by Olmsted Falls, OH – The visiting North Ridgeville Rangers would enter the Home of the Olmsted Falls Bulldogs and pull off a 10-3 victory in the closing minutes.
Olmsted Falls hosted a huge Week 4 matchup, with their first conference game against the North Ridgeville Rangers. Both teams entered the game with records of 3-0, fighting to see who would come out on top and remain undefeated.
Both Olmsted Falls and North Ridgeville would struggle early on the offensive side, being forced into several punting situations. The Bulldog defense would try to bring some life into their team with a huge play downfield. Forcing the Rangers into a 3rd down, the defense would continue to pressure the Ridgeville offense and cause a fumble in the backfield. The fumble was recovered by Olmsted Falls senior Derek Neckar.
The Bulldogs would gain possession of the football in great field position, but the struggles offensively would continue. North Ridgeville’s defense swarmed Olmsted Falls’ run game and forced them into another punting situation to end the 1st quarter.
North Ridgeville would take up most of the 2nd quarter with a strong showing on offense. The Rangers would slowly rush their way downfield, led by sophomore Zach Barnhart. The Rangers would find themselves in a 4th and 1 position on the 1-yard line, with just under one minute to play in the half. However, the Bulldog defense would once again make a play when their team needed it most, stopping Barnhart on the rush to the endzone.
To begin the second half, Olmsted Falls senior Trent Hrabnicky erupted the stadium with a 58-yard punt return. His return would set the offense up on their own 3-yard line and the Bulldogs would attempt to score the first points of the game. This time, it was the Ranger defense that would step up for their team. Despite the excellent field position, the Bulldogs could not get past North Ridgeville’s wall of a defense. Olmsted Falls senior Jack Birch would nail a 25-yard field goal to give his team a 3-0 lead.
North Ridgeville wasted no time to score points of their own, as the offense was led downfield by junior Charlie Steinmetz. Steinmetz would explode for two 10+ yard runs to set his team up with possession in the redzone. To cap off a strong possession on offensive, Steinmetz would shed a tackle and break away for an 18-yard touchdown run.
Momentum swung right towards the Ridgeville defense as they would cut the Bulldog’s offensive possession extremely short. The Rangers strong stint on defense would force an Olmsted Falls fumble, which was recovered by senior Jeremy Michael.
The 4th quarter started off big for the Bulldogs, as junior quarterback Jimmy Rosol found senior Andrew Bonness downfield for a 33-yard catch. The Bulldog’s could not find the back of the endzone and looked to minimize the lead with a field goal kick, but missed just right and would end the possession scoreless.
With nearly 1 minute left in the game, North Ridgeville found themselves on the 37-yard line on 3rd down. Junior Austin DeShazo would drill the field goal and give his team a 10-3 lead. Olmsted Falls would look to answer back and tie the game, but Ridgeville junior Tyler Peregord would intercept a Bulldog pass and retain possession for the Rangers with time running down. The interception would cap off the final possession of the game, and the Rangers would hold on for a 10-3 victory.
The Rangers were led by junior Charlie Steinmetz and sophomore Zach Barnhart. Steinmetz ran for 90 yards, on 13 carries, with 1 rushing touchdown. Barnhart ran for 68 yards, on 17 carries.
Player of the Game: North Ridgeville junior Charlie Steinmetz.
