H.S. Football: North Ridgeville rallies, beats Berea-Midpark

It was a happy homecoming at Ranger Stadium in North Ridgeville on Friday night as North Ridgeville came from behind and ultimately outlasted Berea-Midpark 42-35 in another Southwestern Conference classic. Ryan Anderson broke up a Dylan Papushak pass at the goal line with under 10 seconds left as the Rangers hung with and overcame the high-powered Titans. Cole Miller rushed 26 times for 209 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 1:38 left in the game to lift the banged-up Rangers to a huge win for Region 6 playoff points, as well as keeping pace in the SWC for second place. Early on it looked like the high-octane Titans might run the Rangers out the stadium after 67- and 77-yard passing plays gave Berea-Midpark a 14-0 lead. Thanks to the hard running of the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Miller and seldom used tailback Matthew Flesher, the Rangers scored at the 4:43 mark of the second quarter on a 1-yard Miller plunge. Not to be denied, the Titans answered quickly with a Dylan Papushak-to-Andre Alexander 29-yard strike to grab a 21-6 lead. North Ridgeville answered with a four-minute drive that ended with another Miller touchdown with 25 seconds left in the first half. "Two in a row where it comes down to the last play where our defense makes a play and it's been such exciting football the last two weeks," Rangers coach Bryan Morgan said. "We were down 14-0, things didn't look good for us in the first half, and then the offense responded and then the defense got some big stops." The second half began with a surprise onside kick that North Ridgeville recovered but they couldn't capitalize on it. Later, the Rangers executed another surprise onside but couldn't score once again. Miller came up with a big 51-yard pass to Dylan DeShazo for a touchdown after Miller bought time and threw on the run. Berea-Midpark answered with a 6-yard touchdown to Nick Reece on a slant to make the score 28-21. Miller hit Cole Allison on a 28-yard pass after scrambling again, then Berea-Midpark answered with a stunning one-handed catch by Reece, who took it 75 yards for a score. North Ridgeville's final drive was set up by a mix of Flesher and Miller runs, before Miller scored from 3 yards out, setting up the final defensive stand near the goal line. "We said at the beginning of the game that they have firepower," Morgan said. "We want to try to make sure that we win this football game then we're gonna need to score with them. It's going to have to be a shootout and I think our guys did a great job of that tonight. "I told our coaches today if Cole has a good game, we'll win. If Cole has a mediocre game, we'll lose ... and he had a heck of a game." Miller led his team on the ground and through the air for the shootout victory. North Ridgeville running back Zack Barnhart was injured and is expected to miss the rest of the year, forcing Miller to step up. "It's a new role for me," Miller said. "Last year I had Charlie Steimetz and Zack, so I wasn't really the main option. But this year I had to fill that role. It's a huge part with our O-line opening up holes for me on every single play ... that was amazing tonight." Miller repeatedly called his own number on quarterback runs. "Our coaches saw it in the box," he said. "They kept running that play and they kept giving me holes to run through." Contact Mike Hrusch at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.