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Painesville Riverside used a strong 2nd half to put away a pesky Youngstown Boardman Spartan team to stay unbeaten notching a 52-21 victory from Beaver Stadium on Friday night.
Facing one of the top Division II teams in the state, the Spartans couldn’t have asked for a better start in a hostile environment. Junior Quarterback Zach Haus picked apart the Beavers defense up and down the field with his go-to target Tomas Andujar. The 80-yard touchdown drive was capped off by a quick throw from Haus to Andujar for the 6-yard score to silence the home crowd. Riverside has an offense that is filled with weapons at each primary skill position. But their Senior leader Mikey Maloney got things started on a broken play.
His first of four rushes in the game went for 6 as he used his quicks to gain the edge down the sideline to knot the game up early. The first quarter was truly a back-and-forth type of game as both teams traded blows with two more scores to finish out the quarter. Boardman picked up right where they left off on the following drive with Haus using his legs this time to gash the Beaver defense. He would go on to finish with 100 yards on the ground tonight.
Willy Torres punched it in from 2 yards out to put the Spartans back on top, but that lead would once again be quickly short-lived as the undefeated Beavers answered once more.
As mentioned before, Riverside has a plethora of skilled players on the offensive side of the ball who can really hurt opposing defenses with their strength and speed. One of those players is Senior Brady McKnight. The wideout took a pitch and found his fellow wideout Ethan Ross for a 14-yard touchdown with less than a minute left in the 1st quarter.
A 36-yard field goal from Leo D’Astolfo gave the Beavers a lead they would not relinquish. Another trick play led to a big score from the Beavers. After a few reverses the ball landed back into Maloney’s hands, and he found McKnight wide open over the middle of the field for a 39-yard score untouched. But the Spartans would not go away just yet.
Following a big 4th down stop in Riverside territory, the visitors from Youngstown found themselves in a great position to gain momentum for the 2nd half. On 4th and goal from the 2 with 2 seconds left, the Spartans decided to not take the points by kicking the field goal. Haus found Torres right over the middle end zone as time expired. And just like that the Spartans were right back in it looking to pull off the upset.
The 2nd half was a different story, as the Beavers came alive on both sides of the football. Chunk plays became the norm for the Northeast Ohio power. Senior Jason Mackey, their leading rusher from last season started to show his prowess up and down the field. He would finish with another 100+ yard night on the ground. Maloney would throw his 2nd touchdown of the night to Ross from 40 yards out to add on to the 2nd half offensive onslaught.
The 3 headed monster of Maloney, McKnight, and Mackey would all go on to score once a piece in the 2nd half to put the game out of reach. Despite not hurting themselves with penalties or turnovers, Boardman just could not find that magic from the 1st half. Riverside’s defense stepped up and pitched a shutout in the 2nd half.
The final score does indicate how close this game was but Riverside once again showed why they are one of the top Division II teams. The Beavers will host Willoughby South next week as conference play begins. The Spartans fall to 1-4 and will host their rival Youngstown Cardinal Mooney.
Players of the Game:
Riverside QB Mikey Maloney- 4 total touchdowns, 71 yards rushing, 226 yards passing
Riverside WR Brady McKnight- 3 total touchdowns, (1 passing) 122 receiving yards
