H.S. Football: Eric Groesser does it all as Black River knocks off Firelands

SULLIVAN TWP. — Every single Black River point Friday had one common denominator: Eric Groesser. The junior quarterback threw for four touchdowns, ran for two more and kicked every extra point as the Pirates ruined Firelands' perfect Lorain County League season with a 42-28 win. "Our O-line was blocking great and our skill positions were running great," said Groesser, who threw for 264 yards and ran for 24. "All I had to do was find open people. They caught it and they ran. This feels great. It's the best feeling. I don't even know what to say. This is a great win." Black River (5-4, 5-1) has won five straight and threw its hat into the mix for the Lorain County League championship. Firelands (7-2, 5-1) will face Columbia, which clinched a share of the conference crown by improving to 9-0 on Friday. The Falcons clinch a share of the title if they defeat the Raiders next week. The Pirates can clinch a share if they win and Firelands also wins. "Bottom line is we just have to watch the film, see what went wrong, correct it and know that you're still playing for something next week," Firelands coach Ryan O'Rourke said. Black River jumped to a 14-0 lead with Groesser connecting with Nathan Urbas for a pair of touchdowns. The first a 65-yard bomb that Groesser powered downfield to a wide-open Urbas while being flushed out of the pocket. The second came after Firelands fumbled away a promising drive, with Groesser finding Urbas, who shifted open on a post, giving him a wide-open lane to the end zone for a 29-yard score. Urbas finished with 131 yards on four catches, three of which went for touchdowns. "It was huge," Urbas said of the team going up 14-0. "It really put Firelands on their back because I don't think they expected us to be like that. It was massive." The Falcons, however, settled in and scored on their next two drives. The first a steady dose of Weston Strader — who entered the drive with just 26 yards on 10 carries. He piled up 34 yards on nine carries, capped by a 2-yard score. Firelands forced Black River to punt — a booming 70-yarder by Groesser to the Firelands 16-yard line. The Falcons strung together a 15-play, 86-yard drive that milked all but five seconds off the first-half clock. Quarterback Jim Aunspaw connected with Timmy Phillips five times, most coming on outside screens, for 34 yards, then found Abel Coultrip for a 12-yard touchdown to tie the game at halftime. "We're just going to start all over again tomorrow," said Strader, who finished with 154 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries. "We tried to be 1-0 today, it didn't work out, but tomorrow is different. We're going to start all over again and be 1-0 tomorrow." Black River started the second half like it did the first — with 14 unanswered points. Groesser capped the opening drive with a 1-yard touchdown run, then after the defense stopped Firelands on fourth down found Tyler Mrakuzic for a 47-yard touchdown. Firelands went back to basics on its second possession, running the ball 10 times. Strader accounted for eight carries and 56 yards, but fullback Josh Kovach punched it in from 1 yard. This time, though, Black River did not let the Falcons close the gap all the way, as it scored on each of its final possessions, save for the last, when it elected to kneel out the clock. "This was a big game for them," Black River coach Kyle Clark said. "They were excited. Nobody gave us a shot besides the guys in the building. They knew they could do it and I was just excited to see them execute. They just played so darn tough. They never gave in. That's a really good team with a powerful run game. We weren't able to shut them down, but we slowed them down." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on Twitter.