Raiders find way to win -- again

Warren Harding's defense was terrific in a 7-3 win over Lakewood St. Edward.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CLEVELAND -- About 30 seconds after giving a big hug to senior Sidney Glover at midfield, Warren Harding coach Thom McDaniels stood on the sidelines at Cleveland Browns Stadium and looked into the crowd. He smiled, waved his arms and did what has to be one of the ugliest victory jumps in sports history.
"I've had six knee surgeries," he said, breaking into a grin in the postgame press conference. "My vertical is pretty shot, so you must have been watching pretty close."
A self-proclaimed pessimist whose coaching future has been a subject of debate all season, McDaniels brought his overachieving, defense-minded group of underdogs into Saturday's matchup with Lakewood St. Edward and somehow, someway, found a way to pull out an ugly, physical, hysteria-inducing 7-3 victory in a Division I regional semifinal. It was the seventh win in eight games for the Raiders (9-3), who seemed headed for a .500 season just two months ago.
"To some, it may be remarkable," McDaniels said. "But we think where we're going and where we've yet to go is more remarkable."
Game-clincher
The game-clinching play came with two minutes left when Glover grabbed St. Edward running back Frank Edmonds in the middle of the line on a fourth-and-3 at the Harding 10 and held on for dear life. With a little help from his friends, Glover held Edmonds to a 1-yard gain that sealed the victory.
It was the second fourth-down stop in a two-minute span for Glover, who also forced two fumbles (recovering one) and scored the game's only touchdown.
"I guess [Glover] had a decent game," Raider running back Dan Herron said after the game, drawing laughter from the crowd of reporters surrounding the two players.
"We knew it was going to be a close game," added Glover, a three-year starter who verbally committed to Indiana earlier in the year. "It was going to come down to whoever made a play at the end.
"We weren't going to give up."
Key stretch
A minute earlier, on a fourth-and-goal at Harding's 10, Eagles quarterback Alex Sterba hit wide receiver Kyle Hubbard on a dump-off in the middle of the field. Glover hit him at the 5 and Hubbard was planted to the ground on the 4.
Harding got the ball back and, after two straight runs into the line by Herron, Raiders quarterback Matt Straniak threw a slant pass near the 20 that was intercepted by St. Edward DB Joe Davis, giving the Eagles a first down at the Raiders' 17.
"That's on me," McDaniels said. "We thought the slant was going to be there."
But like it had been all season (and pretty much all year), Harding's defense was up to the challenge.
"There wasn't any shortage of heart and guts and hitting and gumption out there today and that probably won it for us today," said McDaniels. "It's St. Ed's-Warren Harding football, isn't it? There's never a lack of hitting with these teams and I was just glad I was on the sideline and not taking the shots."
Not much offense
Herron, an Ohio State recruit, finished with 18 carries for 63 yards for the Raiders, who had just 96 total yards. Harding's touchdown was set up by a bad punt snap early in the second quarter that Eagles senior Chris D'Ettorre couldn't handle, giving the Raiders the ball at the St. Edward 8. One play later, Glover patiently worked the left sideline before tip-toeing just inside the front pylon.
St. Edward (9-2) hurt itself with penalties and mistakes in the first half, getting a touchdown called back with an illegal shift penalty, while also turning the ball over twice. (The Eagles finished with three turnovers.) Edmonds, who had 1,200 yards this season coming into the game but was bothered with a bad ankle, finished with 22 carries for 110 yards. Hubbard completed 8-of-18 passes for 94 yards but it wasn't enough for the Eagles, who have played the Raiders in the playoffs five of the last six years, going 2-3 over that span.
Harding will meet Mentor (11-1), which defeated Cleveland Glenville 29-19 in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader at Browns Stadium.
"I'm looking forward to another 16-18-hour work day," McDaniels said.
scalzo@vindy.com