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Range makes semifinal run

Top-ranked Eastwood next for Raiders

South Range’s Aniello Buzzacco scoops up a fumble in front of teammate Anthony Czap and runs for a touchdown Friday. (Morning Journal/Patti Schaeffer)

CANAL FULTON — Though the score of Friday’s Division V, Region 17 championship game was still close as the third quarter wore on, South Range senior offensive lineman Matt Brooks began to feel more and more like this was the Raiders’ night.

“As an offensive lineman, I can tell when guys are getting tired and I could tell we were starting to impose our will on them,” Brooks said. “About midway through the third quarter, I knew right then and there that we had this game.”

A half hour later Brooks and his teammates embraced each other in celebration as the top-seeded Raiders put the finishing touches on the second regional title in school history with a 40-16 victory over third-seeded Black River at Canal Fulton Northwest’s Dr. Martin Smilek Stadium.

“This is probably the happiest moment of my life right now. I can’t even explain it,” Brooks said. “We played so hard and all this hard work we’ve done is paying off.”

The second-ranked Raiders were propelled by a terrific all-around effort from senior quarterback Aniello Buzzacco, sturdy running by senior running back Peyton Remish and a smashmouth defense as they steadily pulled away after going into halftime leading 19-16.

Next up is a Division V state semifinal matchup against top-ranked Pemberville Eastwood at 7:30 p.m. Friday at a site to be determined.

“It hasn’t sunk in for me yet,” Buzzacco said. “This still feels like the beginning of the season actually, it’s a crazy feeling. This is our dream to be at this point.”

Buzzacco’s imprint was all over the Raiders’ victory. He sliced through the Pirates defense for 170 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries, while also scooping up a fumble and racing 72-yards for a momentum-turning touchdown in the first quarter. For good measure, he came up with a third-quarter interception which stopped the Pirates cold on their first drive after halftime.

“Aniello was unbelievable tonight,” South Range coach Dan Yeagley said. “He’s done it all year. He’s a phenomenal young man and a great leader.”

Buzzacco got South Range off and running on their first drive of the game with an easy 24-yard touchdown run to give the Raiders a 6-0 lead.

However, Black River’s wing-T offense started out on fire as the Pirates raced down the field themselves and went up 8-6 on a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Riley Bartolic to Travis Sexton. The Pirates threatened to add to their lead when they drove to the South Range 16 on their next possession before Bartolic fumbled a bad snap. Buzzacco was right there to scoop it up and from there it was off to the races as the Raiders took the lead for good 12-8.

“I didn’t know who was around me, I just picked it up and ran for my life,” Buzzacco said. “I was scared I was going to get caught. I just kept running as hard as I could.”

“That was a two touchdown swing and you can’t do that against a team like this,” Black River coach Al Young said. “What we did in the first half really came back to bite us in the rear end.”

After an exchange of punts, Buzzacco was right back at it with a 54-yard touchdown run to make it 19-8 with 9:24 left before halftime.

The Pirates answered right back with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Bartolic to Riley Gibbs to close within 19-16 going into the second half. At that point, it still felt like the game could swing either way.

“We had to make some adjustments because we were sloppy in the first half,” Yeagley said. “Our assistant coaches are great teachers and they did a great job with the individual units in the locker room.”

The Raiders then rolled up their sleeves and completely dominated the third quarter.

Buzzacco’s interception return from the South Range 30 the Black River 44 helped set up his 24-yard touchdown run moments later to make the score 26-16.

After a Black River three-and-out, the Raiders went on another grind-it-out drive which ended with a Remish two-yard score, making it 33-16 with 1:44 to go. The Pirates never threatened in the fourth quarter.

Remish complimented Buzzacco with a tough, physical 118 yards on 29 carries.

“We just kept staying calm and playing the way we did all season,” Remish said. “This is a great feeling right now. We’ve been dreaming of this since we were in sixth grade.”

“Buzzacco is fantastic and Remish is probably one of the best backs we’ve seen all year,” Young said. “And they have athletes around them too. That’s the best team we’ve seen all year bar none.”

The Raiders smothered the Pirates wing-T attack after the break, as they yielded just six rushing yards in the third quarter. Black River fullback Jacob Campbell finished with 86 yards on 14 carries, while Travis Sexton had 47 yards on nine carries and Riley Gibbs had 11 carries for 33 yards. Outside of the first quarter, the Pirates had almost no big plays on the ground.

“We just calmed down, we were all a little too jacked up to start,” Remish said. “We just had to stick to our assignments and play the way we were capable of.”

Game notes

¯ The last time South Range won a regional title came in 2005. The Raiders wound up falling 48-28 to eventual state champion Hamler Patrick Henry in a Div. V state semifinal.

¯ Drew Pastuer’s fantastic50.com had South Range’s regular season schedule ranked as the 14th toughest out of 104 teams in Division V. Black River’s was ranked 69th.

¯ The Raiders have won seven games this season against teams with winning records.

¯This year’s regional title breaks a run of three straight Region 17 titles by Canton Central Catholic which did not qualify for the playoffs this year.

¯ All of the remaining teams in Division V are public schools.

¯ The Black River first-team defense had given up over 20 points just twice coming into Friday’s game.

¯ South Range athletic director Donee Feren estimated the Raiders sold around 400 presale tickets for Friday’s game.

¯ Eastwood beat Marion Pleasant 35-0 in the Region 18 title game.

BLACK RIVER: 8-8- 0-0–16

SOUTH RANGE: 12-7-14-7–40

SCORING

SR–Aniello Buzzacco 24 run (kick failed)

BR–Travis Sexton 29 pass from Riley Bartolic (Sexton run)

SR–Aniello Buzzacco 72 fumble recovery (run failed)

SR–Aniello Buzzacco 54 run (Levi Taylor kick)

BR–Riley Gibbs 49 pass from Riley Bartolic (Sexton run)

SR–Aniello Buzzacco 24 run (Taylor kick)

SR–Peyton Remish 2 run (Taylor kick)

SR–Mathias Combs 7 run (Taylor kick)

——

BR SR

First downs 12 18

Total Yards 263 395

Rushes-yards 41-185 46-309

Passing 78 86

Comp-Att-Int 2-8-1 5-13-0

Punts 4-30 2-34

Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0

Penalties-Yards 2-25 4-35

——

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING–Black River, Jacob Campbell 14-86, Travis Sexton 9-47, Riley Gibbs 11-33; South Range, Aniello Buzzacco 14-170, Peyton Remish 29-118.

PASSING–Black River, Riley Bartolic 2-7-78-1; South Range, Aniello Buzzacco 5-13-86-0.

RECEIVING–Black River, Riley Gibbs 1-49, Travis Sexton 1-29; South Range, Brennan Toy 2-40, Ryan Davenport 1-33, Trent Harrold 1-9.

INTERCEPTIONS–South Range, Aniello Buzzacco.

FUMBLE RECOVERIES–South Range, Aniello Buzzacco.

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