H.S. Football Playoffs: North Ridgeville to use loss as motivation

North Ridgeville had its best football season in 47 years. Now it's hungry for more. The Rangers won 10 games for the first time since 1978 and reached the regional semifinals for the first time in program history. North Ridgeville has been steadily ascending since coach Bryan Morgan took over in 2021 and has reached the playoffs four straight times, with three straight trips to the Division II, Region 6 quarterfinals. "It's been the greatest year in Ridgeville history and I wouldn't want to pick any other group to do it with," senior quarterback Cole Miller said. "These boys poured their heart and soul into this season. I'm grateful to be part of it and to be able to play with them." But there's always a bigger fish, and after losing to Highland 48-0 in the regional semifinals Friday, North Ridgeville is setting its aim even higher this offseason. "They know where they need to be this offseason, in the weight room" Miller said. "We saw it out here (against Highland), those boys were big and they were moving us. All offseason they're going to have to grind and prepare. Get bigger, stronger, faster and improve on this season." North Ridgeville's two losses came to the teams playing for the Region 6 championship, the other being Avon, which reached its ninth straight regional final and will play for its eighth championship during that span. The Eagles also won the Division II state title last season and haven't lost to a team from the state of Ohio since the 2023 state semifinals. Highland has reached a regional final for the third straight year and has been a perennial contender in Region 6. The Rangers' losses to the regional finalists came by a combined 103-7. "In both of those games we went against teams that were faster and stronger than us," Morgan said. "It's something we're going to preach all offseason, it's something that we've been preaching for the last two years. "We're still an up-and-coming program. You're not going to snap your fingers and be Avon in one year. It's going to be years and years of getting youth guys out and getting them excited about playing football and getting them committed in the weight room." The Hornets scored touchdowns on seven straight possessions. The only one they didn't finish with six points was the final drive of the game when they had put in their backups. The defense pitched its fourth shutout of the season, and only one team has scored 10 points against them. "Really we just want to work our butts off in the weight room," North Ridgeville junior wide receiver Cole Allison said. "Speed training, all of it, and just get better as a whole." Unlike most teams that aspire to one day win a regional title, North Ridgeville has a perfect measuring stick every season in Avon. The teams have played 21 times since 2005, with Avon winning 19. North Ridgeville's last win was 42-14 on Sept. 25, 2009, though the Rangers almost pulled an upset in 2017, losing 19-14. In Week 4, Avon found success during its 55-7 win by spreading the ball around when North Ridgeville elected to zero in on Grant Barr in the first half. Three of Blake Elder's first five completions were touchdowns, two to Sammy Ulery and a 71-yard bomb to Fin Jerdonek. The Rangers tied the game at 7 with their best drive of the evening, converting a fourth-and-18 to set up a 5-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Dylan DeShazo. But Avon responded with 48 unanswered. Morgan said after the Avon game that he told his players they were going to see what kind of a team they were that week, adding that despite the score he saw a lot of great things given whom they were playing against. "That's why we love playing Avon in our conference because you get to play against one of the best teams in the state of Ohio every year," Morgan said. "It's a measuring stick. We learned something (against Highland) and our kids get to realize it. You can tell them until you're blue in the face you need to work hard in the weight room. But until you go 10-1 and feel pretty good about what you did, then you come in and get your butt kicked, you realize somebody might have worked harder than you this year." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.