by It was a big night in every phase of the game, as they ran the ball great, had a huge passing play, a blocked field goal, turnovers on defense and did the things a championship team needs to do in a big game.
The workhorse was speedy tailback Nick Buttari. This five-foot, eleven-inch, 175-pound speedster ran for a whopping 205 yards on 33 carries. He scored twice, including the touchdown that put the game away late in the fourth quarter.
Perhaps the even bigger star was fullback Joe Galati, who had an incredible night, creating large holes for Buttari to run through. Galati did more than just block, though. He piled up 62 yards on 9 carries, also scoring once. Galati hauled in 2 catches for 15 yards while he was at it.
The man lighting the fire for the Rockets was quarterback Logan Lamere. He didn’t have to throw much, but when he did, he made it count. LaMere finished with 80 yards passing on 3 of 6 attempts with a game-changing 66-yard touchdown strike to Jake Martin.
For the Pirates, it was all the names that Rocky River fans have come to know and love doing the bulk of the work on offense. Pirate quarterback Braedon Spies looked sharp at times and showed his age at other times. Braedon finished with 145 yards and 1 touchdown on 10 of 23 passing with 1 interception and a 2-point conversion. It must be noted that he did extremely well with his legs in the second half. For the game, Spies ran for 84 yards on 9 carries.
His usual suspects were once again in full force, as Cristian Dean caught 4 balls for 55 yards while coming up with several big plays on defense and special teams. Owen Bebie had perhaps the biggest Pirate night, with 96 yards on 8 catches with 1 touchdown and a 2-point conversion. His younger brother Tommy was somewhat held in check at times, but he erupted for 74 yards on 20 carries and 1 touchdown.
Bay Village coach Ronnie Rutt touches on why his team met with such success that night:
In 2019 we had a tremendous defense. They carried us all season. We were able to make the 2019 our style game, great defense and a tough running game one offense. Our defense had some big plays against a great River offense in that game.
As for Joe Galati, Logan LaMere and Nick Buttari, those 3 were super close with one another, no one cared who got the credit. Logan was a smart football player. He made a huge touchdown pass on a broken play scramble in that game. Logan then sealed the game with a design QB run on a big 4th down conversion. Joe Galati was a football player.
The Pirates went on to lose their last two games and finish the season at a disappointing 5-5. Coach Wells explains the ups and downs of the 2019 season:
2019 was a very interesting year for our program. Coming off the big playoff win against Clyde we had high hopes to continue that success. We knew we would be really young in some key positions on both sides of the ball but had players like Owen Bebie and Cristain Dean who had a lot of experience that we were hoping to rely on.
The 5-2 start was great and we were confident in our groups but once week 8 hit and we had a stretch of Bay, Buckeye and EC it was a test to see who we really were that year. We went into that game against Bay thinking we had what it would take to win that game, but ultimately came up short. We ran into some injuries and our inexperience really showed in the Bay game and the two that followed.
Both teams got off to red-hot starts with touchdown runs as both teams stormed right down the field with no problem. Bay Village opened with a 2-yard touchdown run by Buttari on a 6-play drive in which he touched the ball on 5 of the plays.
River answered with a 3-yard Tommy Bebie touchdown run on their opening possession, to cut the lead to 7-6 as Owen missed the extra point.
They game stayed 7-6 until a wild flurry of points concluded the final five minutes of what became a fast and furious end to the second quarter. The Rockets extended their lead to 13-6 with a 1-yard QB sneak by LaMere.
Then, when it seemed as though they might try to run out the clock in the first half, they stunned River with a beautiful 66-yard pitch and catch from LaMere to Jake martin for 66 yards to score again when no one saw it coming. That touchdown drive was set up following a tipped ball from Spies that led to the pick.
Down 20- 6 with less than 90 seconds to go in the first half, it was Spies leading the Pirates on a well excited two-minute drive to score.
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You can read more about this rivalry, and the best rivalries in Northeast Ohio High School Football right here.
Excellent article! I played for RRHS in the mid 60’s graduating in 65. My senior year we won the SWC Championships in football, wrestling, baseball, and track. The biggest game or match was always against the Bay Rockets. I was fortunate to captain our championship team. I was named Cleveland Press Star twice and also named to the Plain Dealer Dream Team. Those were the best of times and I have many exciting conversations with my nephew Dave Zastudil about the rivalry. I played fullback and remember those games like they were yesterday. Thank you for writing about the most important game both schools played.