Published: October 10, 2008 11:35 pm            

H.S. FOOTBALL: Eagles are Golden in win over Rams

Cleveland Hill routs Roy-Hart on Friday night, 55-0.

MIDDLEPORT — It seemed like a perfect night weatherwise for high school football, but after Friday night’s Section VI Class C North contest, fans everywhere swore they saw flashes of blue and gold lightning.

The Cleveland Hill Golden Eagles utilized their superior team speed and literally ran away from Royalton-Hartland, 55-0 at Bruno Picini Field, before a modest crowd.

Golden Eagles senior running back Pete Westbrooks rushed for 123 yards, two touchdowns and a two-point conversion on five carries — and that was all in the first half — as the visitors (6-0 overall, 4-0 C North) led 29-0 at the halfway point and never let up.

Undersized and underdogs in every sense of the word, the Rams (0-6, 0-5 C North) played with intensity until the bitter end.

“They were a real good team and their speed killed us,” said Rams head coach Joe Caprio.

“As a head coach, I don’t like to lose, but they have a team that’s enjoyable to watch.”

The Golden Eagles made the football game look more like a track meet, with several long touchdown runs by a variety of players.

And like all track sprints, the game started with a gun shot. Westbrooks took a handoff up the middle on Cleveland Hill’s first play from scrimmage and sprinted 64 yards to paydirt. He added a 25-yard TD run just before halftime and a two-point conversion run.

Other Golden Eagles first-half TDs came from senior tight end Drew Bielanin, who hauled in a 22-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Rhakeem Wiggins (3-for-5 passing, 40 yards, TD; 2 rushes, 32 yards, TD) and Wiggins on a six-yard run.

Cleveland Hill opened the second half with another bang as Kevin Washington returned the second half kickoff 85 yards for a score. Willie Simmons plowed in on a 14-yard TD run and Darius Stallworth capped off a great offensive show with a 63-yard TD run in the game’s final two minutes.

“We might not have won, but we didn’t show any quit out there,” said Rams quarterback Ryan Brigham (1-for-5 passing, 6 yards; 15 carries, 24 yards rushing).

“We played hard right up until the end against a real good team with a lot of speed.”

        

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