Mazar Stars As Indian Creek Outscores Cambridge For Win In Opener
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WINTERSVILLE -- Coming into opening night with a more youthful group than the past couple of seasons, veteran Indian Creek coach Andrew Connor was hoping to be able to lean on his returning seniors Thursday night.
Senior Bruce Mazar was that such player for Connor.
Mazar, a returning All-Ohioan, had a monster first half for the Redskins in helping lead Creek to a 49-36 victory over Cambridge, final score is a bit deceiving as the Bobcats tacked on a couple of late scores after Creek had subbed.
Mazar ran for 167 yards and three scores on just 12 carries and added four catches for another 70 yards and an additional score for a 237-total yard performance. He had 212 of those yards in the opening half and did not play in the fourth quarter. He also had a sack, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble on defense, also all in the first half.
“Bruce is a good football player, there’s no other way to put it,” Connor said. “That’s what we needed, we needed our two-time captain to kind of lead the way and help the younger kids grow around him and that’s what he did.”
Creek opened a 15-0 lead after one quarter on Mazar’s first two scoring runs, covering 19 and 52 yards. He was over the century mark at the end of the first quarter. After Cambridge got on the board midway through the second quarter, Mazar again broke free for a 43-yard scoring run. He then hauled in a 45-yard catch-and-run on a screen play from quarterback Ethan Starr, making it a 27-7 Redskins lead at halftime.
“We wanted to start off 1-0 and we did,” Connor said. “I thought we really clicked in the first half. I was really happy with how hard our kids played.
“Our offense kept responding, and we got better as we went getting the running game going. That’s what we talked about coming in, physicality and playing tough and then we complimented that with our passing game.”
Starr had a big second half for Creek on his way to finishing with 188 pass yards and a pair of scores and 73 yards on the ground, giving him a 261-yard night. His second scoring toss was a 12-yard connection with Caleb Lyons on the first Creek possession of the second half after the duo also connected for a big gain on a third down conversion.
After Mazar left the game with a cramp, Dylan Romanyak had six second-half carries for 47 yards and two scores, converting on runs of 5 and 35 yards. He finished with seven totes for 49 yards, also hauling in a 35-yard pass.
Creek, which led 49-20 after three quarters, racked up 518 yards of offense, 330 on the ground. They did have a couple of fumbles, though they recovered them, and were plagued with nine penalties for 81 yards.
“There was some stuff we will have to clean up, some first game stuff, but our kids played with a lot of enthusiasm and played really hard,” Connor said.
Cambridge scored twice in the final 1:51, their starters staying in against mostly Creek freshmen. Bobcats quarterback AJ Lawrence went 12 of 21 for 177 yards and a TD, while rushing for 195 yards and three scores on 17 carries. He accounted for 372 of the Bobcats’ 410 yards.
UP NEXT
Cambridge: Hosts John Glenn next Friday.
Indian Creek: Is back at home next Friday to host East Liverpool.