Inside George Finnie Stadium at Baldwin Wallace University, the St. Edward Eagles were able to take care of the #7 seed, Medina.  St. Edward came into to the game as the #2 seed in Region 1, sporting a 9-1 regular season record. After 3 incompletions, Medina set up for a punt, but it was blocked by the Eagles and returned to the 1 yard line.  Joey Formani was able to punch it in for touchdown and from there, the St. Edward offense exploded. Several minutes later, the score came to be 28-7 in favor of the Eagles, but Medina would not go down in the 1st half without a fight.  Medina, being a pass heavy team, had a burst of offense in the 2nd quarter, and eventually scored 10 unanswered points, making the score 28-17. Going into halftime, the score was 34-24 in favor of the Eagles, with both teams scoring before the half.

In the second half, the St. Edward offense exploded and erupted for 39 points, with 25 of these points being unanswered by Medina.  The final score was a whopping 73-38 and the St. Edward Eagles will prepare for their next opponent in the regional semifinal: Euclid.  Last year the Eagles met Euclid at the same stage in the playoffs and prevailed 56-35. The game will be played this Friday inside Brunswick High School Stadium at 7:00 PM.  The Euclid Panthers currently have a 9-2 record and are the #3 seed in Region 1.    

On another note, MaxPreps ranked the St. Edward Eagles the 18th best team in the country in their recent computer based poll.  In that same poll, Mentor High School is ranked the 7th best team in the country. Looking ahead two weeks, the St. Edward Eagles and Mentor Cardinals have a very realistic chance of squaring off in the Regional Final.  In the meantime, Coach Lombardo and the Eagles will prepare for a matchup against the upset-minded Euclid Panthers.  

-Diego Palko ‘21