by The North Ridgeville Rangers took on the Avon Lake Shoremen in a matchup of two of the best teams in the Southwestern Conference. It was the Shoremen who came out on top, despite not scoring a touchdown. The Shoremen used 4 field goals from Reece Polomsky to get a 12-10 win. Both defenses played great football all night, as there was only 1 combined touchdown between two usually high-powered offenses.
It was the Rangers who got on the board first, capping off a long opening drive with a field goal from Austin DeShazo. A big 31-yard pass by Shoremen quarterback Alex Affolter to Aidan Stewart and a long run by Alex Kowalski got Avon Lake down inside the 5-yard line. They would have to settle for a 22-yard field goal from Reese Polomsky to make it a 3-3 tie.
North Ridgeville took the lead back with another long drive, this time ending in a touchdown. Rangers running back Zack Barnhart found the end zone from three yards out to make it a 10-3 game. Just before halftime, it looked like Avon Lake was going to either tie the game or at least get a field goal. However, multiple penalties and a sack by Rangers defensive lineman Christian Ensley set the ball all the way back to midfield. North Ridgeville would remain up 10-3 going into halftime.
It was a true defensive battle in this game, especially in the second half. The Rangers couldn’t seem to get anything going offense. That allowed the Shoremen to slowly chip away at the lead. The Shoremen were not able to get into the end zone but added two field goals from Polomsky to make it a 10-9 game in the fourth quarter.
The Rangers offense seemed to finally break through late in the fourth quarter. Rangers quarterback Cole Miller connected with Charlie Steinmetz for what looked like a 39-yard touchdown, but it was called back due to a penalty for an illegal man downfield. Later that drive, Miller would be intercepted by Michael Summerfield of the Shoremen.
That setup a potential game winning drive for Avon Lake. On a big 4th down, Alex Affolter found Nathan Haven to keep the drive alive. A few good runs by Alex Kowalski got the Shoremen into field goal range and ran the clock all the way down to 2 seconds. Reece Polomsky then drilled the 42-yard goal to give Avon Lake a 12-10 win.
Player of the Game: Reece Polomsky 4/4 FG
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