TOLEDO - The North Ridgeville players had plenty of heart. The Rangers’ minds were squarely focused on the game plan.

It was just another part of the body that seemed to keep getting in the way.

“We shot ourselves in the foot over and over again,” senior running back Mohammed Jaber said. “We knew we had the heart and we had the (guts) to play with this team … we just couldn’t get the job done.”

North Ridgeville matched Toledo St. Francis de Sales’ intensity throughout the first half, but the Knights turned a pair of late turnovers into two touchdowns, scored three more in the third quarter and coasted to a 35-7 regional quarterfinal victory Friday night.

The Rangers (8-3) threw two interceptions, lost one of their three fumbles and were flagged for eight penalties during the opening-round loss.

“You just can’t turn the ball over during a playoff game,” Rangers coach Jeff Reisen said. “We did that too often and paid the price for it.”

The first error came midway through the second quarter, when a de Sales punt pinned North Ridgeville on its 5-yard line.

“We were backed up and we felt they thought we were going to try and run it out of there,” Reisen said. “I wanted to take a shot there and unfortunately we threw it to the wrong-colored jersey.”

De Sales free safety Dan Yodzis stepped in front of Mike Mees’ pass and returned it to the 1-yard line. On the next play, de Sales quarterback Tyler Johnston dove in to the end zone to give the Knights the 7-0 lead.

A Rangers fumble set up the Knights’ second score with just over a minute remaining in the first half. Five plays later, Johnston hit a streaking Scott Loy in the back of the end zone.

“That touchdown right before the end of the first half killed us,” Reisen said. “That put them up by two and dampened our spirits a bit.”

But the Rangers faced the same situation a week earlier against Midview. Down 14-0 at the half, North Ridgeville came out and rallied for an 18-14 victory, a West Shore Conference championship and its first-ever playoff berth.

It looked like the Rangers were going to repeat the feat as they stuffed de Sales running back Lee Lukasik for back-to-back 1-yard losses to open the third quarter, but then the Knights fullback burst through the middle of the line and rumbled 43 yards down the field.

“That was a big play for them,” Reisen said. “We came out fired up just like last week. But this time our opponent made the play.”

Lukasik capped the drive with a 1-yard run, and added a second touchdown less than five minutes later to make it 28-0. Backup running back Jake Wawrzyniak scored de Sales’ final touchdown - after a North Ridgeville punt was deflected to put the Knights on the Rangers’ 40 - and de Sales began subbing in its reserves.

“We just made too many stupid mental mistakes,” senior running back Taylor Abraham said. “We knew we could run all over them and we stayed with them most of the game. There were plenty of times we were just driving it down their throats.”

That’s exactly how the Rangers avoided the shutout. After de Sales’ final touchdown, North Ridgeville used 16 plays - most sent running backs crashing through the line - to churn its way down the field and Abraham sprinted into the end zone from 2 yards out.

“We were able to accomplish something no other team has done in the 30, 40 years of our program’s history,” Jaber said. “We’ll always be the first team to do it. I can say I was able to play in a beautiful stadium in a playoff game.”

Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.

SCORING SUMMARY

Second quarter

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES 7, NORTH RIDGEVILLE 0. Tyler Johnston, 1 run (Pat Dyer kick), 7:51. DRIVE: One play, 1 yard. TIME OF POSSESSION: :04. KEY PLAY: Drive set up by Dan Yodzis’ interception on North Ridgeville’s 17-yard line and returned to the 1.

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES 14, NORTH RIDGEVILLE 0. Scott Loy, 10 pass from Johnston (Dyer kick), :19.5. DRIVE: Five plays, 24 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: :55. KEY PLAYS: Drive set up by Johnston’s fumble recovery on North Ridgeville’s 24. Johnston picked up a first down to the North Ridgeville 13 with a 6-yard keeper.

Third quarter

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES 21, NORTH RIDGEVILLE 0. Lee Lukasik, 1 run (Dyer kick), 8:07. DRIVE: Eight plays, 69 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 3:49. KEY PLAYS: Fullback Nate Beauch broke through the middle of the line for a 43-yard gain on third-and-12 from de Sales’ 29. Johnston rushed twice to the left side for gains of 15 and 14 yards.

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES 28, NORTH RIDGEVILLE 0. Lee Lukasik, 4 run (Dyer kick), 3:19. DRIVE: Three plays, 35 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: :49. KEY PLAYS: Drive set up with a deflected punt. Johnston connects with Loy for a 24-yard gain to the North Ridgeville 11.

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES 35, NORTH RIDGEVILLE 0. Jake Wawrzyniak, 1 run (Dyer kick), 2:17. DRIVE: Two plays, 40 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: :31. KEY PLAY: Wawrzyniak gained 39 yards on the drive’s first play after breaking through the middle of the line.

Fourth quarter

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES 35, NORTH RIDGEVILLE 7. Taylor Abraham, 2 run (Anthony Grazetti kick), 6:39. DRIVE: 16 plays, 71 yards. TIME OF POSSESSION: 7:32. KEY PLAYS: Mohammad Jaber gained 20 yards on a draw up the middle on third-and-9 from the North Ridgeville 30. Mike Mees completes a 21-yard pass to Domonique Qualls on third-and-12 from the North Ridgeville 45.

St. Francis 35, North Ridgeville 7

North Ridgeville          0              0              0              7              -           7
Tol. St. Francis             0              14            21            0              -           35

Scoring

SF - Tyler Johnston, 1 run (Pat Dyer kick)
SF - Scott Loy, 10 pass from Johnston (Dyer kick)
SF - Lee Lukasik, 1 run (Dyer kick)
SF - Lukasik, 4 run (Dyer kick)
SF - Jake Wawrzyniak, 1 run (Dyer kick)
NR - Taylor Abraham, 2 run (Anthony Grazetti kick)

Team statistics

NR                SF
First downs                                11               16
- by rushing                               9                  11
- by passing                                2                  4
- by penalty                                0                   1
Yards rushing                             125          250
Yards passing                              33             88
Total offense                               158             338
Passes att./comp.                        12/3         12/5
Intercepted by                                0             2
Fumbles/lost                               3/1            0/0
Penalties/yards                           8/56         5/50

Individual statistics

RUSHING - (NR) Mohammad Jaber 12-60, Taylor Abraham 14-52, Dallas Burt 3-15, Mark Szylakowski 2-7, Brandon Mundell 1-3, Michael Mees 4-(-12). (SF) Jake Wawrzyniak 8-61, Nate Beauch 5-58, Tyler Johnston 10-55, Justin Chandler 2-46, Lee Lukasik 15-24, Chirs Gelardi 3-5.
PASSING - (NR) Mees 3-12-33-0-2. (SF) Johnston 5-12-88-1-0.
RECEIVING - (NR) Dominique Qualls 3-33. (SF) Scott Loy 4-80, Noel Gerhart 1-8.

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