H.S. Football: Second-quarter explosion lifts North Ridgeville

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — The North Ridgeville Rangers started slowly but exploded for three long second-quarter touchdown runs in just over five minutes in their 37-12 non-conference win over Valley Forge. The Rangers improved to 2-0. "That was by committee," Rangers coach Bryan Morgan said of the offensive explosion. "Everyone in the county knows about Zack (Barnhart), he had a long run, Cole Allison got loose and a 6-foot-5 Cole Miller got loose and showed he is going to be a tough guy to tackle this year." The Rangers accounted for 439 yards of offense. Most of the damage came on the ground — 308 — with Barnhart leading the way with 105 yards and a pair of touchdowns on just 11 carries. North Ridgeville did score on its opening drive, covering 59 yards in nine plays with Barnhart going in from 14 yards with 6:28 left for a 7-0 lead. The lead went to 10-0 following a 31-yard field goal by Finley Keller, but things got a little nervous when Valley Forge went to the air as Patriots quarterback Sean Frank had a 29-yard completion to Aiden Soto and two to Evan Tappe, with the last one covering 8 yards into the end zone to trim the lead to 10-6 with 7:20 left in the half. While Valley Forge was dragging out the clock with long drives, the Rangers were exploding for three touchdowns. Barnhart scored his second at 5:55 of the second when he took a handoff a torched the defense with a 56-yard run, pushing just over 100 yards at the half for a 17-6 lead. The Patriots (1-1) drove to the Rangers 27 before being stopped on fourth down, only to see Cole Allison take a reverse handoff, start working his way downfield and the final block by Duke Baker got him into the end zone on a 73-yard touchdown for a 24-6 lead with 2:09 left. "That's one of those plays that we try to save, and we found the right time," Allison said. "My wide receivers work so hard in practice blocking downfield, especially Duke Baker." "Duke Baker was lined up on the right side of the field and is making plays 50 yards downfield on the left side of the field," Morgan said of his senior wide receiver. "That tells you that he has bought into his teammates and leads by example." The final score of the first half came following a Carter Clark interception of Frank. Five plays later, Miller, the quarterback, rolled left on third-and-15 and would up taking off for 26 yards and a commanding 31-6 lead at the half. The Rangers took the opening kickoff of the second half and quickly sent the game to a running clock with a four-play, 65-yard drive. The last 52 yards came on a pair of Dylan DeShazo carries, with the second covering 16 yards for a 37-6 lead. Contact James Brady at (440) 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com.