MAKING A STATEMENT; RAIDERS TO STATE
CLYDE, OH- Raider Nation traveled two and a half hours in order to watch history be made on Friday night. South Range punched their ticket to the OHSAA State Championship for the first time ever with a convincing 35-0 win over Liberty Center in the semis.
South Range scored in every frame, including 14 in the second stanza, and limited the Tiger offense to just 123 yards all game, with 106 of those yards coming in the second half.
The Raiders got on the board in the first when Billy Skripac connected with Ayden Leon from 52 yards out to put them ahead 7-0. On the next possession, Skripac found Shane Lindstrom from 53 yards out to push the lead to 14. The following drive, a long connection downfield would set up a Skripac plunge into the endzone to put the Raiders up 3 scores at the half,
South Range would come out and Ayden Leon would take over the game, catching another pair of touchdown passes from 6 yards, and then the dagger with just over five minutes remaining from 47 down the right sideline.
The Raiders finished with 331 yards of offense with 263 coming through the air. South Range would also have possession of the pigskin for 28:22 in the game and punched 16 first downs along the way.
Billy Skripac had his most attempts of the season, completing 14 of 18 passes for 263 yards and 4 scores through the air, and another on the ground where he also led the rushing attack with 10 attempts for 31 yards. Aidan Dominguez had 21 yards on 6 carries, and Blake Ewert had 10 carries for 12 yards.
Ayden Leon led the air attack with 9 catches, 151 yards, and a trio of trips to the endzone. Shane Lindstrom had 4 snags for 103 yards and a score.
Lindstrom also led the way on defense with 8 tackles, while Bailey Ryan plugged up the gaps for 7, and Jake Starkey and Tyler Remish held down the middle with 7.5 combined stops. Barry Pitzer added 3 solos, and Tristan Toy locked things down twice.
South Range (15-0) will now play in the State Championship against Ironton, who completed a comeback victory over Valley View on Friday to punch their ticket. Ironton was heavily regarded as the Division V favorite coming into the 2022 season.
You can catch ALL the action and talk throughout the week on YSN, and the Championship Game LIVE on Friday from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on YSN- Pregame to Begin at 10am, kickoff at 10:30.
