ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (Sept. 28, 2022) -- News and notes after Rocky River's 22-21 victory over Bay on Sept. 23 and heading into the Pirates' Friday game at Fairview ...
GAME 6: Rocky River (2-4, 1-1 Great Lakes Conference West) played in its second straight cliffhanger game at home. The Pirates and Rockets played a game of leapfrog in the second half after River had gone into halftime leading 14-8. After senior running back Zach Wilson scored on an 8-yard run capping off a 62-yard touchdown drive, the Men in Maroon led 22-15 heading into the final 7-1/2 minutes of play. Bay scored a TD at 1:49 of the fourth quarter and would try to take the lead with a 2-point conversion, but the Pirate defense got a stop and was able to clock the 1-point triumph one week after losing 23-21 to Elyria Catholic.
NOTING THE OFFENSE: River's leading rusher Friday was Zach Wilson, who ran for 58 yards on 12 carries. Senior Mack Massad added 31 yards on six totes. Sophomore Cam Bulkowski had 28 yards on four attempts. ... Massad (two catches-65 yards), senior wide receiver Demis Salivaras (2-49), and junior wide receiver Ryan Ricketti (2-24) each logged multiple catches in the Pirates aerial game. Junior quarterback Julian Patti went 10-for-14 and passed for 174 yards.
NOTING THE DEFENSE: Rocky River top tacklers versus Bay were sophomore defensive back Josh Mommers (15), junior linebacker Trent Delventhal (11), junior linebacker John Perry (8T, tackle for loss), senior defensive end Aiden Andrako (7T, TFL), sophomore defensive back Cam Bulkowski (seven), and junior defensive lineman Max Fano (five). ... Rocky River held Bay to a combined 6-of-14 performance on third and fourth downs.
NO JOSHIN': Josh Mommers has now logged double-digit tackle numbers in five consecutive games. The sophomore standout has a team-high 66 tackles this season.
ON TARGET: Julian Patti completed 21-of-his-first-47 pass attempts this season. Since Week 3, Patti has been on target 58.7% (37-of-63) of his throws.
WAR RECORD: With River's win over Bay -- and with the team's 41-10 win over their rivels last season (Sept. 24) -- the Pirates have now toppled the Rockets in successive seasons for the first time since 2012-13. ... Friday's game was the 84th between Rocky River and Bay. The Rockets lead the all-time series 43-38-3. ... Prior to Friday, the last 1-point game in the series had been Oct. 24, 2014, when Bay defeated River 39-38. Friday's tilt marked Rocky River's first 1-point win in the series.
ON DECK: Game 7 of the 2022 season finds the Sons of Blackbeard traveling down Wagar Rd. to visit the Fairview Warriors. Rocky River will meet Fairview Friday at 7 p.m. ... Friday’s game will mark the 88th in the all-time series between Rocky River and Fairview. The Buccaneers have won eight straight from the Warriors. The west-side suburb series dates back to 1935.
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS: Fairview (1-5, 0-2) has lost four straight games. For the season, the Warriors have averaged 9.5 points per game while allowing 35.8 PPG.
by Skip Snow
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