Facing its biggest challenge in the West Shore Conference this season, the Rocky River football team held on to escape with a 14-10 victory at North  Ridgeville last week. The Pirates clinched at least a share of the WSC title and can secure the title outright with Friday’s home game regular season finale against Fairview (2-7 overall, 1-5 in the WSC).

“We came here five years ago and we only had 30-some kids and were 3-7 and getting our butts handed to us by teams like Avon Lake and Olmsted Falls,” Rocky River head coach Ron Lewis reflected. “To have come this far and being on the verge of going to the playoffs for the first time and winning a conference championship means everything.

“The school is great. They’re rallying around us and our kids are happy. For us individually, it just means everything.”

The Rangers, who were averaging 32 points a game before the contest, were held to its lowest scoring effort since the season opening 20-7 loss at Westlake. Despite Ridgeville tailback John McGraw rushing for 218 yards on 36 carries, the Pirates were the first WSC team to keep McGraw out of the end zone.

“Our hats are off to North Ridgeville,” Lewis said. “That’s a great ball  club. John McGraw is an excellent tailback. Our kids had to fight. There are not too many people that are going to stop him or shut him down. You know he’s going to get his yards. When we had to make the plays to stop him, we were fortunately able to.”

The Rangers got on the scoreboard first after a 45-yard run by McGraw set up a 1-yard score by fullback Jeremy Workman to put Ridgeville up 7-0 with 3:39 left in the opening quarter. The Pirates came right back to even the score, 7-7, after quarterback Andy Breidigam connected with Pauly Ferguson with a 39-yard touchdown pass with 1:48 left in the first quarter. Breidigam finished the game 11 for 18, 155 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

Ferguson was his main target  all  night with five catches for 123 yards.

“Andy is just a gamer,” Lewis said. “He’s not the prettiest to watch at times, but at every level he’s ever played at, he’s run and makes the plays he has to make. He got the ball where it needed to be.

“Pauly was just unbelievable too. He made some big catches in traffic and had over 100 yards tonight.”

The first half ended with the Rangers going for a halfback option on fourth-and-two. The Pirates defense held tight and the Rangers were not able to convert. The Rangers decided to go for a field goal when facing a similar situation on fourth-and-five in the third quarter. Ben Frederick’s 30-yard field goal put Ridgeville up 10-7 with 5:07 left in the third quarter.

Senior Jon Gipson’s five-yard scoring run with 3:47 left in the game sealed the victory for Rocky River. Gipson finished with a hard-earned 67-yards rushing on 20 carries.

The Rangers had one final possession to rally. They got as close to the four-yard line with just seconds left on the clock. After spiking the ball, they had one last shot for a final play with one-tenth of a second left on the clock.

With heavy pressure from the Pirates defense, Ridgeville sophomore backup quarterback Shane Friend’s final desperate pass attempt was not successful. The Pirate players immediately began to celebrate the close win and a piece  of the WSC title.

“We really thought it would come down to the second half, and our kids made the plays when they needed to,” Lewis said. “The defense faced a great challenge from the big North Ridgeville offensive line and a very good running back but only allowed the Rangers to score one touchdown.  Casey Clark, Chris Aukerman, Steve Custenborder, Matt Breidigam and Zach Youseff had huge games for the Pirates.”

After winning its first conference championship since sharing the Southwestern Conference title with Avon Lake in 1997, Rocky River has  also locked up a berth in the football state playoffs for the first time in school history, and barring a loss to Fairview, will host a home game Nov. 4. “We control our own destiny,” Lewis said.