High school football playoffs: Underdog Midview fights Rocky River to finish before falling

ROCKY RIVER — Oh, so close. Midview gave Rocky River all it wanted and then some but fell short of advancing to the second round of the Division III playoffs with a 20-15 loss Friday night. "I give a lot of credit to this senior class," said Middies head coach Jack Armstrong. "It's all about these boys. I love them and there's nothing like being a Middie." Midview, seeded 12th in the region, finished its year at 5-6. Armstrong's game plan was simple but smart. Shorten the game, keep the ball out of the Pirates' explosive offensive hands and have a chance to win in the fourth quarter. It nearly worked when Midview took a 15-14 lead with 6:47 left to play in the game. The Middies put the game on the broad shoulders and tough legs of 5-foot-8, 190-pound senior Marcus McMahon. "We just have a great brotherhood on this team," said McMahon. "We've played together for four years, all the bonds we built together. We had a great connection as a team, overall. I think it showed out there, but we didn't get the result we wanted." McMahon finished with 182 of the toughest yards you'll ever see on 34 carries. He scored one touchdown from 10 yards out by dragging would-be tacklers along for the ride. After Midview's second touchdown, a 7-yard pass from Shay Williams to Zach Wallace, he bulldozed his way in for the 2-point conversion to put the Middies on top. "They wanted to run the ball," Armstrong said of his team. "We had to pass it a little bit, but we take what's open. Marcus ran the ball hard, the offense blocked hard. The wide receivers blocked hard. The score just didn't end up going our way." Defensively, the county's leading tackler was up to the task. Brayden Homoki had to be in on nearly every big stop for the Middies. Midview turned away the Pirates from the 1-yard line in the third quarter and survived River's three potential scores that were called back by penalty. "I'm so proud of this team," said Homoki. "The senior class, the junior class, the sophomore class and even the freshmen that played. I don't think we could have given any more. Yeah, I think we made mistakes, but at the end of the day we gave it our all." Brennen Newton recovered a fumble on the 1 and also had two interceptions, the last one setting up the final scoring drive for Midview. Midview came up just a bit short on a fourth-down pass play from Williams to Ethan Stout at River's 35-yard line. The officials measured to see if the line to gain was made but it was a couple feet short and River managed to hang on. Rocky River's up-tempo, aerial attack was tough. Ryan Taylor threw for 226 yards and a touchdown, but three scores were called back due to holding on the Pirates' offensive line while it was trying to protect Taylor from Midview's relentless defensive effort. Taylor has some high-quality receivers and Tristin Hughes proved his worth by hauling in 10 passes for 85 yards, and scoring one touchdown on a 17-yard run. Rocky River, the region's No. 5 seed, will move on to play at Revere (8-2) next week. Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.