Early heroics not a bad starting point for Range

A first-quarter interception by Mike Leskosky provided the impetus.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NORTH LIMA -- Is there such a thing as an early turning point in a high school football game?
There was one in the South Range-Rittman Division V regional quarterfinal playoff game Friday night at the Raiders' field.
It occurred in the first quarter when Rittman was threatening to score at the South Range 20 in a scoreless game.
The Raiders stopped the drive with an interception, and then went on to capitalize on several more Rittman mistakes to score three touchdowns in the second quarter for a 21-0 halftime lead.
Then South Range added 14 more points and went on to roll to a 35-13 victory behind senior fullback Kris Davis' three touchdown runs of 7, 37 and 3 yards, and an outstanding defensive effort that limited Rittman to only 39 rushing yards.
Davis had a game-high 151 rushing yards in 19 carries, while senior halfback Matt Schlatter added 86 yards in 13 carries and one TD of 7 yards.
Meanwhile, senior quarterback Mike Leskosky completed 4-of-7 passes for 87 yards and one TD, a 69-yard scoring toss to Tom DeChellis.
South Range rushed for 252 yards in 35 attempts and had 16 first downs.
Crestview next week
The win advanced the Raiders into a regional semifinal game next week against Crestview (10-1), which beat Smithville, 28-14, Friday night in another quarterfinal.
South Range handed Crestview its only loss of the season, 17-14, in the second game of the season.
"That was an early turning point in the game," said Rittman (7-4) coach Doug Haas of Leskosky's interception of a deflected pass at the Raiders' 21. "It certainly would have been a different game right off the bat if we had scored."
"It was a huge turning point," said South Range (11-0) coach Dan Yeagley. "That helped us to turn it around."
After that early interception at the 21, the Raiders drove the 79 yards in 11 plays to Schlatter's 7-yard TD dash and Pat Majernik's first of his five extra points to open the South Range flood gates at 11:55 of the second quarter.
Then Josh Less intercepted a pass at the Raiders' 31 and on the first play Leskosky connected on a 69-yard scoring pass to DeChellis.
21-0 lead at half
A little later, Rittman got off a poor punt that was coupled with a 15-yard penalty that gave South Range the ball at the Indians' 38. The Raiders covered the distance in five plays to Davis' first TD dash from the 7 for a 21-0 halftime lead.
"Penalties have been our Achilles heel all year," said Haas. "Mistakes became too much for us to overcome. The pressure that South Range created added to some of the turnovers."
Yeagley added: "We were able to get our running game going. The offensive line created the seams and the backs were able to find them. Our offensive line did a great job. Hats off to Davis and Schlatter. They found the seams."
And, "Center Chris Johnson did a good job blocking nose guard Justin Marrs." added Yeagley. "He did a super job blocking him because we knew we had to stop him."
Rittman finally scores
Rittman got its offense untracked in the third quarter with a 53-yard, 10-play drive capped by Chris Richards' 6-yard TD toss to Andrew Smith at 5:19.
But South Range bounced back with a 65-yard, seven-play march to Davis' 37-yard scoring dash at 2:13.
And the Raiders capped their scoring with a 49-yard, eight-play drive to Davis' 3-yard TD run at 7:32 of the fourth.
Rittman got its final score by marching 63 yards in 12 plays to Adam Jones' 1-yard scoring plunge and Jayme Deffenbaugh's placement at 2:14.
Richards completed 21-of-33 passes for 164 yards, and the Indians had 13 first downs. But they couldn't move on the ground.
"That's a super defensive effort," said Yeagley. "They were [playing] only 12-13 kids. We were subbing as much as we can. We were trying to wear them out. We threw a couple of defenses that they didn't see. The secondary people were coming in to make tackles. We had 11 people going for the ball."
kovach@vindy.com