ELYRIA, Ohio -- The Pirates were lucky in walking off with a 21-20 victory at Elyria Catholic Friday night.
Rocky River got a 47-yard yard field goal off the powerful right leg of Mack Massad as time expired. The kick capped off a comeback from a 20-11 deficit and lifted the Pirates to a victory in their Great Lakes Conference West Division opener at Dan Reaser Stadium. And luck was in abundant supply throughout the evening.
Levi Ellis scored three touchdowns for the host Panthers. His second rush to paydirt came midway through the second quarter and vaulted Elyria Catholic to a 14-3 lead. The Pirates pulled within three points of the Panthers when Braedon Spies connected with Stan Heuler on a 16-yard TD pass with 1:24 remaining in the second. The TD toss -- followed by a 2-point conversion for the Sons of Blackbeard -- was as picture-perfect as the mid-September night on which it was thrown. It lofted between two Panther defenders, catching Heuler in stride down the right hash marks, just as the junior tight end was crossing the goal line.
Picture perfect and plenty lucky to get that score before halftime.
The Panthers' mere three-point advantage (14-11) was preserved when sophomore Owen Kleckner notched his first career interception late in the half.
Getting a lucky stop never hurt an underdog trying to earn a come-from-behind win on the road.
Elyria Catholic (3-2, 0-1 GLC West) got a big touchdown midway through the third frame when Ellis registered his third score. Ellis would finish the night with 182 yards on 26 carries.
But River countered in the final minute of the third when Spies rambled 19 yards to log his sixth rushing touchdown of the season. The Panthers took a 20-18 lead into the fourth.
That fourth quarter would be a scoreless one for literally as long as a quarter with points can be. And credit some more luck flowing through the River defense on their side of that scoring drought. The Panthers went into Friday's West Division clash having scored a combined 151 points over their previous three games.
Rocky River (3-2, 1-0) did get a crack at taking a lead at the 4:30-mark. But Massad -- who to that point had never missed a field goal in seven attempts -- failed on a try from 42 yards out. The attempt went wide left. Perhaps the junior had exceeded his range. The Pirates would likely have to score a touchdown or get a closer look on a field goal should another opportunity arise. Or was luck running out?
An opportunity did present itself two minutes later when EC fumbled the ball on the Pirate 47. Rocky River nearly stalled near midfield after an incomplete pass and a loss of 3 on its first two plays of the ensuing series. But a clutch third-and-13 was converted when Braedon Spies found Massad on a play that sailed the Pirates to the Panther 42.
Spies would complete one more pass, a 1-yarder to senior Will Hanzel on the final play from scrimmage. An earlier look -- for Massad in the end zone -- fell incomplete. Runs by Spies and senior Tommy Bebie would move the ball a little. But when Hanzel was tackled in bounds with eight seconds remaining, he was at the EC 30-yard line. How could that possibly be close enough for a field-goal unit that missed a 42-yarder (from the Panther 25) not four minutes ago?
Only head coach Josh Wells, who would let the game clock wink down to 4 seconds, and offensive coordinator Mark Hogya would know. Or at least want to hazard an educated guess. And for Hogya, perhaps that guess was more educated than most. The longtime River coach was, after all, coaching in his 350th career game.
Then again, maybe Wells and Hogya wished for little luck as they sent their field-goal unit out on the field.
A little more luck ... for a football team that had been manufacturing its own luck all night. Cranking it out by the ton. By the tackle. By the touchdown. By the takeaway. And in the end, by the toe.
The Pirates' luck was forged into existence by a difficult and rewarding week of practice. By every unit applying equal parts focus, tenacity, and technique. And that included the kicking unit -- every blocker, long snapper Evan Merk, holder Braedon Spies, and kicker Mack Massad.
"Our focus this week was playing together and for each other," said Wells, whose team was playing in its third consecutive game to be decided by one score. "We wanted to speed up the game by running the ball efficiently and keep their offense off the field."
And so, Wells and his anxious Pirates looked on from the sideline. Upon one final play with neither offense on the field. Just Merk taking hold of the 15-ounce pigskin and his line mates putting a fist in the turf at the 30-yard line. And Spies awaiting Merk's snap on the 37th right-side hash mark. And Massad.
The snap was true. The hold was, too. The kick went through.
The Pirate fans who were present to witness the 47-yard game-winner and the 21-20 victory for Rocky River were ... well, lucky.
CANNON FIRE ...
NEW LEADER IN THE CLUBHOUSE: Massad's game-winner as time expired marked the longest field goal in Double-R history. The previous long belonged to Matt Goepfert, who split the uprights with a 45-yarder in 2015. ... Another Pirate joined a club on Friday in Elyria. Braedon Spies passed for 147 yards, which moved him past the 3,000-yard mark for his career. Spies became the sixth member Rocky River's 3,000-yard passing club. Ahead of him on the list are Matt Lowry (2012-14), Robbie Plagens (2008-10), Greg Helms (1984-86), Michael Finnegan (2016-18), Andy Breidigam (2005-07). Lowry's 4,793 yards are the Pirate record.
SERIES TIED: River's comeback win snatched a series lead away from Elyria Catholic. The Panthers, who had defeated the Pirates in 2018 and 2019, were hosting what marked the 10th all-time meeting between the two programs. With Rocky River's win on Friday, that series is now knotted at 5-5.
by Skip Snow
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