High school football: Black River blows out Oberlin in season finale

The Black River football team knew its playoff destiny was outside of its control Friday, so the Pirates figured they'd at least have a little fun on the FieldTurf at Oberlin College's Savage Stadium. Dom Bell and Zane Bungard added to their record-breaking seasons through the air and Dozier Hendershot had a career night on the ground, leading the Pirates to an entertaining 46-6 blowout of Oberlin in the Lorain County League finale. Plenty was on the line for Black River (6-4, 5-2), including a potential four-way league title share and Division VI, Region 21 playoff berth. Ultimately, the Pirates didn't get the help they needed, beginning with Columbia's convincing 42-15 win over Firelands that gave the Raiders the outright LCL championship. The other game went Black River's way, as Clearview pulled off a mild 20-19 upset of Keystone that put the Pirates in a three-way tie for second place. As for the playoffs, Columbiana outlasted Lisbon David Anderson 52-35 to keep Black River on the outside looking in. The Pirates needed losses by Columbiana and Brookfield to sneak in and finished 13th in the final computer ratings. Bell completed 16-of-19 passes for 208 yards and four touchdowns, giving him school season records of 1,871 and 22. Bungard had seven catches for 91 yards and a score to finish with Black River season standards of 63, 1,051 and 14 — no other Pirate had more than 47, 744 and eight entering the season — while Hendershot bulldozed his way to 157 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries in his final career game. Black River led the Phoenix (2-8, 0-7) 26-6 after one quarter and 39-6 at halftime. The Pirates outgained Oberlin 432-108 on a night when the Phoenix's second- and third-leading rushers were linemen Mason Rosenthal and Julean Page with 9 and 7 yards, respectively, after they were inserted as fullbacks out of a power-I formation in the fourth quarter. Bell opened the scoring with a 1-yard sneak and soon made it 14-0 on an 11-yard pass to Bryce Murray (4 catches, 58 yards). Oberlin got on the board when veteran quarterback Drew Walter lofted a 17-yard pass to Carmello Williams, but Bell fired right back with 8- and 22-yard TD strikes to Carson Steidl over a mere 1:22 span late in the quarter. Bungard's 5-yard TD as a tight end out of the T-formation moved the Pirates into a comfortable 32-6 advantage, while Hendershot's first score, from 1 yard, initiated a running clock early, which can be done under OHSAA rules if both coaches agree to it. Hendershot capped the scoring with a 12-yarder on the final play of the third period. The Black River defense got a fumble recovery from Bungard on Oberlin's first play from scrimmage, while Hunter Varney and Parker Broadsword added interceptions. Broadsword's came on a deep pass to the end zone. Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Black River 46, Oberlin 6 (at Oberlin College) BLACK RIVER 26 13 7 0 — 46 OBERLIN &emsp;&emsp;6 0 0 0 — 6 First B — Dom Bell 1 run (Jackson Burkholder kick), 8:42. B — Bryce Murray 11 pass from Bell (Burkholder kick), 7:45. O — Carmello Williams 17 pass from Drew Walter (kick blocked), 4:32. B — Carson Steidl 8 pass from Bell (kick failed), 2:28. B — Steidl 22 pass from Bell (conversion failed), 1:06. Second B — Zane Bungard 5 pass from Bell (kick failed), 5:22. B — Dozier Hendershot 1 run (Burkholder kick), 3:05. Third B — Hendershot 12 run (Burkholder kick), 0:00. &emsp;&emsp;BR &emsp;&emsp;O First downs &emsp;&emsp;23 &emsp;&emsp;7 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;26/224&emsp;&emsp;16/33 Rushing average &emsp;&emsp;8.6 &emsp;&emsp;2.1 Passing &emsp;&emsp;16/19 &emsp;&emsp;5/12 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;208 &emsp;&emsp;75 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;45/432 28/108 Punting &emsp;&emsp;0/0.0 3/33.0 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;4/40 &emsp;&emsp;4/38 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;0/0 &emsp;&emsp;2/1 RUSHING: Black River — Hendershot 16-157, Bell 5-56, Murray 2-9, Hunter Varney 2-5, Team 1-(-3). Oberlin — Walter 6-12, Mason Rosenthal 3-9, Julean Page 3-7, Jackson Cikalo 2-4, Jayson Reese 1-1, Santos Navarro 1-0. PASSING: Black River — Bell 16-19-208-0. Oberlin — Walter 5-10-75-2, Cikalo 0-2-0-0. RECEIVING: Black River — Bungard 7-91, Murray 4-58, Steidl 2-30, Kage Petruzzi 2-20, Varney 1-9. Oberlin — Korrie Freeman 2-45, Williams 3-30.