Playing in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division IV Region 13 continues to be a gauntlet for the Streetsboro Rockets’ football team. The Rockets were eliminated from postseason play, losing 16-0 against Lake Catholic in the quarterfinal last Friday evening at Great Lakes Cheese Stadium in Burton.
“Obviously you don’t want to lose first but we don’t want to get shut out,” said Coach Pete Thompson. “We had some self-inflicted wounds and Lake Catholic, they have had several shutouts this year. They were by far the best defense we had played and between penalties and turnovers, we just put ourselves in a bad position.”
It marked the first shutout loss for the Rockets (9-3, 6-1) in six years, when they were ousted from the playoffs by Chardon.
According to the nine-year coach, Streetsboro doomed itself by committing four turnovers against a vaunted Cougars’ defense that had already recorded two shutout victories in their last four games prior to the regional quarterfinal.
On Friday, Streetsboro fell into an early hole on its first offensive play from scrimmage when it turned the ball over on a bad snap to senior running back/linebacker Janiere Cook while in a Wildcat formation.
The Rockets’ defense stiffened, holding Lake Catholic to a field goal when junior kicker Gavin Fredriks converted a 36-yard field goal, pushing the Cougars to a 3-0 advantage.
Streetsboro’s offense struggled to advance the ball and Lake Catholic continued its fast start as junior running back/defensive linemen Danny Zmorowski found the end zone on a fourth down conversion at the beginning of the second period, scoring on a 1-yard run to increase the Cougars’ advantage to 10-0.
Despite Lake Catholic’s strong start, Thompson credited his defense for stifling the Cougars’ offense throughout the second and third quarters, keeping the deficit at only 10 points.
He highlighted the play of the secondary for taking away Lake Catholic’s passing game and the game turned into a defensive duel.
Thompson said that since the second half of the season, the backbone of the Rockets’ defense had been in the secondary.
“We really shut down their passing game throughout that game and they got behind the sticks a couple of times,” he added. “Really helped us defensively that Arthur Scott was back.”
The Rockets’ offense could not gain much ground struggling to ignite the passing game allowing Lake Catholic to stuff the box.
Streetsboro’s offensive woes continued in the second half as junior quarterback Colton Cox left the game with a shoulder injury after throwing an interception on his final play. The Rockets alternated between running the Wildcat formation with Cook at the quarterbacks position and leaning on freshman quarterback/defensive back Stephan Cross.
Ultimately, the Rockets could not cut into Lake Catholic’s lead and the Cougars delivered the dagger as sophomore quarterback/linebacker Max Pisnao connected with senior wide receiver/safety Pete Malchesky for a 6-yard touchdown strike near the end of the fourth quarter, stretching the lead to 16-0 after the Cougars missed the extra point.
The Rockets finished the game with four turnovers, including one fumble and three interceptions.
Thompson acknowledged that committing four turnovers against a stout defense such as Lake Catholic’s was far too costly.
“The opening play that led to points, they scored 10 of their 16 points off of our turnovers that they had converted,” he added. “That is always our number one goal every week to have zero turnovers, and that was a bad omen on the first play.”
Although it was another stinging exit from the playoffs, Thompson credited his team for another strong season, especially as the Rockets battled injuries every week, entering the postseason with 19 players sidelined because of injury.
“They rounded into form throughout the year,” he said. “We obviously had some injuries with guys in and out of the lineup.”
He highlighted the 2025 season as a special year as although the Rockets did not defend the Metro Athletic Conference banner and exited the playoffs in the quarterfinal, they still recorded nine victories including a playoff win in a season where injuries cropped up every week.
Although Streetsboro needed to turn to inexperienced players throughout the season to plug in the holes caused by injuries, the underclassmen gained valuable experience despite being thrust into action unexpectedly, they will be better prepared for next season.
“Yes, they want to work hard and get better and continue to do that but you actually have to do that in the offseason so that is always one of the key components and hard things of coaching is to get those kids motivated in your offseason particularly in the dead of winter,” he noted.
