Turnovers, Tempers Lead to Ugly Night for Rangers

Avon Lake Police on the field after both teams were separated in a second-quarter fight.

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After making progress in their previous two games, the Lakewood football team took a big step backward on Friday night in Avon Lake. They fell 47-14 to the Shoremen in a game that included an on-field fight late in the first half.  Players of both teams were involved in the fracas, which started when a Ranger player was hit very late out of bounds.  

                The game started pretty well for the Rangers, who stopped Avon Lake on their first offensive series. Ranger junior Dayvon Hanible returned the first Shoremen punt to the Avon Lake 37 yard line, giving Lakewood good field position in a scoreless game. However,  the Rangers threw an interception on the first play of the ensuing drive, killing their momentum. Avon Lake promptly went on a 6 play, 78 yard touchdown drive to take a 7-0 lead with 5:15 left in the first quarter.  Lakewood then went “three and out” on the next drive, punting back to the Shoremen. Avon Lake immediately scored on the first play of the next drive, making the lead 13-0 with 3:41 left in the first quarter.

                The Rangers then put together an impressive  touchdown drive of their own, going 78 yards on twelve plays to cut the lead to 13-7. The touchdown was a two yard run by Quentin Palmer early in the second quarter. Palmer was the workhorse on that drive, moving the ball with a combination of catches and runs.  Ranger defensive back Blake Setta then made an interception on the next Avon Lake drive, giving the ball to Lakewood in Avon Lake territory. The Ranger crowd was energized, feeling the swing of momentum and a chance to take the lead. However, Lakewood was unable to score, turning the ball over on downs.  

                Avon Lake seized the momentum, scoring a touchdown and two-point conversion to make it 21-7 with 5:23 left in the second quarter. At this point the proverbial roof caved in: the Rangers had turnovers on their next two possessions, each resulting in an Avon Lake touchdown. The Shoremen pulled away to build a 33-7 lead late in the first half.

                Things got even uglier on the ensuing kickoff. Ranger Blake Setta ran the kick back into the Ranger sideline. He was hit very late by an Avon Lake player, triggering a chain reaction of pushing and shoving among players from both teams. The scuffling escalated, and both coaching staffs jumped in to calm things down. A group of Avon Lake police officers ran onto the field to separate the teams. After a few minute delay, play resumed. Setta was ejected, as was one of the Shoremen. By OHSAA rules, Setta will now miss next week’s game for Lakewood.

                Avon Lake scored again early in the second half, making the score 40-7 and triggering the OHSAA “running clock” rule.  Nick Bamin entered the game at quarterback for Lakewood after starter Austin Mahar was shaken up in the third quarter. Bamin led Lakewood’s second scoring drive, which was capped by a touchdown pass to Dayvon Hanible.  Lakewood (0-4) travels to North Olmsted next Friday to play the Eagles in a 7pm kickoff. North Olmsted fell to 1-3 on Friday with a 59-13 loss at Westlake.