Rangers Fall on Senior Night
Lakewood lost the final home game of its season to North Ridgeville Friday night. North Ridgeville won “the Battle of the Rangers” 31-0 on a chilly, windy night at First Federal Stadium. Senior running back Quentin Palmer had over 150 yards of offense, and senior linebacker Kevin Musai made some big plays, but it wasn’t enough for the home team. The game was preceded by ceremonies to honor seniors from: the marching band; cheerleaders; football team; girls tennis team; boys golf team; and boys and girls cross country teams.
Lakewood took the opening kick and had a solid first offensive possession. Faced with a stiff wind from the north, they marched from their own 20 yard line to the North Ridgeville 23. The drive, which had ten runs and one key third down pass, took nearly six minutes off the clock. Senior running back Quentin Palmer dominated, running for 25 yards and catching the 13 yard pass. However, the drive stalled when a fourth down attempt was stopped by North Ridgeville, turning possession over to “the Other Rangers”. On their second play from scrimmage, running back Cade Riley took the ball 67 yards for a touchdown. North Ridgeville then ran a “gadget play”, throwing for a two point conversion. With less than a minute of possession, they led 8-0 midway through the first quarter.
Lakewood answered with another nice drive, going all the way from their own 20 yard line to the North Ridgeville 6. The key play was a 32 yard pass from Austin Mahar to wide receiver Dayvon Hanible. The North Ridgeville defense tightened inside their ten yard line, forcing a field goal attempt by Lakewood. Junior Attila Nagy’s kick was blocked by North Ridgeville, holding the score at 8-0. North Ridgeville then scored another quick touchdown, taking only four plays to increase the lead to 15-0 before the end of the first quarter.
The Lakewood defense tightened in the second quarter, holding North Ridgeville scoreless. The Ranger offense had another good drive midway through the period, but then stalled at the North Ridgeville 33. The halftime score remained 15-0.
The Ranger defense held North Ridgeville to a “three and out” on its first possession of the second half. They also held on the next possession, where they forced a 49 yard field goal attempt that missed left. Lakewood was putting together an offensive drive midway through the quarter, but Mahar was picked off by defensive back Shomari Williams. North Ridgeville drove for a 44 yard field goal, pushing the score to 18-0 with 3:08 left in the third quarter. The field goal seemed to deflate Lakewood, which was unable to consistently move the ball the rest of the night. North Ridgeville scored touchdowns on its next two possessions to make the score 31-0 with 8:40 left in the game. The OHSAA “running clock rule” then kicked in, and the game ended with the same score.
Lakewood fell to 0-9 on the season, with one game left on the schedule. They travel to Amherst Friday night to take on Amherst Steele. The Comets (2-7) are coming off a 56-34 loss at Westlake. The Rangers won last year’s matchup 13-10 at First Federal Stadium.
Mike Deneen
Mike Deneen has extensive experience covering sports and community stories for the Lakewood Observer. Mike has been a Senior Industry Analyst for the Freedonia Group in Cleveland, Ohio, since 1998. He has appeared on CNBC’s Closing Bell, NPR’s MarketPlace and has been quoted multiple times in The Wall Street Journal. He has made multiple guest appearances on ESPN Cleveland radio. Mike also writes for Inside Northwestern, a website that covers Northwestern Wildcat Athletics. You can reach him on Twitter at @MikeDeneen1