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Coming into Friday night’s matchup, the Keystone Wildcats had not lost a conference game in over four years of LC8 play (23-0). The Falcons broke that streak, coming out on top of a thrilling shootout, 46-42.
With the win, Firelands (5-1, 3-0) took a strangle-hold atop the Lorain County League. Keystone (2-4, 2-1) dropped to second place.
FIRST HALF
Both teams came out of the gate hot combining for five touchdowns in the first quarter. Similar to the first few weeks of the regular season, the Wildcats were unable to stop the run.
In just six regular season games, the Wildcats have now given up 300 plus rushing yards on four separate occasions.
Firelands first score came just three minutes removed from the opening kickoff, as senior running back Weston Strader gave the Falcons a 7-0 lead on an 18-yard rushing touchdown.
The Wildcats responded quickly. On their second snap, senior quarterback Konner Rodick aired it out to Zach Shackelford for a 61-yard bomb down the left sideline.
With the score knotted, the Falcons began to feed Strader again. He found the endzone for a second time, on an 11-yard rush up the gut, to put Firelands back on top with 4:50 to go in the first.
Just three plays later, Roddick connected with Shackelford again. This time came courtesy off a 48-yard touchdown down the opposite side of the field. The back-and-forth nature of the game started early and lasted all night long.
After a Falcon punt and an interception thrown by Rodick, Firelands regained possession, just 23-yards from Keystone’s endzone. A fumble on second down backed the Falcons up, but on fourth and two from inside the redzone, junior Josh Kovach gave the Falcons a 21-14 lead on a 15-yard rushing score.
During the kickoff, an illegal block by the Wildcats drew a 10-yard penalty, and they took possession on their own 17. That did not seem to matter to Rodick, who led the Wildcats on an 11-play, 83-yard touchdown drive. All that hard work paid off with a one-yard pass to Ryne Shackelford—Zach’s older brother.
Ryne and Zach Shackelford combined for over 400 all-purpose yards, each scoring three times.
Ryne, a senior who has won multiple state-titles in track, will be on his way to Purdue next fall to play BIG10 football for the Boilermakers.
With the score tied at 21, Strader immediately broke off a 34-yard rush, setting himself up for his third first-half score.
Falcon kicker Rocco Iofalla missed the extra point, going 4/6 on the night, and Firelands led by six.
Keystone’s next drive stalled out around midfield and they were forced to punt with just 2:20 remaining in the half. The Wildcats had no answer for the Falcons ground game.
Strader eclipsed 200 rushing yards before the halfway mark in the game. He also tacked on his fourth touchdown from 16-yards out. The Falcon lead was stretched to 13.
With under a minute to go in the half, the Wildcats managed to run eight plays, scoring on a 76-yard drive. It was highlighted by a 30-yard double-pass from Ryne Shackelford to senior wideout AJ Stroud. The younger Zach caught his third touchdown pass of the night, a 16-yard dime from Rodick, with just six seconds remaining. At the half, Firelands led 34-28.
SECOND HALF
Despite the outlandish scoring of the first half, both teams failed to put a point on the board for the entirety of the third quarter. This was mainly due to Keystone’s twenty-play opening drive(!) sputtering out just inside of the redzone.
By the time Firelands offense took the field, over ten minutes had ticked off. When the Falcons did finally get the ball, they fumbled, with Strader coughing it up just inside of Wildcat territory.
An eight-yard touchdown run by Ryne Shackelford tied the game, but a blocked PAT kept the score at 34-34. Slowly but surely, this game was setting up to be a barnburner.
By this point, Strader had nearly eclipsed 300 yards on the ground; the entire stadium knew who was getting the ball. But that did not make him any easier to tackle. Strader scored his fifth touchdown of the game on a 14-yard rush, but Iofalla missed the extra point attempt, and the Falcons led by six with 7:34 to go.
Rodick was steadfast in his approach, converting on fourth down twice during the Wildcats following drive. Down six with 4:15 to go, the Wildcats were left with no choice but to go for it on fourth and 17.
Rodick scambled left, avoiding tacklers, and delivered a seed to Stroud who made it just past the first down marker. Following a facemask and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Firelands head coach, Rodick gave his team their first lead of the game—finding Ryne over the middle for a 7-yard score with just 2:52 to play.
The Wildcats were up 42-40, but their lead lasted a total of six seconds. Strader broke-off yet another 53-yard touchdown run to put the Falcons back on top, 46-42. The two-point attempt was stuffed at the goal line.
With just 2:30 to play, Keystone’s offense started on their own 30-yard line. Rodick looked to the Shackelford brothers, as he had done all night. But, with just four seconds to go the Wildcats were still outside of the redzone. From the 26-yard line, Rodick connected with Zach once more, who was tackled on the eight as time expired.
Remarkably, Firelands only passing attempt came in the first quarter, a 12-yard pickup by Kovach. Strader finished with 377 rushing yards and six touchdowns. If Keystone did not use 10 minutes on their opening drive, Strader had a good shot at the Lorain County rushing record—445 yards.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Firelands Falcons
Weston Strader Senior RB
377 rushing yards, 6 TDS, 0 carries for loss
Keystone Wildcats
Zach Shackelford Sophomore WR
209 receiving yards, 3 TDS
