by With a long time rivalry and bragging rights on the line. The Eastlake North Rangers went up against the Willoughby South Rebels. With Eastlake coming into this game at 3-4 and Willoughby South at 4-3. Both teams were looking to get the upper hand on one another. The Rebels have been the better scoring season all year long so far by 2 points with The Rebels at 29 points per game and The Rangers at 27 points per game. This was a highly touted matchup and emotions were high for not only the players but the fans and especially the student body sections. This game delivered the entire time.
The Rangers started the game off with the ball and went with one of the heaviest run attacks I’ve seen from a team, maybe, ever. Every single play was a run and it was relatively successful. It got them within field goal range and on a 4th down conversion, ran the ball in from the 3 yard line. There entire drive lasted until the 42.5 second mark. They missed their extra point attempt but the main goal was complete, nonetheless.
South was a lot more explosive in their attack. A few high yardage pass plays and a rushing touchdown within 4 minutes of the second quarter by Hardy. The Rangers tried to go with their initial attack and the Rebels had an answer for that. The Rebels opted into a blitz defense and caused big losses of yards until The Rangers had to punt it. They, then, proceeded to take the ball in for a 30 yard rushing touchdown by #9 after a short 3 play drive. The Duo of 7 and 9 from the air and on the run had become a little too much to handle for the Rangers… or so I thought. After a Rangers pick in the redzone with 2 minutes left, there was still some light at the end of the tunnel. The half ended at 14-7 in the Rebel’s favor
The third quarter began with the Rangers in possession of the ball. Not much changed about their approach as they went with a mixed offense to keep the Rangers on their toes. As Scotty Balash ended their first drive off with a 3 yard carry into the endzone. I do have to note that #7 Luke Jensen the QB for the Rebels has high iq and is very adaptable on offense. The defense for the Rebels was stifling as they caused a 3&out and got the ball back to Jayden Hardy who ran it downfield for a 61 yd touchdown run at the end of the 3rd quarter.
The 4th quarter was slow paced and heavy run pressure from both sides until Christian Santone scored off a beautiful play action pass for 5 yd catch with 3:37 left. The game wasn’t over as the Rangers took it back downfield with Alex Harris connecting on an 8 yd rushing touchdown with 56 seconds left. This game was high energy from the jump and as I said in the beginning, bragging rights were on the line and the Rebels were able to claim those for themselves with 33-13 win over their rivals. Jayden Hardy being at the forefront of this win with 3 touchdowns, both teams now look to prepare for next week!
