The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Firelands’ efficient offense key to victory
The Falcons ran 14 first half plays and scored on six of them
Trying to find a more efficient — and explosive — first half than the one put on tape by the Firelands Falcons would be a very difficult task.
Maybe even more difficult than stopping the Falcons’ offense on Sept. 18.
Firelands jumped on host Oberlin early and didn’t let up on their way to a 61-0 win. The Falcons ran 14 first half plays on offense and scored on six of them.
“I was really pleased with the execution,” Falcons head coach Ryan O’Rourke said. “You work week to week on what concepts you want to run and the kids executed almost perfectly on them. I was very happy to see that.”
Ransom had a first half stat line for the ages, connecting on four of six passes for 222 yards and four touchdowns. His first three completions went for scores — two over 65 yards.
“It’s fun when you can go out and do pretty much whatever you want to a team. To run the ball how we did early — three runs and then a score — and then to come back and score on the next play was very exciting,” Ransom said.
Firelands scored on three plays on its opening drive as Corey Newark had runs of 27 and four to find the end zone.
Three of Ransom’s scores went to Timmy Phillips — whose stat line was almost as jaw dropping as his quarterback’s. Phillips caught three passes for 213 yards and the three scores.
Phillips’ first went 68 yards on the first play of Firelands’ second drive. His second was an 80-yard bomb where he was wide open after a busted coverage by the Phoenix.
“The cornerbacks were playing with a lot of inside leverage on us, so Kyle gave me the call to run a fade and I went and made the play (on the first touchdown),” Phillips said. “It was amazing.
It’s going to give us a lot of confidence heading into practice this week.”
Firelands led 47-0 at the half and had a running clock for the entire second half of the game.
Despite what the score might indicate, Oberlin moved the ball well on several possessions in the first half. Quarterback Andre Yarber was effective throwing the ball — completing 11 of his first half passes for 108 yards — but the Phoenix had drives stall several times.
Yarber also added 60 yards via his legs. He nearly got the Phoenix into the endzone midway through the first quarter when they were still trailing by just two scores. But instead Yarber had a pass intercepted inside the ten yard line.
“He’s a great athlete, but I think our defense did a good job moving around and playing fast. I’m proud of how they responded after Oberlin had some explosive plays, being able to keep them out of the end zone,” O’Rourke said.
Firelands’ starters sat the entire second half with youngsters Evan Tester and Colin Scott both scoring touchdowns. Scott’s 29 yarder pushed the Falcons over 60-points.
The Falcons host Keystone in Week 6 with a chance to take a commanding lead in the Lorain County League on the line. The Wildcats have won the conference title each of the last two years and have yet to lose a conference game.
“We’re excited for the challenge (of facing Keystone). We’ll come out on Monday and get started on getting ready,” O’Rourke said.