HOIST THE TROPHY; SOUTH RANGE CAPTURES STATE BY STORM

CANTON, OH- Walt Disney would have a hard time producing a better storybook ending than the one on display Friday afternoon at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.  One of the smallest Division V schools in the state of Ohio stood tall on the 50-yard line as newly crowned champions of the football world.

That team was the South Range Raiders.

The same Raiders that prior to the season’s opener were being talked about in circles to which “they lost too much,” and “they’ll be lucky to win the conference.”  Week by week, they left their opponents in their wake.

Springfield.

University School

Canton Central Catholic.

Struthers.

Poland.

Girard.

Niles.

Jefferson.

Lakeview.

Hubbard.

Liberty.

Garfield.

Mooney.

Perry.

Liberty Center.

Ironton.

All these teams were part of what became “hiStoRy” for the Raiders in their first-ever state championship in program history, and the third state title for the school since 2018.

The Raiders only loss on the day came on the coin flip when Ironton won the toss, and deferred to the second half.

The Raiders started the game showing a bit of nerves on the first two plays before Billy Skripac connected with Shane Lindstrom down the left sideline for a monster gain, and set the Raiders up to punch in a 7-yard score when Skripac drove into the endzone for the games first points.

Ironton wouldn’t waste any time with their response when they scored on their first play from scrimmage and sobered up the environment for South Range.  Tayden Carpenter connected with Lincoln Barnes for a 66-yard strike to even the ledger at 7-7.

The two teams would exchange jabs for the next few possessions before Billy Skripac would dial up a perfect pass to JD Crouse from 40 yards out with 42 seconds left in the first quarter, and the Raiders leading 14-7.

Following a fumble recovery by Jake Starkey, Skripac would connect with Crouse again on a 29-yarder to set up another Skripac keeper from 5 yards out the put South Range up 20-7.  The Raiders’ defense and special teams unit would step up with a huge punt block by Bailey Ryan, Tristan Toy would recover the loose ball at the 8-yard line and set up another Billy Skripac QB Keeper from 8 yards out to increase the lead to 26-7.

Not prepared to give in, the Tigers would put a drive together that culminated with Carpenter connecting with his top receiver, Ty Perkins from 31 yards away and bringing the deficit to 12 points.

It was at this point that the offensive line realized what was at stake and started moving the Ironton defense as if they were on skates.  Blake Ewert started his barrage of attacks and just trucking through defenders, and was capped off by a 31-yard rush into the endzone, putting South Range back up by three scores on a drive that took five plays, and went 67 yards in just two minutes.

South Range would talk about adjustments at halftime, but it was if they had just settled whatever nerves were left and looked to drive home a point for schools in Northeast Ohio.  South Range would push the right buttons again when Skripac hooked up with Shane Lindstrom that found Lindstrom at the 44 yard line, and Shane would will his way into the endzone-carrying Tiger defenders who just did not have an answer for one of the state’s top receiving threats.  Logan Butcher would add the extra point to put the Raiders up 39-14 with six minutes left in the third quarter.

Tayden Carpenter would once again assemble his troops to try and mount a comeback, leading his team on an up-tempo 4-play drive that ended up in the endzone when Amari Felder hauled in a 7-yard pass reception to make things interesting at 39-21.

The Raiders would look for what they felt to be the finishing touches after that.  The playbook we’ve heard so much about, which had been tucked away most of the season, was now about to be opened up like Pandora’s Box.  The Raiders would show their typical fronts, rushing Blake Ewert on the next drive for gashes of yards, followed by a keeper from Billy Skripac, but then pulled out a dandy on a Dean Depizzo crossing route from 8 yards resulting in six points, and put the Raiders up 46-21.

Once again the southpaw QB from Ironton would not relent, leading his team to the endzone once again via Ty Perkins on a 5-play, 58-yard drive to dress things up at 46-27.

The Tigers would attempt an onside kick that they would recover, but only to be flagged for illegal touching, as they did not let the ball travel the ten-yard mandatory distance before attempting a recovery.

Nail.  Meet coffin.

The Raiders would take over in Tiger territory, and hammer home the championship knockout punch when Aidan Dominguez rumbled his way into the paydirt from 3 yards out and sealing the deal for South Range with the final score of 53-27.

South Range would finish with 564 yards of total offense, and stayed balanced wit 225 yards on the ground and 339 through the air, while holding the rush-heavy Tigers to 46 yards on the ground.

Billy Skripac left everything he had on the field in his final performance, rushing the ball 12 times for 59 yards and 3 scores, while adding 331 yards through the air with another trio of touchdowns totaling six on the day for the senior standout.

Shane Linstrom highlighted an emotional week with a 6-catch, 176 yard showing that also featured a heroic score into the endzone.  JD Crouse was a monster on both sides of the ball per usual, offensively, Crouse had three catches for 71 yards and a score.  Ayden Leon had a trio of catches as well for 54 yards, Jake Starkey had one grab for 30 tallies, and Dean Depizzo had a grab for a big score.

The Raiders controlled the ground game as well with Blake Ewert setting the pace.  The E Train had 19 carries for 143 yards and a touchdown.  Tyler Remish toted the rock four times for 15 yards.  Aidan Dominguez had 2 carries for 12 yards and a TD, and Hunter Knauf also had two tries and put together ten yards.

Defensively, Jake Starkey led the way with an 8-tackle performance from the linebacker position.  Nick Plunkett more than held his own with six tackles, and “The Bash Brothers” on the D-Line, Chris Colucci, and Bailey Ryan caused chaos as well with six tackles apiece, and combined for 2.5 sacks.

The Raiders showed up, but so did their fans.  The South Range community never sat down and kept pushing this team to do the unthinkable.  A team from Northeast Ohio broke down the door and showed the rest of the state that NEO is a force in football once again.

Legends Food and Drink will be hosting a Championship Celebration for South Range this Tuesday at 6:30pm.  The event will be live-streamed on YSN, and we will feature opportunities for Coaches and Players to speak about their championship season.  The event is open to the public, and are encouraged to come early.