H.S. Football: North Ridgeville off and running after onside kick to start second half

AVON LAKE — Luckily for North Ridgeville, high school football in Ohio hasn't adopted the same kickoff procedures as the NFL.The Rangers didn't have to tell Avon Lake they were attempting an onside kick out of halftime, stealing a possession and following it up with a 51-yard touchdown to Cole Allison on an end-around that opened the floodgates for a huge second half during their 31-14 Southwestern Conference win Friday evening."It just really sparked up the whole second half for us," said Allison, who caught three passes for 21 yards. "One of our big things is to always come out in the second half firing and we just did that. That's what led us to this win. It just really kicked things off and our defense getting stops just snowballed into a huge win for us."The Rangers led just 10-7 at halftime.Avon Lake (3-5, 3-2) entered Friday ranked No. 17 in Division II, Region 6, giving it little margin for error down the stretch in its hopes of securing one of the region's 12 playoff spots.Not only will the Shoremen have an uphill climb against Avon and Berea-Midpark to end the season, but star wide receiver Aidan Stewart suffered a leg injury in the third quarter and was helped off the field. He did not return, but still led the Shoremen with 74 receiving yards on three catches. Coach Matt Kostelnik didn't have a prognosis for the senior following the game.Even with Stewart in the game, North Ridgeville (7-1, 4-1) played lockdown defense, holding Avon Lake to six first downs and 213 total yards, including just 36 net rushing yards. Ezra Jones was the team's leading rusher at 45 yards, scoring both of Avon Lake's touchdowns."I thought Avon Lake was behind the sticks quite often today," North Ridgeville coach Bryan Morgan said. "I thought we put pressure on the quarterback, getting down the line and getting off of blocks. I was really proud of the way they played."Both teams needed a quarter to figure out how to move the ball against two stout fronts. Avon Lake's front seven produced four tackles for a loss, including two sacks by sophomore linebacker Christian Alicea, while North Ridgeville limited Avon Lake to 6 total yards on its opening two drives.The Rangers capped an 8:07 drive with a field goal and then the Shoremen figured out things. Jones rattled off 23 yards combined on back-to-back runs. Four plays later, quarterback Dawson TenBrink found Stewart for 20 yards on fourth-and-6. Jones punched it in from 6 yards to give Avon Lake a 7-3 lead.It was short-lived. North Ridgeville responded 1:16 later with a touchdown, thanks largely to quarterback Cole Miller's running. He accounted for 32 yards on the drive, including the 19-yard touchdown.Miller also leaned heavily on Dylan DeShazo in the flat to help loosen up the Avon Lake defense, finding him for seven catches and 66 yards. The Rangers ultimately scored 21 unanswered points in the second half before Avon Lake added a touchdown in the final minutes of the fourth quarter."We didn't help ourselves at all," Kostelnik said. "We weren't taking advantage of the matchups when we got them. We stalled out. Our defense came out and played well the first two drives, but I don't think we got a first down on our first two drives. Penalties killed us at times. It'd be nice to see what we could do playing four full quarters."Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.