SOUTH RANGE GETS TRICKY IN VICTORY

LOUISVILLE, OH- It took a deep dive into the South Range Playbook, but the Raiders executed some trickery late in the contest to beat Garaway 15-12 to keep their season alive!

The game started with South Range coming out in an up-tempo offense and driving the length of the field to punch the ball in with Dylan Dominguez from 2-yards out, and taking a lead that had many ready for what we’d seen all season long.

This was a new twist on a movie so many Raider fans have seen before.

Garaway did not shy away from the physicality of the game on Saturday night, though.  In the second quarter, the Pirates offense fired back with a 31-yard touchdown from Logan Yoder to JD Young, but the extra point was no good- leaving the game at 7-6.

The Pirates would have another opportunity right before the half to take the lead but the field goal attempt going into the wind was no-good, leaving us in a one-point game.

Adjustments were made on both sides of the ball, but it took until 4:30 left in the third quarter for either team to break out.  Garaway’s Ethan Miller broke out of the “Stacked I” formation from 31-yards out to give Garaway their first lead of the night at 12-7.

Then, after the misdirection the Raiders had shown for the last 3 weeks, the chess game was about to pay-off.  While driving in the fourth quarter, South Range was at the 17 yard-line looking for answers on third down when Offensive Coordinator, Wayne Allegretto dug into the bag of tricks and orchestrated a beautiful double-reverse pass from Shane Lindstrom to Ayden Leon to give the Raiders the lead at 13-12.

The Raiders weren’t done there.  With visible special teams issues for Garaway, and complete faith in the Raider defense, Coach Yeagley rolled the dice and went for two after the score.  Billy Skripac would put the team on his shoulders and shimmy into the endzone to give the Burgundy and Gold an 3-point advantage to make it 15-12, to eventually win the game.

Leading the way on the ground for South Range was Dylan Dominguez, who had 18 carries for 61 yards and a score.  Skripac added 37 yards on 7 carries while going 6/9 for 82 yards through the air, while Lindstrom’s only pass was pulled in by Leon from 17 yards out, while hauling in 4 receptions for 77 yards.

Defensively, Tyler Remish had 9.5 tackles and led the way on stops while Logan Cormell had six stops.  JD Crouse, and Jacob Brooks closed down the Pirates with 4 tackles apiece.

The Raiders punch their ticket to the Regional Championship game, and force a rematch against Kirtland next week at Bo Rein Stadium in Niles at 7PM.