Cleveland Turns to Passing Attack to Record Last-Minute 7-0 Victory

For the first 45 minutes of Friday’s game against Taft, Cleveland quarterbacks Mario Hull and Jamie Grossman were as much to blame as anyone for the Cavaliers’ ineffective offense. Despite having receivers open on numerous occasions, they were a combined 3 of 16 for 30 yards.

But when it counted most, Cleveland’s passing game delivered. Hull was 4 for 4 on his team’s final possession as the Cavaliers put together a 65-yard scoring drive to beat Taft, 7-0, in a nonleague game at Cleveland.

After the Cavaliers moved the ball to Taft’s four-yard line on Hull’s passes, they scored on a run by tailback Albert Fann with 53 seconds left.

Cleveland’s defense sealed the victory when cornerback Ralph Reece intercepted Taft quarterback Mike Shwartzer on the last play of the game. The Cavaliers’ biggest defensive play, however, came earlier in the fourth quarter.

Taft drove the ball to Cleveland’s 15, but failed to score when Byron Jarrett broke through the line and blocked a 32-yard field-goal attempt by Adam Zutler. Cleveland Coach Steve Landress said Jarrett’s teammates call him “The Freezer,” but the 5-11, 255-pound sophomore, who wears No. 72, still needs a few more pounds to become a refrigerator.

“We were in a special kick-block alignment,” Jarrett said. “I went straight through his head like we’re taught and blew him back about five yards. The ball hit me on the left part of my chest.”

Cleveland, which was 1-7 last season, is 3-0 against three City 3-A teams, but assistant coach Jeff Engilman admitted the Cavaliers have plenty of room for improvement.

“We’ve beaten three 3-A teams, but we need to play at a 4-A level,” Engilman said. “We’ve got some fat heads around here right now. If we play like that against Crenshaw next week, we’ll get beat.”

Although Taft and Cleveland have strong rushing attacks, neither team attempted to establish its running game early. Each team passed in running situations and later had trouble moving the ball on the ground.

Fann, who rushed for 357 yards in his first two games, found the line of scrimmage more congested than the Ventura Freeway at rush hour. Fann’s longest gain was nine yards, and he finished with only 55 yards on 16 carries.