Raiders’ power runs signal return to the top


Team

Mineral Ridge

RecordDiv.Conf.
6/4 Div. VII Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference
Team

South Range

RecordDiv.Conf.
13/1 Div. V Independents
Team

Crestview

RecordDiv.Conf.
6/4 Div. V Independents

By Tom Williams

williams@vindy.com

NORTH LIMA

For a little more than three quarters, big plays on special teams dominated the Mineral Ridge-South Range first-place showdown.

Then the Raiders turned on their trademark power rushing game to engineer a 38-28 victory that has South Range (4-1, 2-0) tied with Crestview (4-1, 2-0) atop the Inter Tri-County Tier One standings.

Last year’s dismal 2-8 season appears to be distant in the Raiders’ rearview mirrors.

The Raiders outrushed the Rams 103-5 in the final quarter, quite a turnaround from the opening quarter when Mineral Ridge had a 143-6 edge.

“It was huge,” said Raiders running back Floyd Kenney who gained 146 yards on 22 carries. “Of course, the two interceptions by Phil Arsuffi helped a lot, too.”

Kenney credited his linemen — Ron Lodge, Alex Snow, Adam Peterson, Adam Shuntich, Cole Hassay and Nathan Ruiz — for taking charge.

“Everyone stepped it up, the line started firing out,” Kenney said.

Arsuffi’s 76-yard touchdown on the opening kickoff signaled an unusual game. In the third quarter, Raiders defensive lineman Dylan Hollobaugh blocked a punt and recovered the ball in the end zone.

“It was amazing,” said Hollobaugh of his first touchdown. “It was a tremendous feeling for a lineman.

“I was just trying to come off the ball hard, trying to get in there,” said Hollobaugh who said he came close to blocking a previous Rams punt. “The ball was just rolling in the end zone, right in front of me.”

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Rams all-purpose back Dan Skiba returned a punt 70 yards for Rams’ final lead.

“The whole first part of the game was their skill kids [versus] our skill kids,” South Range coach Dan Yeagley said. “Their skill kids — Skiba, [Mike] Keleman — are unbelievable. It was back and forth.”

Trailing 28-23 14 seconds into the fourth quarter, Yeagley said the message to his players was “go back to fundamentals, blocking down, let’s forget about all this other stuff.” Yeagley said he wanted the outcome determined by his linemen and the legs of Kenney and Arsuffi.

“They did a great job,” Yeagley said.

Moments after Skiba returned a punt 70 yards to put the Rams ahead for the final time, the Raiders wasted no time marching 54 yards on four plays to regain the lead.

A 22-yard gain by Kenney preceded his 6-yard score just 74 seconds after Skiba’s return.

After the Rams (2-3, 1-1) went three-and-out, the Raiders needed three plays for another touchdown, this one on a 6-yard run by Arsuffi.

“Floyd Kenney just pounded that ball down there into the red zone,” Arsuffi said.

Arsuffi picked off two desperation passes by Rams quarterback Jesse Garland to enable the Raiders to run out the clock.

“We’re just trying to bring back the winning tradition to South Range,” Arsuffi said. “We shut down for a little bit, but we picked up focus.

Skiba rushed 17 times for 103 yards. Keleman had 60 yards at halftime before an injured ankle took him out of the offense.

“It was an exciting game,” Mineral Ridge coach Joe Stevens said. “At the end, they made the plays and we didn’t.”

The Rams responded to Arsuffi’s opening touchdown with a 11-play, 80-yard drive capped by Ryan Porter’s 14-yard scoring run up the middle.

On their second possession, the Rams mounted another 80-yard march, taking the lead on the first play of the second quarter when Porter scored on a 22-yard run.

A personal foul on the ensuing kickoff gave the Raiders the ball at the Mineral Ridge 44. Eight runs later, Arsuffi scored from 6-yards. Ethan Witmer kicked a 32-yard field goal for a 17-14 South Range lead at halftime.

Skiba hit Mike Dominic for a 31-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter.

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