EF wins big in conference opener

Ryan Messina threw for 245 yards and a TD as the Warriors trounced Greensburg Salem.

Elizabeth Forward kicked off Interstate Conference play in style Friday night as quarterback Ryan Messina’s arm was too much for the Golden Lions’ defense.

Greensburg Salem had no answer for the Warriors’ air attack as Messina completed 19 of 26 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown. He ran for another score in EF’s 49-17 win at Warriors Stadium.

Messina completed his first 10 passes and threw for 179 yards in the first half.

“I thought our pass protection was a lot better this week,” EF head coach John DeMarco said. “The defense that they play, we thought that we could throw the ball hitching them up and then trying to go deep. I thought coach (Tony) St. Angelo had a great game plan and Ryan was on target.”

The Warriors (3-3, 1-0) started quickly, taking the opening drive of the game 64 yards in nine plays. It ended with Messina’s 1-yard touchdown run.

After forcing a Greensburg Salem punt in its first drive, the Warriors responded again in only three minutes with Charlie Nigut’s 6-yard touchdown run to make it 13-0.

“We have to tip our hat to our offensive line; they did a great job,” DeMarco said. “It’s tough on opponents because you try to stop Charlie, but we have an AJ Grese on the outside with Connor Stokes. You have to be careful.”

Nigut finished with only 34 yards rushing on 13 carries, but he’d end his night with three rushing touchdowns.

The Golden Lions (4-2, 0-1) got points early in the second quarter on a 77-yard drive. The big play was quarterback Brody Chismar’s 57-yard scamper down to the Warriors’ 21.

Greensburg Salem couldn’t punch it in, though, and was held to a Tanner Schmidt 22-yard field goal.

The Warriors kept the ball in the air for most of the ensuing drive as Messina hit on six passes. The last one was a dart past two Golden Lion defenders into the hands of Grese for an 11-yard score. Grese finished with six catches for 87 yards, all in the first half.

After a three-and-out by Greensburg Salem, the Warriors added a Luke Holdren 27-yard field goal to go up 23-3.

The Golden Lions answered and had the ball into Warriors’ territory, but turned the ball over on downs with 55 seconds remaining — too much time for Messina.

A 15-yard pass to Brendan Stroschein with an additional 15 yards thanks to a Lions’ personal foul set the Warriors up at the 29.

Two plays later, Messina hit Stokes from 22 yards out, dropping a beautiful pass in the proverbial bucket for the score.

“We have some weapons out there,” DeMarco said. “So if you move up, we’re going to throw it over your head. That’s what we did there. I feel like Ryan had all day to throw out there tonight. That’s a testament to those guys up front.”

Holdren’s PAT gave the Warriors a commanding 30-3 lead at the half.

“We did a great job of moving the ball in that first half,” DeMarco said. “When you have the weapons we do, it allows us to leave it wide open and do a lot of things. We took advantage of that.”

To start the second half, the Golden Lions drove into EF territory again, but this time it was Nigut playing defense as he intercepted a Chismar pass and returned it 73 yards down to the Golden Lions 3. Two plays later he made it 36-3 with a 5-yard touchdown run.

Unfortunately for the Golden Lions, they started to find their offensive stride too late.

They answered back just 1:03 later when Chismar hit Tyrese Lewis with a 13-yard touchdown pass to make it 36-10.

The Warriors punched back with another quick drive highlighted by a 45-yard completion from Messina to Chad Rager. Nigut punched it in from the 1 on the following play.

Chismar and his team answered again as he connected with Dom Rosensteel on a 37-yard completion. Chismar ended the night 7 of 19 for 136 yards with a touchdown and the pick.

Three plays later, Chismar rolled left and saw an opening to the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown run.

“You know it’s tough at halftime, we’re in tents (due to construction). It’s like we’re over there for a cookout and they were all waiting for me to flip the burgers or something,” DeMarco said. “In a way, I get it. I think that doesn’t help when we come out for that second half. We have to come out and finished teams … come out and end it.”

The Warriors added their last score late in the fourth when backup quarterback Kaden Allen scored from a yard out.

“I think we’ve been waiting for this game for a long time,” DeMarco said. “We knew that we had a tough non-conference schedule. I thought we’d come out a little better than we did but we had a good first half. I think we’re really starting to come together as a team.”

Elizabeth Forward travels to Derry next week. The Golden Lions will host Mt. Pleasant.