McElroy gets 5 TDs; Chaney sails to fifth

The Cowboys cruised to a 48-0 win over Rayen to lift their City Seriesrecord to 2-0.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ed McElroy scored five touchdowns and the Chaney High defense pitched a second straight City Series shutout, as the Cowboys defeated Rayen 48-0 Friday at Stambaugh Stadium.
"This win tonight is a great tribute to our kids," Chaney coach Ron Berdis said. "We let one get away from us last week against Cardinal Mooney and this team responded like the true champions that they are.
"They took control of the game early and never let go on either side of the football."
McElroy rushed for 172 yards on 15 carries, scoring on runs of 7, 24 and 70 yards, as Chaney (5-3, 2-0 City) built a 28-0 first-quarter lead and never had a reason to look over its shoulder.
"Give all the credit to the Cowboys tonight," Rayen (3-5, 1-1 City) coach Pete Lymber said. "They are an excellent team that works hard both in practice and in the weight room and the result of their efforts really showed tonight.
"I felt that we had an excellent week of practice and was quite disappointed that we didn't play a better game tonight."
Rayen lost its third straight game.
Quick scores
McElroy's 7-yard run just 1:42 into the game gave the Cowboys a 6-0 lead, and his conversion run made it 8-0.
On the ensuing drive for the Tigers, quarterback Ty Page was intercepted for the second time in the game and McElroy added his second of four rushing touchdowns, this time from 24 yards out. A missed placement made it 14-0 just three minutes into the game.
"Ed McElroy is a threat to go all the way whenever he touches the ball," Berdis said. "He has been our go-to guy all season long and tonight was just another example of what he can do when he gets into in the open field."
Chaney quarterback Justin Hood rambled into the end zone from 50 yards out to make it 21-0 and McElroy capped the first 12 minutes of play with a 70-yard touchdown scamper as the Cowboys built a 28-0 lead.
McElroy then scored his final rushing touchdown from 3 yards out in the second period as Chaney increased its lead to 34-0 at halftime.
Much yardage by half
In the first 24 minutes of play, Berdis' squad had piled up 284 yards of total offense to just 84 for the Tigers.
Hood, who had a rushing touchdown in the first half, showed that his team also has an air attack as he threw two second-half scoring passes, both coming in the third period.
He first found Andrew Bowell on a 31-yard strike, then midway through the quarter connected with McElroy from 60 yards out to complete the scoring.
The Cowboys had 461 yards of total offense, 336 coming on the ground as McElroy scored 32 of his team's 48 points. Chaney's defense has not yielded a point the past two seasons in league play.
"Our defense takes it personally. It's a pride thing with them," Berdis said. "They buy into our defensive system and work hard as a unit."
The Tigers ran 51 plays for 169 total yards, 82 on the ground, as they averaged just 3.3 yards per play.