ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (Sept. 20, 2024) -- The Tackle Football Pirates turned a beautiful Friday night under the lights into a happy homecoming for RRHS alumni, and local football fans were treated to offensive fireworks as the Maroon & White defeated Lakewood 42-27 Friday.
For the Pirates (4-1, 2-0 Cleveland West Conference), the fireworks came after a fizzle start. A busting-at-the-seams Rocky River Stadium crowd was pensive after a sideways start for the Sons of Blackbeard. Loose-with-the-pigskin and torched-by-the-deep-ball Rocky River found itself down 14-0 by the 7:24-mark of the first quarter.
A strong performance in the trenches most of the rest of the way would help the Raiders right the ship. Junior quarterback Ryan Taylor ran in two scores over the balance of the first stanza, and that deadlocked the score 14-14 as the east-of-the-river and west-of-the-river foes took the Battle for the Bridge into the second period. Taylor rushed for a third touchdown in the second minute of the second quarter -- after the Double-R defense had pitched a three-and-out to set up good field position -- and the Pirates took a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
Field position loomed large in a gridiron tussle that saw the Buccaneers outgained 414 to 378 in total yards. River's special teams came through as a noticeable difference maker. Kicker Stephen Cain, punters Josh Mommers and Bryant Hurt, and other special-teamers (punt block by Daoud Asleh) were an edge the home side would need because the Pirates were quite loose with the football at times. Both sides also dropped multiple passes on wide-open aerial attempts of considerable distance. But the tumble of the field position exchange ended up being a significant 12-yard difference: River's average drive start was its own 39; Lakewood's was its own 27. Over the key middle quarters of the game -- periods in which the Pirates outscored the Rangers 28-6 -- the edge for the Raiders was stronger still.
Though Lakewood (3-2, 1-1) did manage three drives of 80 yards or longer, the Pirate defense had its moments. Rocky River forced four three-and-outs and registered a takeaway (interception in the first quarter). From the mid-first period to late in the fourth, LHS scored on just 1-of-10 possessions.
Linebacker Ben Bogre had an impactful night in helping the Double-R keep the Ranger offense under wraps. The senior captain was all over the property, making havoc plays in the Lakewood backfield, up and down the line of scrimmage, and in the defensive backfield.
The Rangers did wrangle some aerial yards, mostly coming on some early deep shots and then late gains with a quarterback-tight end connection between Avery Holt and Riley Vanderber. But the River defense did its part in the Pirates catching up to, leapfrogging, and eventually pulling away from a Lakewood squad that had scored 30-plus points in 3-of-its-last-5 games. On Friday, Rocky River held Lakewood to a 4-of-13 mark on third downs.
The Rocky River offense was a balanced one, with Taylor and running back Joey DiSalvo pacing the ground game and with Taylor connecting with multiple receivers -- on key plays if perhaps not consistently. The Pirates logged six TDs in the contest: four were cranked out by Taylor on the ground; the other two were on passes (Josh Mommers to Oran Grieve on a 26-yarder in the second quarter, Taylor to Cam Bulkowski on a 14-yarder in the third).
Through five games, Ryan Taylor has now thrown 13 TD passes and run for six.
[Game stats unavailable at time of publication.]
CANNON FIRE ...
ON DECK: Rocky River will travel to Byers Field in Parma for a CWC game against Normandy on Sept. 27. ... River and Normandy are meeting for the first time since 2020. From 2015-20, the Buccaneers clocked six straight wins against the Invaders.
PIRATES-RANGERS: RRHS and LHS first met on the gridiron in 1922. Early meetings -- all before World War II -- were dominated by the Rangers, and then the two schools separated by just 4-3/4 miles did not meet for an 71-year stretch from 1941-2011. In eight meetings since 2012, the Pirates have gone 7-1 against LHS. ... The Rangers lead the 18-game all-time series 9-8-1.
by Skip Snow
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