0 shutout victory over Shaker Heights, Lorain coach Jeremy Leyva said the Titans were fueled by an electric crowd.
“We had energy through four quarters,” Leyva said. “It was senior night with a big crowd, and the energy trickled down (to the field) from the start. We had great energy, and we were able to sustain it for four quarters. We have had strong starts, but if we can sustain that for four quarters, we can play with anybody.”
Lorain jumped to a 21-0 halftime lead. Knowing that the Titans were in front, Leyva said his team had the right mindset for a strong second-half performance.
Lorain scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half and took off seven minutes off the game clock.
Schematically, Lorain’s lead gave it an advantage. Shaker Heights is a run-first team, and trailing by multiple possessions in the second half was an obstacle for its playing style.
“When you are playing while ahead, we have (Shaker Heights) in passing situations,” Leyva said. “Passing is not a strong suit for them, so we have flipped the script on what teams have done to us.”
With Lorain chewing time off the clock, its defensive players earned a much-needed break, which helped their performances.
“It was complimentary football all the way around,” Leyva said.
The Titans had five players — Tyler Chapman, Amari Neal, Williams Jones, Jahzier Cannon and Lovell Morris — reach the end zone.
Lorain improved to 2-5 (1-3 in Greater Cleveland Conference) as Shaker Heights dropped to (1-6, 0-4 in GCC).
In the Division I Region 1 standings in Joe Eitel’s projections, Lorain is rated 14th, which is two spots away from making the playoffs. Lorain is not in control of its destiny.
The Titans will look to string wins together on Oct. 9 when they travel to Strongsville (4-3, 3-1 in GCC).