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PAINESVILLE, Ohio – The Riverside Beavers ended the shortened regular season on a wave of momentum after a pair of Western Reserve Conference routs. After a 51-7 win over Madison last week, the Beavers shutout the Eastlake North Rangers 34-0 at home.
Quarterback Dom Lulow had a lot to do with the Beavers’ offensive attack. Lulow accounted for 324 total yards and four touchdowns on the night. On the defensive end, Riverside took advantage of five North turnovers in the shutout effort.
Riverside opened the game with a seven play, 75 yard drive ending in a touchdown by Lulow. He scampered to the end zone from 12 yards out, giving the Beavers a 7-0 lead three minutes in.
North fumbled the ball on their first drive, leading to a second score from the Beavers. On the drive, Lulow connected with Jamir Francis for 42 yards, setting the table for a Lulow touchdown pass to Brady McKnight. The Lulow-McKnight pass counted for six points from 22 yards out. Riverside had a 14-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.
Eastlake North used 12 plays to drain the final six minutes of the first quarter and one minute of the second quarter but the drive came up empty.
Lulow found McKnight for a 57 yard completion, putting the Beavers in the red zone. Five plays later, North held strong on fourth down, forcing a missed fourth down.
Later in the quarter, Mason Stephens intercepted a pass from Chris Molica. Two drives after the pick, Stephens caught a 14 yard touchdown pass from Lulow. The extra point was no good, as Riverside led 20-0 heading into halftime.
Riverside forced a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half, but didn’t score until the second drive. Lulow to Stephens was the scoring connection, a six yard touchdown pass with 4:50 left in the third. Lulow’s third passing score pushed the lead to 27-0.
North’s third fumble gave the Beavers the ball at midfield. With 31 seconds to go in the quarter, Dominic Tromba scored from 23 yards for Riverside. The running clock was in effect, with Riverside up 34-0.
With backups in, neither team scored in the fourth quarter as the score ended 34-0.
Riverside totaled 457 yards of total offense Friday to North’s 169 yards. The Beavers rushed 31 times for 218 yards while North had 132 yards rushing on 40 attempts. The Beavers’ passing game topped North 239-37.
Lulow was 14 of 20 for 239 yards and three touchdowns through the air. He added a team-high 85 rushing yards on nine carries and one score. Cayman Locher ran the ball 12 times for 79 yards while Tromba had five carries (one touchdown) for 57 yards. McKnight was Lulow’s leading receiver with 79 yards on two catches. Stephens was efficient with two touchdowns out of three catches.
For North, Molica was one of six passing for 37 yards and one interception. He rushed the ball 16 times for 53 yards. Reontae Lowery rushed for 16 yards and had North’s only reception for 37 yards.
With holding North to 169 yards total, the Beavers backed it up with four forced fumbles and one interception.
As the #5 seed in Division 2, Region 5, Riverside ended the regular season 5-1 (3-1 in WRC play). The Beavers will have a first round bye and will host the winner of Boardman-Cuyahoga Falls on October 16th.
Eastlake North finished with a 3-3 record overall and 2-3 in the WRC, dropping the last two contests of the regular season. The Rangers will host Garfield Heights next Friday (Oct. 9) at home, with the winner advancing to face Walsh Jesuit.
Player of the Game: Riverside’s Dom Lulow – 14/20, 239 passing yards, 3 passing TD’s, 9 rushes, 85 yards rushing, 1 rushing TD (324 total yards, 4 TD’s)
