H.S. Football: North Ridgeville's historic season ends on low vs. Highland

GRANGER TWP. — North Ridgeville's incredible season came to a heartbreaking end Friday in its Division II, Region 6 second-round matchup with Highland. The sixth-seeded Rangers went blow-for-blow with the third-seeded Hornets for a half, but a rough third quarter did them in as they fell 28-7. "I told the guys after the game that we have to give a lot of praise to the seniors," North Ridgeville coach Bryan Morgan said. "This is a great senior class and they have contributed a lot for us. But we've got a lot of guys coming back and we've got a lot of guys hungry that want to play." Highland advances to the regional final and will take on second-seeded Whitehouse Anthony Wayne, a 59-14 winner over Avon Lake. North Ridgeville (8-4), fresh off the first playoff win in school history, settled in after a long Highland (10-2) opening touchdown drive. The Hornets went 77 yards in 13 plays to take the 7-0 lead. After that opening drive, the defense tightened up things and gave the offense a chance to answer. Highland was whistled for kick catch interference on a punt early in the second quarter that gave the Rangers good field position. A 19-yard run from sophomore running back Zach Barnhart and a little trickery evened things up. A fake handoff to Barnhart (13 carries, 42 yards) and an inside give to a motioning Andrew Ennis (five touches, 44 yards) resulted in a 23-yard touchdown for a tie at 7. "I think everything went right on that drive," Barnhart said. "The offensive line pushed up front and we were able to make some guys miss. We had some good blocking and it ended up as a touchdown." Barnhart was the workhorse for the offense and ran hard against a stout Highland defense that held the Rangers without a passing yard until midway through the third quarter. "He is always going to be a tough runner," Morgan said. "I thought he ran the ball really well today. Obviously in the second half we weren't able to control the line of scrimmage. With him running hard and Charlie (Steinmetz) getting faster as he gets older, they will be a tough duo next year." Both teams traded punts outside of the two touchdown drives and a fumble recovery by Rangers linebacker Austin DeShazo midway through the second quarter in a lackluster first half. Things started falling apart for North Ridgeville in the third quarter when the Hornets scored a pair of touchdowns in the final 6:57 to take control. The Hornets drove in the dagger with a 30-yard touchdown run by Evan Grant to put them in front 28-7 just 50 seconds into the fourth quarter. The resilient Rangers had one more shot to get back into the game early in the fourth quarter when defensive lineman Shane Osbourne recovered a Highland fumble, setting up his team at the Hornets 44. North Ridgeville drove deep before a fourth-and-5 pass play from Brendan Watchorn to Steinmetz lost 2 yards to give the ball back to the Hornets with 4:17 left in the game. The failed fourth-down conversion was the Rangers' second of the game on two attempts and highlighted a lack of conversions that also included a 1-of-9 performance on third downs. Barnhart leads a strong contingent of returning players for a North Ridgeville squad that looks to improve on the most successful season in program history. "There are a lot of good athletes in these upcoming classes," Barhnart said. "I am excited for it." Contact Chad Grant at ctsports@chroniclet.com.