NORTH RIDGEVILLE —Mother Nature took care of the game Friday, but the extra time off didn’t affect North Ridgeville on Saturday, as the Rangers started off the 2009 football season with a strong performance on both sides of the football.

The result was a 33-0 victory over Westlake.

The Rangers jumped on the Demons in a hurry, forcing a fumble on the opening kick that Taylor Abraham recovered on the Westlake 32-yard line. It was from there that the ground troops put together a nine-play drive, and fittingly enough, it was Abraham going the last three for the touchdown. Anthony Grazetti (a soccer player doing double duty on this day with a soccer game in the early afternoon) kicked the extra point, and with 7:38 left in the quarter it was 7-0 Rangers.

Westlake started from its own 32 on the ensuing drive, only to have the Rangers’ Mark Szylakowski pick off a quick pass over the middle at the 37. A 5-yard face mask penalty set the Rangers up on the 32 again.

Again the ground troops went to work again and seven plays later Josh Deitz carried it in from the 1. The point after was blocked, Ridgeville leading 13-0 with 4:43 left in the quarter.

That was all the scoring in the first half, though North Ridgeville had the ball twice deep in Demon territory, but was unable to cash in on a 36-yard field goal attempt.

The North Ridgeville one-two running back punch of Abraham (15 carries for 63 yards) and Mohammed Jaber (190 yards on 20 carries) was too much for the Demon defense, the Rangers’ veteran offensive line opening up holes for the senior ball carriers. The rushing attack accounted for 307 yards.

“The offensive line of Alex Lovasz (center), guards Chris Fule (Fuller) and Jacob Botson, and tackles Vinney Rodriguez and junior Alex Gillock, give us a four out of five veteran linemen that gives us that ability to focus on running the ball,” Rangers’ head coach Jeff Riesen said. “We’ll add the pass as our quarterback Mike Mees gains experience.

“Mike’s a good quarterback, but we just have to work a little more. We had two open receivers and just missed them, but we’ll make those plays later on.”

Westlake five turnovers derailed the Demons.

“The bottom line is that offensively we didn’t block anybody or hang on to the ball,” Westlake coach Marc Campo said. “We may have made a play here or a play there because of their alignment, but if you don’t block anybody or hang onto the football, you’re not going to be too successful.”

The Rangers took advantage of the time that Westlake’s defense was on the field by scoring 20 points in the fourth quarter, two by long distance, as Jaber scored twice — once on a 26-yard run and then on a 61-yard gallop. Sophomore Christian Watkins added the third score on a 2-yard burst.

CALL TO THE WALL: Prior to the game the North Ridgeville Football Boosters inducted five inaugural members to the ‘Wall of Fame’.

The five members are: Class of 1972 all-conference and all-county running back Don Mould (Don Mould’s Plantation), Class of 1979 all-conference, all-county, Golden Helmet winner running back Craig Best, all-conference, all-county, all-state, Lorain County Lombardi Trophy winner defensive lineman, Class of 1982 Mike Foor, 1986 graduate, all-conference, all county, all district linebacker, Lombardi Trophy winner Jeff Seasor,  1995 graduate, all-conference, all-county, all-district, all-state, Golden Helmet Award winner and North Ridgeville’s all-time leading Rusher Jerel Klue.

Each was presented with a plaque with a similar being mounted at the high school.

The Booster plan on making this a yearly event with nominees being presented by interested parties and hope to expand the awards to all sports.

Contact Ron Nenadal at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.
You must be registered and logged in to post a comment. If you aren't already registered, click here.
If you are registered, click here to log in.
Need help? Email Us.