NORTH LIMA South Range dominates East Palestine

The Raiders coasted to a 48-8 win over the Bulldogs.
By ERIC HAMILTON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NORTH LIMA -- The Raiders had East Palestine right where they wanted them -- in the friendly confines of South Range Stadium.
Entering Friday night's season opener against the Bulldogs, South Range had won 11 of its last 12 regular season home games.
Make that 12-of-13.
The Raiders scored on four of its five first-half possessions and held visiting East Palestine to just one first down in the opening half, building a 28-0 lead at halftime and coasting to a 48-8 victory.
In mid-season form
South Range, which returns 15 starters from last year's team, dominated every facet of the contest. Quarterback Ryan Maxwell sparked the Raiders' offense, throwing for 120 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 98 yards and two scores.
Ben Johnston added 116 yards and one TD on 15 carries, while Tony Darkadakis gained 102 yards on 14 touches. Receiver Matt Novak caught five balls for 74 yards and a pair of scores.
"The kids on this team worked really hard all week to prepare for this game," explained South Range coach Dan Yeagley. "We eliminated our little mistakes from our scrimmages and came out and executed. We stuck to our game plan on offense and we picked up our blocking assignments and made some big plays."
But it wasn't just the South Range offense that looked to be in mid-season form. The Raiders' defense stymied the East Palestine offense all night. The Bulldogs, playing without three starters, including fullback Mitch Cyrus, couldn't get anything going. East Palestine was forced to punt on every first-half possession and managed just one first down in the opening half.
"They were just stronger and better than us tonight," admitted East Palestine's first-year head coach John Protopapa. "There's not much to say other than we need to get in the weight room, get stronger and get better. We' re not doing the things we should be doing."
South Range showed its offensive prowess early.
Everything worked
The Raiders employed a balanced attack, scoring on the ground and through the air in the first half. On its second possession, South Range hit paydirt, as Maxwell pounced on a fumble by his teammate Darkadakis, which rolled into the end zone. Pat Majernik's kick gave the Raiders a 7-0 lead.
From there, South Range did everything right. The Raiders scored on their next three possessions, all after East Palestine punts. Johnston increased the advantage to 14-0 on a 16-yard scoring run and Maxwell hooked up with Novak for a 32-yard TD reception to make it 21-0. Maxwell scored from four yards out to give the Raiders a 28-0 lead at intermission.
The Raiders added three more scores in the second half to build a 41-0 advantage, before East Palestine finally got on the board with 4:40 left in the game. That score came courtesy of an eight-yard TD pass from Zac Dunn to Jobey Gould. Dunn connected with Joe Rettig for the two-point conversion to make it 41-8.
South Range added a late touchdown on a 12-yard run by Kris Davis.
Yeagley was just as impressed with his defense as he was with his offense.
"It was a typical South Range defense," he said. "We swarmed to the ball and hit hard. We were very disciplined tonight and had all 11 guys working as one unit. When that happens, that makes a big difference."