H.S. Football: Xavier Chasen's first career field goal gives North Ridgeville win over Amherst as time expires

AMHERST — Xavier Chasen will never forget his first field goal. On a windy, rainy Friday night, North Ridgeville coach Bryan Morgan called on his junior kicker with the game on the line and Chasen delivered with a 30-yard field goal as time expired to give the Rangers a 17-14 Southwestern Conference win. North Ridgeville (3-6, 3-2 in SWC) took over the ball at its 45-yard line with the game tied and 1:37 to play. Senior quarterback Braden Harrison connected on a pair of passes to Jacob Stout to move the ball into Comets territory, but the drive stalled and with time winding down Morgan put the game and the Rangers season in Chasen's hands. "I was just thinking of all of the kicks and all of the practices I've had prior to this and I was ready to go," Chasen said. "This is my first year and my first time kicking an actual field goal. It was amazing to see all of my teammates coming to hug me and being able to run around with them." Chasen converted both extra points in the first half so Morgan had confidence he would be good for one more pressure-packed kick. "I liked the way Xavier was kicking the ball on extra points against the wind so I thought he had a pretty good shot of making a field goal with the wind at his back," Morgan said. The game was scoreless until the final 64 seconds of the first half, when the Rangers got on the board thanks to a 2-yard Matthew Flesher touchdown run. Less than 30 seconds later North Ridgeville scored again when Jack Andras intercepted an Anthony Passerrello pass and returned it 67 yards to make it 14-0. The weather conditions improved slightly in the second half and Amherst (4-5, 1-5 in SWC) was able to take advantage of a pair of North Ridgeville special teams blunders to work its way back into the game. After North Ridgeville turned over the ball on downs because of a bad snap on a punt, Amherst sophomore Ethan Layne, who returned to the lineup after missing the past four games due to an ankle injury, scored on a 3-yard run to cut the deficit to 14-6. Another bad snap on a punt led to a 30-yard Passerrello run, which he followed with a successful 2-point run to tie it at 14 with 7:37 left to play. "I loved our fight in the second half. Those kids never quit," Amherst coach Tom Thome said. "We wanted to win the half and our defense held them to three points." While the Comets pass game struggled, Layne delivered in his return to the lineup with 22 carries for 111 yards. "You always have that little hesitation in your brain because that was the ankle he broke last year, so it was good to see him get going," Thome said. North Ridgeville was slightly more successful in its passing game but still relied heavily on the run, with Flesher carrying the ball 30 times for 88 yards. "It was tough tonight, the first half all of the balls were soaking wet, so we really had to focus on Matthew and the run game," Harrison said. "The big boys upfront were really blocking well all night." With the win, North Ridgeville was able to keep alive its slim hopes of sneaking into the Division II, Region 6 playoffs. "It gives us something to play for in Week 10," Morgan said. "If we lose this game, you're probably dealing with a bunch of guys who know the season is over no matter what happens in Week 10. Now we've kept our hopes alive." Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. North Ridgeville 17, Amherst 14 North Ridgeville&emsp;0&emsp;14&emsp;0&emsp;3&emsp;—&emsp;17 Amherst&emsp;0&emsp;0&emsp;7&emsp;7&emsp;—&emsp;14 Scoring NR — Matthew Flesher, 2 run (Xavier Chasen kick) NR — Jack Andras, 67 interception return (Chasen kick) A — Ethan Layne, 3 run (kicked block) A — Anthony Passerrello, 30 run (Passerrello run) NR — Chasen, 30 field goal