By MIKE Mclain

sports@vindy.com

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There was nothing worth looking at each time Andy Hake gazed at the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter.

The Western Reserve football coach certainly hated the sight of a 34-0 lead commanded by South Range. Worse yet was to see a running clock that kicked in when the Raiders stretched their lead to more than 30 points.

The lopsided win for South Range wasn’t an indication of weakness by Western Reserve, in Hake’s thinking. It was a sign of the talent possessed by the 2-0 Raiders.

“I give them a lot of credit,” Hake said. “That’s the first time in nine years that we ever had that clock run on us. It’s hard to take. That team can win the region, and I think my team can.”

The Raiders took control from their initial possession and never let up. Senior quarterback Aniello Buzzacco was outstanding in completing 9-of-12 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns, while adding a score on a 29-yard run.

The job the Raiders’ defense did in limiting the Blue Devils to 54 rushing yards was a beautiful sight to coach Dan Yeagley. Talented Devils running back Jack Cappabianca was limited to 15 yards on nine carries.

“It’s tough because they have a crazy offense because they have a huge running back in Cappabianca and they have a great quarterback [Dominic Velasquez],” Yeagley said. “We were able to keep them in check. We knew we couldn’t give them a chance to throw or run. We had to keep pressure on them.”

The Devils (1-1) didn’t help their cause by losing three fumbles and having one pass intercepted by the ever-present Buzzacco. It’s doubtful, however, that a turnover-free game by Western Reserve would have made a difference in the outcome.

“They have all-state guys,” Hake said. “[Peyton] Remish is all-state. [Buzzacco] is all-state. [Mathias Combs] is all-state. They did a great job.”

Two of Buzzacco’s touchdown passes were to Combs. The two connected on a receiver screen on a scoring play of 14 yards that gave the Raiders a 6-0 lead. They hooked up on an 11-yard scoring pass late in the second period as South Range took a 20-0 halftime lead.

“I thought it was going to be a little bit harder of a game,” Buzzacco said. “They’re a good team, but we just had the right gameplan and [were] fired up.”

Buzzacco was 8-of-10 for 209 yards and three touchdowns in the first half. In addition to the two touchdown throws to Combs, Buzzacco connected with Josh Stear on a 61-yard scoring play.

“It was easy because my receivers do all the work for me,” Buzzacco said. “I throw little slants, one post and a post-corner. It’s easy when I have a great line that can block and receivers that can make moves and get the yards for me.”

The Raiders basically iced the game with a 10-play, 70-yard scoring drive to open the third quarter. Buzzacco capped the possession with a 29-yard run, and Brandon Youngs added the point-after kick.