H.S. Football: North Ridgeville scores late to knock off rival Middies

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Bryan Morgan saw his young North Ridgeville Rangers grow up a bit Friday night against their biggest rival. The Rangers didn't lead until 32 seconds remained, then denied the Midview Middies a frantic rally to pull out the 31-27 Southwestern Conference victory. "We stalled out on our first two drives coming out in the (second) half and our defense stepped up for us," said Morgan. "They made some plays. We could see that the push upfront wasn't quite there, but in the second half we just told the guys to keep fighting. When we had some opportunities, our offensive guys made some plays. "Guys like Gavin Knoepp (6-foot-4, 220-pound two-way lineman), we asked a lot out of him. He played a lot of snaps of football. He told us, 'keep running behind me.' Once we started doing that, everything opened up." North Ridgeville is 2-4 after two straight wins, 2-1 in the SWC. Midview fell to 3-3, 0-3 with its third straight loss. The Middies still lead the rivalry that dates to 1955 37-26-1, but the Rangers have won three in a row. Midview took control Friday with an opening 40-yard drive after getting positive field position on a great kick return by sophomore Joshua Schofield. He fielded the pooch kick at his 21-yard line and avoided tackles all the way to the Rangers 40. From there, hard-nosed senior quarterback Brennen Newton guided the Middies to a touchdown. Newton scored on runs of 1, 13 and 2 yards in giving Midview a 20-13 halftime lead. The Middies hung on with a 65-yard scoring jaunt by senior Jace Wright that gave them a 27-19 lead with 9:15 to play. Newton finished with 78 yards on the ground and threw for 117. Wright had 118 rushing, and sophomore Kellen DeSimone caught five passes for 60 yards and drew a huge interference penalty that gave Midview a chance down the stretch. It wasn't enough. Midview ran out of time and downs at North Ridgeville's 45-yard line. "We just let things slip out of our hands," said Midview coach Jack Armstrong. "That's something we need to fix if we're going to continue to get better. We're going to respond to adversity and be the best version of ourselves." Quarterback Braden Harrison, one of only 14 seniors listed on North Ridgeville's roster, had his best night of the season, completing 18 of 29 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown, a 19-yarder to Mason Allison that finally put the Rangers in the lead with 32 seconds remaining. "Mason Allison on the touchdown, he's incredible," said Harrison. "We just told the defense, we need one stop to win the game. They got that stop, we scored a touchdown but didn't get the 2-point (conversion) and we go 'one more, defense' and they got it and we won." North Ridgeville managed to convert two third downs and one fourth on its 84-yard, 12-play drive that started with a holding penalty on the punt return with 3:23 left to play. How the Rangers stayed in the game was a story all by itself. Sophomore Gus Dutta scored on a pitchout from Harrison for a 19-yard score to tie the game at 7 in the first quarter. Senior Cole Allison capped an 88-yard drive with a short touchdown run, but the Rangers' point after attempt was blocked — one of three they botched — to trail 14-13. Midview scored to make it 20-13 and held off a North Ridgeville drive that ended the first half just 2 yards from the end zone. The Rangers failed on their first two drives of the second half but scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to pull out the win. Matthew Flesher (94 yards on 14 carries) scored from 5 yards, and Jack Andras scored on his only carry of the night from the 1 to pull within 27-25 after the 2-point try failed. "The first three games, we were a play or two from winning them," Morgan said. "To be able to come out here and come from behind and get a stop to finish it means a lot for our program." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com. North Ridgeville 31, Midview 27 Midview&emsp;7&emsp;13&emsp;0&emsp;7&emsp;—&emsp;27 North Ridgeville&emsp;7&emsp;6&emsp;0&emsp;18&emsp;—&emsp;31 Scoring M — Brennen Newton, 1 run (Drew Morris kick) NR — Gus Dutta, 19 run (Xavier Chasen kick) M — Newton, 13 run (Morris kick) NR — Cole Allison, 2 run (kick blocked) M — Newton, 2 run (kick attempt failed on botched snap) NR — Matthew Flesher, 5 run (kick blocked) M — Jace Wright, 65 run (Morris kick) NR — Jack Andras, 1 run (pass failed) NR — Mason Allison, 19 pass from Braden Harrison (pass failed)