H.S. Football: Black River hands Firelands its first league loss 42-28

Chris Sweeney The Gazette SULLIVAN TWP. — A new contender has entered the Lorain County League title race. The Black River football team threw a wrench in what would have been a battle of LCL unbeatens in the regular season finale by handing Firelands its first league loss, 42-28 on Friday evening. That puts the Pirates in position to clinch a share of the championship if everything goes right in Week 10. Firelands (7-2, 5-1) can still clinch a share of the title if it knocks off Columbia, which who improved to 9-0 with a win Friday. If that happens, Black River (5-4, 5-1) can force a three-way split if it beats Wellington. "This was a big game for them," Black River coach Kyle Clark said. "They were excited. Nobody gave us a shot besides the guys in the building. They knew they could do it and I was just excited to see them execute. They just played so darn tough. They never gave in. That's a really good team with a powerful run game. We weren't able to shut them down, but we slowed them down." Junior quarterback Eric Groesser accounted for every Black River point. He threw for 264 yards and a school-record-tying four touchdowns, ran for 24 yards and two touchdowns and kicked all six extra points as the Pirates offense once again flexed its muscle. Since combining for 32 points during its 0-4 start, Black River has scored at least 28 in each of its five straight wins. "Our O-line was blocking great and our skill positions were running great," Groesser said. "All I had to do was find open people. They caught it and they ran. This feels great. It's the best feeling. I don't even know what to say. This is a great win." Black River's defense faced the tall task of stopping Firelands standout running back Weston Strader, who entered with 1,530 yards and 24 touchdowns while averaging 9.3 yards per carry. While Strader finished with 154 yards on 35 carries, the defense slowed him down enough in the first quarter to help build a 14-0 lead. Strader had just 26 yards on his first 10 carries. "Those stops were huge," said Black River linebacker Blake Hopkins, who also had 124 yards from scrimmage. "Our coaches' game plan to stop the run played out perfectly. Weston Strader is a good running back. He almost has 2,000 yards on the season. I think our defensive linemen up front were being strong and doing what our coaches told us." Groesser found Nathan Urbas (4 catches, 131 yards, 3 TDs) for the team's opening two scores. The first came on a wild 65-yard bomb where Groesser was flushed outside in a scramble drill. The second came from 29 yards, as Urbas pulled a nice move to get open on a post route. "We always do a scramble drill in practice," said Urbas, whose three receiving TDs tied a school record. "When I ran my corner, I saw (Groesser) was buying time, so I cut back in and nobody was in front of me." Firelands tied Black River at 14 going into halftime, but the Pirates scored on every drive in the second half save for the last one, when they elected to kneel out the clock with the game in hand. Groesser capped the opening drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. After the defense stopped Firelands on fourth down, he found Tyler Mrakuzic for a 47-yard touchdown bomb. Urbas caught his third touchdown — again from 29 yards — to open the fourth quarter, and Groesser kept Firelands at bay with a 2-yard touchdown run at the 4:42 mark. Fittingly, Groesser had the final defensive tackle to stop Firelands on fourth down in what was ultimately the Falcons' last offensive play of the evening. Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or sports@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on Twitter. Black River 42, Firelands 28 FIRELANDS &emsp;&emsp;0 14 7 7 — 28 BLACK RIVER 7 7 14 14 — 42 First B — Nathan Urbas 65 pass from Eric Groesser (Groesser kick), 4:10. Second B — Urbas 29 pass from Groesser (Groesser kick), 9:23. F — Weston Strader 2 run (Rocco Iafolla kick), 4:57. F — Abel Coultrip 14 pass from Jim Aunspaw (Iafolla kick), 0:05. Third B — Groesser 1 run (Groesser kick), 8:54. B — Tyler Mrakuzic 47 pass from Groesser (Groesser kick), 5:04. F — Josh Kovach 1 run (Iafolla kick), 0:46. Fourth B — Urbas 29 pass from Groesser (Groesser kick), 10:29. F — Strader 13 run (Iafolla kick), 8:39. B — Groesser 2 run (Groesser kick), 4:12. &emsp;&emsp;F &emsp;&emsp;B First downs &emsp;&emsp;20 &emsp;&emsp;16 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;54/278 &emsp;&emsp;29/202 Rushing average &emsp;&emsp;5.1 &emsp;&emsp; 7.0 Passing &emsp;&emsp;15/17 &emsp;&emsp;11/17 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;124 &emsp;&emsp;264 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;71/402 &emsp;&emsp;46/466 Punting &emsp;&emsp;2/30.0 &emsp;&emsp;1/70.0 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;3/35 &emsp;&emsp;5/60 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;4/1 &emsp;&emsp;1/0 RUSHING: Firelands —Strader 35-154, Kovach 4-51, Aunspaw 8-42, Evan Tester 5-19, Timmy Phillips 1-8, Kevin Williams III 1-4. Black River — Mrakuzic 8-110, Blake Hopkins 15-68, Eric Groesser 6-24. PASSING: Firelands — Aunspaw 15-17-124-0. Black River — Groesser 11-17-264-0. RECEIVING: Firelands — Phillips 8-58, Cory Ransom 3-29, Abel Coultrip 2-17, Kovach 1-15, Williams 1-5. Black River — Urbas 4-131, Mrakuzic 2-77, Hopkins 5-56.