ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- Just as they moved the chains with authority in a decisive fourth quarter, the Rocky River Pirates are moving forward in the 2020 Ohio High School Athletic Association DIII Tournament. The advance in the North Central Region bracket follows a 29-7 victory over the Lexington Minutemen on Friday night.

The Pirates (4-1) rallied after a sluggish start to score 29 unanswered points in the postseason battle at Rocky River Stadium. After a flat start which ceded a 7-0 lead to the Minutemen (1-6), Rocky River got solid production in all three phases of the game. A stout and opportunistic River defense allowed just 81 total yards while coming up with two key second-half takeaways. The River offense sputtered early but would command the line of scrimmage late, finishing on a 5-of-5 run on third-down conversions. And the Pirate special-teams units turned in an exceptional performance all over the 1-1/3-acre turf in the heart of River. 

With Friday's win, Rocky River -- the No. 13 seed in the region bracket -- has now won three straight games. The Pirates' playoff run now extends to Parma, Ohio, where the Maroon & White will take on the No. 4 Padua Bruins on Oct. 16. Improvements -- some undoubtedly major -- will need to be a part of the effort if River is to survive and advance, but there were still big performances on display Friday against Lexington.

It all began with a Rocky River defense which entered the game off back-to-back shutouts and has now yielded just 11.0 points per game through five weeks. In 11 Lexington possessions on the night, the Pirate defense forced a trio of three-and-outs and and wrangled two turnovers on opening sets of downs. It all made for the visitors living up to their Minutemen moniker: Lexington's time of possession in the game was just 16 minutes-and-24 seconds. River allowed a 48-yard touchdown run (Jordan Beireis) on Lexington's second possession. Only once more in the game -- on a second-half drive stymied by a Charlie Hudson interception -- would 20th-seeded Lexington collect more than 20 yards on a drive. And on three drives, the Pirate defense would force the visitors into negative yardage.

The Beireis touchdown -- at 6:19 of the first quarter -- was answered in part 10 seconds into the second frame when senior Sam Fuchs blocked a Minutemen punt that went out of play over the end line for a Rocky River safety. But River's ensuing possession, and the one after that, were disappointments (filled with a couple too many Pirate penalties) that took the starch out of the exciting special-teams score. When the Pirates took control of the football on their own 39-yard line at the 6:02-mark of the second, they were still trailing, 7-2.

On that drive, the Buccaneer offense clocked a pair of third-down conversions as part of a nine-play march resulting in a 26-yard Mack Massad field goal. Following Massad's three-pointer, an exchange of punts sent the two sides into halftime with Lexington leading Rocky River, 7-5. 

The first half ended on an after-time-expired personal-foul infraction against Lexington, and that set the Pirates up with excellent field position to start the third quarter. (Rocky River's average drive start in the second half would be the Lexington 39-yard line.) A change-of-pace, read-option package was run superbly by junior quarterback Braedon Spies on that first drive of the second half. Spies himself would score from eight yards out and then punch in a two-point conversion on another run to vault the Pirates to a 13-7 lead. After a Lexington fumble (recovered by junior Patrick Lange), the Sons of Blackbeard added to their lead, again relying on the strong right leg of Massad, who split the uprights on a 34-yarder at 6:21 of the third.

The Pirates broke the game wide open -- and closed out the eventual three-score margin of victory -- with dominant offensive-line performances on back-to-back drives over the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter. One ended on a 20-yard TD run by sophomore running back John Bebie; the other was capped off by a 3-yard push to paydirt by Spies. And on both, much green turf was laid before them by the road-grading efforts of (left-to-right) Aiden Andrako, Wesley Yuen, Joe Riedl, Charlie Sobol, and Aidan Coyne.

That green space was bathed in electric light on what was a picture-perfect autumn evening on the north shore. With the weather, the game felt like September when it kicked off. With the Pirates winning and advancing in state tournament play, it felt like November when it ended.

Time flies when you're having fun.


CANNON FIRE ...

YARD WORK: For the game, Rocky River outgained Lexington, 282 yards to 81. After converting on just 4-of-its-first-11 third-down attempts, the Pirate offense finished the game 9-of-16 in that department. ... Led by Braeden Spies' 132 yards and John Bebie's 80 -- on 20 carries apiece -- the Pirates rushed for 218 yards in the contest. Spies has now registered back-to-back 100-yard games and has run for 313 yards and four touchdowns on the season. 

LEG WORK: Sophomore kicker Mack Massad planted a 28-yarder to log first career field goal in last week's win at Lakewood. With his two field goals in Friday's playoff game, he's off to a 3-for-3 start in his career. But his three-pointers weren't the full extent of Massad's value in the victory against the Minutemen. He also had a successful onside kick in the second half (and drew a personal foul in the process) and made a tackle on a kickoff.

PICKPOCKET: Charlie Hudson's interception at 4:41 of the third quarter marked the fifth of his career. The veteran two-way talent went into Friday's game with three catches on the season (one for a score) and 17 tackles. He hauled in a 50-yard reception late in the first quarter of Friday's game. Hudson logged a pair of picks last season and two as a sophomore two years back.