The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Truckers sink Pirates
A week after pulling off a thrilling upset over top-seeded Clyde, No. 8 seed Rocky River (7-5) could not duplicate its magic as they were overwhelmed by the fourthseeded Norwalk Truckers (9-3), 567, in a Division III, Region 10 semifinal at Rangers Stadium on Nov. 9.
Rocky River coach Josh Wells was disappointed to see such an exciting season come to such an ugly end.
“Obviously not the way we wanted to go out,” Wells said. “It’s a very good football team. I think Norwalk has a chance to go far. Hats off to them, but the fact that we are here, given the ups and the downs, and the fact that we finished fourth in our conference and we were able to knock off a one seed, you know, I’m just extremely proud of our kids and proud of our progress.”
In a fitting harbinger of a frustrating night to come, Rocky River coughed up the ball on the opening play of the game after quarterback Michael Finnegan connected on a short pass to Luke Coyne. That turnover proved costly as Norwalk’s Trevon Raymore found his way into end zone on a 1-yard run a few plays later.
Part of a rushing attack that amassed 331 yards, Raymore, who has eclipsed 2,000 yards rushing this season, touted the load early and often, tallying 25 carries for 183 yards and three rushing touchdowns while also adding a receiving touchdown.
“Yeah, we just watched a lot of film, a lot of film on the team,” Raymore said. “We just got to give it to the line. They did so good! It was cold, cold for me a little bit, and I have to give a huge shout out to my trainer (Hayley Corso), because I sprained my ankle a few weeks back and she has been taking care of me.”
Wells said the Pirates just couldn’t bring down the 5-foot-10, 223 pound senior freight train.
“We just needed to tackle better than what we did,” Wells said. “We worked on hit and wrapping, and you know he is just a powerful back that we couldn’t get down on the first hit, and when we did get clean shots on him, he was able to just bounce off of us. He is a good back and he’ll do some damage next round.”
Norwalk will advance to the regional final against Sandusky on Nov. 16.
A bright spot on the night for Rocky River was Finnegan’s resilient play. In his final game as a Pirate, the senior hung tough through seven sacks as he established a consistent rhythm with his receivers while pushing the ball down the field.
Wells couldn’t have asked for a more gutsy performance in cold weather.
“He fought his tail off all night,” Wells said. “They were able to get pressure on us with three guys, and you know he took some shots, but he hung in there and made some throws. We just needed to capitalize when we got down there on their end of the field and we just couldn’t do it tonight.”
Finnegan finished 20for-32 for 277 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Norwalk head coach Todd Fox lauded his defenses physicality in the high-stakes matchup.
“We were very blessed with those guys in that front set, and they kept coming at it,” Fox said. “Seven sacks, so we just knew we had to do that to get in that quarterbacks face because he is a great quarterback. But I felt like we wore him down and our secondary did a great job covering him too.”
Raymore helped the Truckers to a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter as he converted on a fourth-andthree with a 5-yard run, followed by an 8-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Garrett Chapin.
Chapin was 6-for-11 for 84 yards and one touchdown in the first half and deferred to the powerful run game in the second half, adding 10 carries for 42 yards and one touchdown without a single pass.
Rocky River snatched back momentum with less than two minutes left in the first quarter on an 82yard touchdown pass from Finnegan to senior receiver Owen Bebie, who scurried down the sidelines for the score.
Bebie finished with three receptions for 102 yards and one touchdown.
The Truckers kicked into overdrive in the second-half, blitzing Rocky River for a pair of rushing touchdowns in the third quarter, including a 27yard run from Raymore as the defenders continued to bounce off him for large yards after contact.
Raymore was encouraged give his team a cushion in the second half.
“In the locker room, we just said that we can’t let this be our last game,” Raymore said. I’m a senior, we’re all senior and everyone is just connected. We’re a big family and there were some huge speeches in there and everyone just came out on fire.”
Rocky River tried to convert on a pair of fourth downs, but were denied. Norwalk took advantage by blowing the game open with four touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a pair of touchdown runs from backup running back Evan Stumpf as the Truckers triggered the running clock.
With the game out of hand, Wells sent out his bench, hoping they might one day reach this far again.
“It’s big, just that they got to experience this and be part of an 8-1 upset and playing week 12, there are not a lot of teams that can say that,” Wells said. “For the freshman and sophomores that played it’s a great start going into the offseason.”