ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (Sept. 29, 2023) -- Friday night marked Rocky River's Homecoming Game. That tradition, of course, serves as an annual marker of time and anniversaries. A school community planting its metaphorical flag, celebrating its mascot and colors amid the colors of fall, usually on a Friday night in a festive crowd.
School colors, school songs. A Pirate parade, Script River, and a Court on a field. The 2023 Homecoming Game marked a 40th class reunion for the River Raiders of 1983, a 75th anniversary of a 1948 Southwest Conference championship, and the 100th anniversary of the Pirates winning the 1923 Greater Cleveland Conference crown. But for the Pirates on the field on Sept. 29, 2023, Friday's game was a return to the fifties.
As in a half-a-hundred points. Again.The tackle football Pirates made themselves part of the community celebration with flair and style. With alert playmaking, daring passes, and thundering cleats, the swashbuckling Sons of Blackbeard attacked, sacked, smacked, and sunk the visiting Demons of Westlake High School in a thrilling 55-28 affair at Rocky River Stadium.
Scoring 50-plus points for a third time this season, the Double-R ran its Detroit Road record to 4-0 (after going 1-4 on home turf last autumn) and its Great Lakes Conference West Division mark to 2-0. The Maroon & White offense racked up over-500 yards for a second game this season (over-400 for a sixth).
And those gaudy gridiron gains have come in games with large swaths of running-clock time. Even Friday's against a DII Region 6 top-10 would have some quick-clock time.
Big plays were turned in on both sides of the ball, up and down the 100-yard property, and up and down the roster. On offense, quarterback Julian Patti orchestrated a River attack that rocked a heretofore 5-1 Westlake squad. The Buccaneers produced 527 total yards and eight touchdowns. Three-hundred-and-seventy-eight of those yards and seven of those TDs came directly out of the right hand of the senior signal caller -- in spiral form, exercising Westlake defensive backs.
And exorcising Demons.River receivers got their exercise, too: chasing down catches, bolting to open spaces, and finding paydirt.
It was running back Nick DiSalvo who first found his way onto painted turf. On the final play of the first quarter, DiSalvo was the target receiver in a well-timed, well-blocked screen play. The senior left 47 yards of Westlake defenders in his wake, as the Pirates capped off a seven-play drive with the long TD. Rocky River went into the second quarter leading 7-6.
That second stanza was the primary separator in the 70th all-time meeting between the west-side suburban neighbors. The Pirates controlled the football and the line of scrimmage while commanding the skies. By the time Westlake's marching band could take the field at halftime, the River offense had traversed that field four times over in an exchange of one score for four. Patti had three of his TD passes in that period alone. DiSalvo scored twice in the second, once on a reception and once on a running play; both were on powerful dashes to the end zone. The Buccaneers' explosive offense was on display throughout. The longest play of the second was a 58-yard bomb from Patti to wide receiver Rowan McDougal, but that play, which resulted in a touchdown, had plenty of company in the 25-to-35-yard range.
The Pirates (6-1, 2-0 GLC West) toted a 35-13 lead into halftime. With a score on its first drive of the third quarter -- a tremendous 27-yard TD toss from Patti reeled in on a circus catch by Oran Grieve, Rocky River set the tone for the rest of the night. Westlake (5-2, 1-1) trailed by at least 20 the rest of the way.
For the game, Westlake managed 312 total yards (188 rushing yards, 124 passing yards). Quarterback Sam Brucchierri (two TD passes) and running back Matthew Porcelli (two TD runs) were responsible for the Demons' four scores. Porcelli finished the game with 140 yards on 18 carries (7.8 average).
The Westlake offense had its hands full in trying to keep the River rush away from Brucchierri. With a tearing-through-blockers Trent Delventhal leading the way, the Buccaneer defense racked up a season-high five sacks. Delventhal -- who in one stretch registered two sacks in as many plays -- powered his way to 3-1/2 sacks on the night.
Ben Bogre (eight solo tackles, 11 total, one sack), Andrew Lang (9T), and Josh Mommers (6T) were River's busiest defenders. Lang had a big night as a two-way standout. The senior tight end and linebacker was a key blocker for Nick DiSalvo and also registered two catches for 69 yards.
DiSalvo was once again the engine in the ground game; he racked up 138 yards on 16 carries (8.6 average).
Ryan Ricketti was the ring leader for the Pirates' flying circus. Ricketti wrangled his way to 124 yards on a career-high 11 catches. He was half of Julian Patti's remarkable 22-for-28 performance.
It all made for ...
... Rocky River tying its season-high in scoring (55 vs. Painesville Harvey Aug. 18),
... a defense allowing just two scores over Westlake's final 34 plays,
...
and, on an idyllic Northeast Ohio night -- complete with a full moon, much to howl about for Rocky River Homecoming revelers.CANNON FIRE ...
ON DECK: River will not be home again until Week 10 of the regular season, Oct. 20 (vs. Fairview). On Oct. 6, the Pirates will travel to Elyria Catholic. On Oct. 13, the Pirates will renew their age-old rivalry with the Bay Rockets (at Bay Memorial Stadium).
LEVEL GROUND: Friday's contest was a trophy game -- River retains the Westwood Cup with the triumph over the Demons. Rocky River has now won four straight meetings in what has been an on-and-off-again series since the schools first met in 1917. That 1917 meeting marked Rocky River's first game. The all-time RRHS-WHS series is now tied 34-34-2.
PIRATE PASS TIME: Julian Patti distributed the football to no less than eight River receivers Friday. Ricketti led the way with his 11 catches. He now has six-plus catches in five straight games and has registered four consecutive 100-yard games. Ricketti needs just 46 more yards to become just the 10th player in program history to log 800 receiving yards in a single season. ... DiSalvo had five receptions vs. Westlake. Three were on scoring plays. For the season, only Ricketti (with 50) has more catches than DiSalvo's 27. DiSalvo has scored six touchdowns on receptions and 12 on rushing plays. His 108 points already rank fourth in River single-season history (Tommy Bebie registered a program-record 158 points in 2021). ... Patti's seventh TD toss Friday was hauled in by junior Cam Bulkowsi, who has now filed one rushing and one receiving score in his career. Bulkowski became the sixth Pirate to register a TD catch this season. ... Julian Patti's season line is now an other-worldly 136 completions in 202 attempts (67.3%) for 2,241 yards (320.1 per game). He has thrown 34 TD passes against just two interceptions. Patti's yardage total is already the fourth-highest in River single-season history. He is perhaps within a game or two of breaking Matt Lowry's school record of 2,511 passing yards in 2014.
HASH MARKS: The RR offense converted each of its first six attempts on third downs. The Pirates went 7-for-9 in that department for the game. ... The Double-R has now scored 318 points through seven games. The team's 45.4 points-per-game scoring average is the would-be highest in the 107 years of Rocky River Football. The current scoring record is 40.2 PPG. That figure was authored by the 2014 Pirates. ... RRHS is currently tabbed seventh in the unofficial OHSAA Division III, Region 10 rankings provided by
joeeitel.com. River's next two foes are would-be top-16s in those same Buckeye State rankings (Elyria Catholic No. 16 in DIV R15, Bay No. 10 in DII R10). The Pirates' lone loss this season (Sept. 1) came against a now-6-0 Sandusky Perkins team which is tabbed as the No. 1 team in DIV R15.
by Skip Snow