By Tom Williams

williams@vindy.com

NORTH LIMA

Frustrated after being limited to 10 points in the first half, Warren JFK quarterback Dominic Naples took charge, engineering four second-half scoring drives in a 34-25 victory over South Range on Friday night.

“He’s a two-year starter for them, he understands the game,” South Range coach Dan Yeagley said of Naples. “He made the right reads. He’s a senior who made things happen.” Trailing 19-10, the Eagles rallied when Naples connected with Robert Seger for a 39-yard pass down the middle and a 27-yard touchdown pass.

“We always mess around in practice to see how far I can throw and how many nice catches he can get,” Naples said. “He’s reliable.”

The Eagles regained the lead on their next series when Alec Rossi broke free for a 59-yard touchdown run.

The Raiders were far from finished, driving 88 yards on 12 plays. Quarterback Ross Stoffer’s second touchdown pass was a 13-yarder to Jake Pfeifer for a 25-24 lead.

But the Eagles made three big plays in the fourth quarter. First, Eric Bofenkamp booted Warren JFK into the lead with a 37-yard field goal.

“He’s such a reliable [kicker],” Naples said. “If we get him within the 30, we know we’re coming out with points if [we] don’t make mistakes. That’s critical in a game like this.”

South Range’s Billy Goodall returned Bofenkamp’s kick 50 yards to the Eagles 38. But on fourth-and-1, Rossi and Brian Turner were among the defenders who stuffed Raiders running back Bryce Allen.

“That was big, that turned the momentum totally around,” Rossi said. “After that, we played awesome.”

Five plays later, Naples dazzled with a 38-yard scoring run where he scrambled right, escaped a tackler to cut back to the center then zipped down the right sideline for the clinching score.

“It was called a pass play,” Naples said. “I ran back to the left and our O-linemen are smart, they recognized it and I started getting blocks. Anthony DiPaolo threw a key block and it was wide open.”

Things were much different in the first half when the Raiders scored three touchdowns.

After being intercepted on his first toss, Stoffer hit Jake Arsuffi on the run at the Warren JFK 48 and the wide receiver raced untouched into the end zone for a 75-yard touchdown.

After Rossi scored from 21 yards out, Stoffer’s 46-yard scramble to the Warren JFK 3 set up Joey Phillips’ 3-yard touchdown run. Rossi finished with 142 yards on 14 carries.

Fifty-eight seconds before halftime, Bofenkamp’s 28-yard field goal made it 12-10.

But the Raiders’ resilience showed again in those final seconds. Three plays later, David McCabe scored on 25-yard run for a nine-point lead at halftime.