Columbia fights on after injury to top back

Columbia is used to reloading. It just usually happens in the offseason.

That will not be the case moving forward, as the Raiders need to find a way to replace the unreplaceable in running back Brandon Coleman, who will miss the rest of the season with an injury suffered in a Week 5 loss to Buckeye.

“You know, we’re used to having an elite player back there,” Columbia coach Jason Ward said. “You have a kid with 1,000 yards and 16 touchdowns through five weeks, and he’s obviously a big part of the offense that is hard to replace.”

Columbia does not have that luxury of months to redefine itself, though, as there are four weeks to go in the regular season with the Raiders in the midst of not only a Patriot Athletic Conference title race, but also a playoff berth in their sights.

The Raiders, though, are not concerned with those goals.

“I know it sounds like one of those things coaches always say. But right now more than ever, we’re just trying to win the week,” Ward said. “Our goal is to go 1-0. The biggest game is the next one and we need to keep a narrow focus. Like I said, it’s cliche. But that’s definitely the approach we have to have the rest of this season.”

It’s an approach that appears to be working, as the Raiders came from behind in the closing moments against Lutheran West on Sept. 29 to secure a 19-14 victory.

In that win, three players — Ben Alten, Cole Schwartz and Jared Bycznski — combined for 212 yards and a pair of scores.

According to Ward, that’s a bit of the approach the Raiders will need to take as the season continues.

“Everyone has a job to do and they know what it is,” Ward said. “It may change from week to week a bit, but they know that they have to do their job if we’re going to win.

“And I think the best part of that is that the character of the kids we have here at Columbia, I know I don’t have to worry about that. They will continue to fight. They want to win. They know how to win.”

Welcome to the first-win club

Three more coaches have picked up their first win at their respective school: Elyria, Open Door and Fairview.

• Sean Arno has finally experienced victory at Elyria, and it came in dramatic fashion. On a rare Thursday night game, the Pioneers rallied from a 20-point deficit in the second quarter to top Greater Cleveland Conference foe Shaker Heights, 31-28, at Ely Stadium. Down, 20-0, with less than two minutes to go in the first half, Elyria got touchdowns from Deviian Williams and Tristan Arno within 32 seconds to make it a 20-14 game at the break. From there, it was the Pioneers’ game to lose, with Dontae Beckett running in from 5-yards out before hitting Scott Ethington on a 16-yard strike to put the Pioneers up, 28-20. Caleb Lewis connected on a 23-yard field goal to make it 31-28, an important score because the Red Raiders had one more touchdown in them.

• Donovan Davis scored three times to lead the Patriots to their first win of the season, 39-32, over Horizon Science and the first win of the Terrence Davis era. After Open Door took a 26-14 halftime lead, Horizon Science knotted the game at 26-26 in the fourth quarter before Davis ran in his third touchdown of the game for a 33-26 lead. Open Door then held on for the victory, trading a pair of scores with Horizon Science of the final eight minutes of the game.

• The Warriors got the first win of the Dave Latkovic era in impressive fashion, blanking visiting Brooklyn, 30-0. Fairview opened up a large lead in

the first quarter, 23-0, behind the running of Jack Provenza and Marty Rehor. Provenza scored a pair of touchdowns, with Rehor adding one. After a scoreless second quarter, Fairview freshman quarterback Declan Jewitt connected with Turner Hahn on a 25yard strike to cap scoring.

Undefeated roundup

Through six weeks, there are three undefeated teams in The Morning Journal area:

• Avon started fast and never let up in a 55-21 win over Westlake. The Eagles opened a 28-7 lead at halftime behind the play of quarterback Ryan Maloy (12-for-17, 295 yards, four touchdowns) and receiver Chris Mullins (five receptions, 193 yards, three tocuchdowns).

• Bay topped rival Rocky River, overcoming a slow start to pile on the points in the fourth quarter to emerge with a 35-3 win. Rockets’ quarterback Connor Shell did a bit of everything, throwing a touchdown pass while rushing for three more in the fourth quarter to open up what had been a 7-3 game at halftime.

• Firelands started hot and never let up in a 47-0 victory over Brookside to open Patriot Athletic Conference play. With a 21-0 lead at halftime behind touchdowns from Nick Denney, Garret Tester and Tyler Bennet, the Falcons received two more touchdowns from Denney in the second half to go with a score from Richard Maggard and Logan Strader. Quarterback Michael Bansek threw four touchdown passes in the win.

Playoff picture

After six weeks, computer points guru Joe Eitel has eight Morning Journal area teams in playoff position:

• In Division I, Region 2, Lorain slides a spot from No. 5 to No. 6 in spite of a victory.

• In Division II, Region 6, three teams are holding spots. Avon holds steady at No. 1, while Midview jumps from No. 4 to No. 2. Olmsted Falls jumps back into a playoff spot from No. 11 to No. 7 after a victory over Amherst, which fell out of playoff position to No. 9. Finally, North Olmsted fell out of a tie for No. 7 to No. 10, even with a win over Lakewood.

• In Division III, Region 10, Bay jumped into a home field spot, climbing from No. 5 to No. 4.

• In Division IV, Region 14, Firelands remains in the No. 2 spot.

• In Division VI, Region 21, Columbia climbed a spot from No. 8 to No. 7.

2-minute drill

• After a slow start, Konner Riggs put the team on his back in the second half, rushing for two touchdowns to push Avon Lake past North Ridgeville, 247, and to a 4-2 record. The Rangers fall to 0-6. North Ridgeville held a 7-3 lead at halftime following Shomari Williams’ 78 yard interception return. Avon Lake kicker Noah Fowkes connected on a 32-yard field goal in the first quarter to open scoring. Coming out of the break, Riggs scored on a 2-yard run and a 27yard run, with Matt Sanders adding an 11-yard score in between. Riggs finished the game with 25 carries for 122 yards.

• The Clippers opened a large lead in the first half and extended it in the second half to improve to 5-1 on the season with a 52-14 win over Oberlin. The Phoenix fell to 1-5. Clearview held a 30-0 lead at halftime behind scores from Drew Engle, Kash Warren, CJ Fleming, David Rentfle and Kahliel Fenderson. Devin Randleman scored on 14-yard pass from Riley Horning to open scoring in the second half and get Oberlin on the board. But the Clippers scored 22 unanswered to make it a 52-6 game. Horning hit Ravon Eisom for a 40-yard touchdown to cap scoring.

• The Panthers ended their four-game skid with a balanced offensive attack in which Elyria Catholic passed for 129 yards and ran for 165 more in a 24-6 win over Parma. Elyria Catholic opened up a close game in the second half when Leighton Banjoff scored a pair of touchdowns — one in the third quarter and one in the fourth — and Asa Kempton connected on a 29-yard field goal. Banjoff finished the game with 27 carries for 112 yards. The Panthers opened the scoring in the first quarter on a 12-yard pass from Cameron Engrish to Zach Evans. But Parma answered in the second quarter on a Bojan Janjetovic 4-yard run to make it a 7-6 Panthers lead at halftime.

• Jonah Pfeil scored all of the Sailors’ points, leading Vermilion to its first Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division victory, 14-7, over Oak Harbor. After falling behind, 7-0, in the first quarter on a Clay Schulte 7-yard rushing touchdown, Pfiel picked off Oak Harbor quarterback Conner Hoy and returned it 60 yards to knot the game at 7-7. The score remained even until third quarter, when Pfeil caught a 6-yard pass from quarterback Seth Hurd to put the Sailors in front. Pfiel finished the game with five receptions for 37 yards.

• Running back Darren Anders found the end zone four times with Ryan Connolly scoring the other three touchdowns as North Olmsted opened a large lead and held on in the fourth to top Lakewood, 49-38, and improve to 4-2. A frantic scoring pace saw North Olmsted gain a 21-16 lead at halftime, but Connolly scored twice in the third to extend the Eagles’ lead to 35-16 with one quarter to go. Lakewood scored 22 points in the fourth quarter, but a pair of Anders touchdowns kept the Eagles comfortably in front for the victory.

Game balls

Here are some of the top area performers in Week 6:

• Top passer: Avon’s Ryan Maloy threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns on a 12-for-15 night. He also added a 21-yard rushing touchdown.

• Top rusher: North Olmsted’s Darren Anders rushed for 334 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries. He added two receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown.

• Top receiver: Avon’s Chris Mullins hauled in five passes for 193 yards and three touchdowns.