SOUTH RANGE SURVIVES STRUTHERS AMBUSH
CANFIELD, OH- One play into the game on Friday night, you knew Struthers came to play.
After an impressive kick return by Ayden Leon to open the game in Struthers territory, highly-touted senior quarterback, Billy Skripac dropped back and tossed to his left just out of the grasp of Shane Lindstrom and into the hands of a Struthers defensive back, and all in attendance knew we would be in for a wild night.
As wild as it was with six South Range turnovers, the Raiders had just enough to get past NE8 foe, Struthers with a 23-13 victory to remain perfect in the 2022 campaign.
Struthers pulled out all the stops just a week after a heartbreaking defeat in overtime, Alec Grzyb was all over the field on both sides of the ball. Grzyb started with a touchdown pass to Chaz Ekoniak from 9 yards out to put the Cats up 7-0 in the second stanza.
South Range would retaliate just minutes later with Billy Skripac’s wheel route pass to Shane Lindstrom from 15 yards out that resulted in a score to even the game at 7-7. Then, just before the half, Skripac would plunge into the endzone on a QB Keeper to give the Raiders their first advantage of the night.
Just after the break, Anthony Carter broke a 42-yard touchdown on the stingy Raider defense, but the extra point was no good, preserving the Raider lead at 14-13.
With just over five minutes left in the third, the Wildcats were backed up against their own goal line when Chris Colucci invaded the endzone and forced an intentional grounding call that resulted in a Raider safety to give them a 16-13 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
In that final quarter, the Burgundy and Gold would put the cherry on top with a 19-yard connection from Skripac to JD Crouse to put the game away 23-13.
The Raiders output offensively was their lowest of the season with only 207 yards of offense on 45 plays. The majority of that offense coming through the air for 130 yards, and 28 rushing attempts garnered 77 hards for Range.
The story of the game was the six turnovers by South Range, four interceptions, and two fumbles that cost the home team points, and field position throughout the night. However, outside of third down, Struthers was challenged to find time to move the ball on South Range throughout the evening. Struthers was 4/15 on third downs, but included a third and 32 conversion that kept Struthers knocking on the door.
Grzyb was the leading rusher for Struthers with 25 yards on 11 attempts. Najier Howard did a great job throughout the night showing off a cannon of an arm on multiple occasions.
For South Range, the highlight really came on defense, as Ayden Leon led the way with 6.5 tackles, and 3.5 sacks. Chris Colucci had 5.5 tackles and was credited with a safety that turned the tide of the game. Bailey Ryan put the game away late with a big strip sack fumble recovery that led to the victory formation for Range.
South Range (4-0)will have to sharpen its pencil this week as they take on Poland coming off a big win over Hubbard. While Struthers (1-3) will look to bounce back against Hubbard.
