PARMA, Ohio -- The Pirates plundered and pillaged in the first half. But they were sunk in the second before they could escape with the haul of a road win.
Rocky River thundered to a 21-0 lead at halftime only to have the host Valley Forge Patriots storm back to win the game, 30-29, in River's first one-point game since Oct. 24, 2014.
Two Pirate scores (a 15-yard Braedon Spies-to-Patrick Lange and a 14-yard run from Spies) lifted the visiting side to a 14-0 lead through the first quarter of Thursday's battle. A determined 4-yard Johnny Bebie touchdown just before halftime extended the River lead to 21-0.
Midway through the third stanza, a fourth-and-goal pass from Ryan Frye to Justice Mansu put the Patriots on the board. In its next possession, Valley Forge got a 56-yard TD run from Kentrell Marks to get within seven (21-14). Marks would romp for 179 rushing yards on the night.
A 26-yard Marks TD run -- followed by an Eddie Starks 2-point conversion -- vaulted Valley Forge to a 22-21 lead with 9:58 remaining in the fourth. Rocky River registered its first-and-only score of the second half when Spies connected with Lange on a TD for the second time on the night. The pass for paydirt and ensuing 2-pointer put River in front, 29-22, at the 4:03-mark of the fourth.
Less-than three minutes later, the Patriots' Eddie Starks scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to get the home side within one (29-28). Kentrell Marks muscled into the end zone for a 2-point conversion moments later, and Valley Forge found itself back in the lead.
It was the final reshuffling of scoreboard digits on the evening, and the Patriots emerged with the 30-29 victory.
The Thursday-night affair at Byers Field was a crossover game in the new-look East-West divisional format of the now-12-team Great Lakes Conference. For the Pirates, the crossover from winning the game convincingly to losing in a cliffhanger was all too quick.
CANNON FIRE ...
STREAK SNAPPED: Rocky River was attempting to earn its third straight win to open a season for the first time since 2007. In that year, the Pirates won 10 regular-season games (and a Westshore Conference title) and a playoff contest before falling to Lake Catholic, 28-25, in the second round of the Buckeye State playoffs.
PATRIOT-IC TREND: With its Thursday rally, Valley Forge has now won three of the last four meetings between these two schools. Rocky River defeated the Patriots, 33-20, in last year's season finale, but Valley Forge took the meetings in 2019 and 2018. River is 4-3 in its seven-game all-time series against the Patriots.
ON DECK: The Pirates will host a GLC crossover game against Lakewood on Sept. 10. The once-again-annual Battle of the Bridge game against the Rangers will kick off at Rocky River Stadium at 7 p.m.
by Skip Snow
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