ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (Sept. 23, 2022) -- For a second straight Friday, the Pirates rocked back and forth in a sea of momentum exchange. Swelling ebbs and flows and a game of electric leapfrog on the Rocky River Stadium scoreboard. With leads exchanged like broadside cannon fire. Buccaneer warfare three-quarters of a mile inland.
On this particular Friday -- a week after falling to Elyria Catholic 23-21 -- Rocky River prevailed, and the Pirates retained control of the Helm in their trophy battle against the Bay Rockets. In a gridiron tussle on an ideal autumn evening, the Sons of Blackbeard defeated the rival Rockets 22-21. The 2022 edition of the War by the Shore -- the 84th meeting between Rocky River and Bay -- included three lead changes and four times that number of big plays on offense and defense turned in by both teams. And, on a Homecoming night on the Gridiron in the Heart of River, it included lots of fanfare.
Early on in Friday's Great Lakes Conference West Division clash, the big plays were turned in by the Rocky River offense. A mid-first-quarter drive got the Pirates inside the Bay 15-yard line before seeming to stall. But a third-and-10, 12-yard touchdown pass from Julian Patti to Ryan Ricketti closed out the drive with with the game's first score. Ricketti's first career TD -- at the 3:56-mark of the first -- capped off a 68-yard drive eating up four minutes-and-11 seconds of game clock. For the rest of the night, the lengthy drives would be registered by the visitors.
Bay (3-3, 1-1 GLC West) cobbled together 10 plays in a 50-yard yard drive ending in a turnover on downs on the ensuing possession. The stop by the Pirates defense would come on one of many clutch plays turned in by that group.
Rocky River (2-4, 1-1) scored again on its next possession, this time getting a quick-strike six when Patti hit Mack Massad in stride over the middle of the field and the senior receiver took it to the house. Massad got a key downfield block by Demis Salivares on the play.
Massad's touchdown came at the 9:33-mark of the second quarter. There would be but half-a-minute left in the half by the time the Pirates got the ball back.
The Rockets got into the game with a methodical 19-play, 80-yard, nine-minute march to paydirt. Running a tight-formation run game with a slew of different ball carriers toting the pigskin behind an effective line, Bay eventually put eight points on the board with a 2-yard TD run by Mac Weingart and a successful 2-point conversion.
The padded rivals went into halftime with Rocky River leading 14-8.
In the third quarter, River's offense stalled in two drives. It logged a turnover on downs after a trip of moderate length and then committed the game's lone actual turnover on a fumble at 3:53 of the third.
The Rockets leveraged that fumble into a touchdown when they strung together nine plays on a 50-yard drive. The drive was dominated by the Bay offensive line, which not only pushed the Rockets eventually over the goal line -- on an 8-yard run by Weingart -- but also pushed them into the lead (15-14) and into an edge in momentum. Brendan Spellman, Charles Rice, and Charlie Rodgers -- along with Weingart -- gave Bay its toughest runs behind that line. Spellman would finish the night with 83 yards on 14 carries. But the Pirates would have to slow down -- and eventually stymie -- a multi-faceted Bay running game if they were going to reel in a victory.
And, what's more, Rocky River was going to have to score again.
The Pirates took care of that part first. On the ensuing drive, the Maroon & White got some fine work from their own line. The River Raiders marched the ball from their own 38 to the painted turf 62 yards away. A big Patti-to-Salivares 28-yard pass play moved the Pirate offense much of the way. It was Zach Wilson -- logging his first River touchdown -- who was responsible for the final 8 yards of the drive. Patti threaded a pass to Ricketti to add 2 more points after, and the home side found itself back in front 22-15.
For the game, Patti went 10-of-14 for 178 yards. Ricketti was one of seven players on the receiving end of that work.
River took a 7-point lead into the final eight minutes and 44 seconds of regulation. The Buccaneers would protect just enough of that lead to triumph over the Rockets for a second straight year.
Grinding out another line-driven march down the field, Bay worked itself free from awful field position (its own 6-yard line), into a groove through the middle 40, and deep into Pirate territory. Strong runs by Spellman and Weingart pounded the pigskin eventually down to the goal line. A run across that line --by Weingart-- came with the clock showing 1:49.
The scores bracketing that 1:49 on the scoreboard: Rocky River 22, Visitors 21. Those visitors would try to leverage their momentum into two more points, and the two sides essentially lined up for one 6-foot play to determine where the Helm would be housed for the next 365 days.
Defensive linemen Max Fano and Aiden Andrako were the vanguard of a Pirate push on that second goal line stand. Fano knocked the ball loose, and the Double-R defense won the battle. The 2-point try was denied.
Fano logged five tackles for the game. Andrako had seven, including one for a loss. The River defense also got big performances from Josh Mommers (15T), Trent Delventhal (11T), and John Perry (8T, tackle for loss). The Pirates did cave on some long drives, but credit the Rockets their end of things on those marches. The Sons of Blackbeard had some swagger in big situations. Rocky River held Bay to a combined 6-of-14 performance on third and fourth downs. And no stop was bigger than the 2-point denial.
The Maroon & White were able to run out the clock. And celebrate with their band.
They were celebrating a rivalry win in their Homecoming Game. Being on top at the end of a thrilling back-and-forth. At the Helm at the end of this War by the Shore.
by Skip Snow
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