PARMA, Ohio -- Rocky River's 2020 DIII Buckeye State playoff run came to an end under the lights at Padua Stadium, as the Pirates fell to the Padua Bruins, 28-9, on Friday.

The Bruins (5-1) -- the No. 4 seed in the DIII North Central Ohio Regional Tournament -- utilized the powerful running of senior Alec Buehner in putting together methodical marches down the field and keeping River's defense on the gridiron for long stretches. The No. 13 Pirates (4-2) showed some swashbuckling fight and resolve in the third quarter but were otherwise bested on both sides of the ball in seeing a three-game win streak come to an end.

The host Bruins bookended their first-half possessions with a pair of monster drives which sent them into halftime leading, 14-3. The River three came courtesy a Mack Massad field goal -- the sophomore's fourth over the Pirates' last three games -- at the 8:24-mark of the opening quarter. Massad hit a 30-yarder which capped off a short drive after Rocky River had recovered the game's opening kickoff in Padua territory.  

That home team answered Massad's field goal with a 13-play, 76-yard touchdown drive. The Bruin drive included an efficient short passing game, a fake punt, and a 20-yard pass play which delivered Padua into River territory. Quarterback Sam Ehrbar would be accurate all evening in directing the Padua aerial assault, one that was used infrequently but effectively. 

The Bruins' first drive culminated in a touchdown. Their second (three-and-out) and third (fumble) drives were Pirate successes, but the Rocky River offense was unable to capitalize. River's longest drive of the first half would be a 36-yard gain and a fumble on the first play of a possession midway through the second quarter. Padua ended that second quarter with a tremendous 10-play, 80-yard march to paydirt. The Bruins converted a pair of third downs on that drive, and they scored on a 5-yard Ehrbar pass. Padua's lead at halftime stood at 14-3.

On what was a representative autumn night in Northeast Ohio, there were fitting moments of playoff gridiron glory for the Sons of Blackbeard. Those moments were centered around the third quarter of play.

The Rocky River offense opened the second half with an impressive possession that included two key third-down conversions and some physical road-grading by the Pirate offensive line. The Maroon & White pushed the pigskin 69 yards downfield in a four-and-a-half-minute possession capped off by a brilliant, swivel-hips, cutting-and-dodging, 20-yard dash to the left corner of the end zone by junior quarterback Braedon Spies.

Spies' fifth rushing TD of the season brought River's deficit -- after a failed two-point conversion -- to 14-9. And the Double-R took a boatload of momentum into its next attempt at stopping the Bruins. The ensuing Padua possession included a tremendous Ehrbar-to-Trey DiCicco 38-yard pass play in converting a third-and-14. But the drive died at the Rocky River 20 when Evan Merk reeled in the Pirates' third tackle for loss on the possession (Patrick Lange, Tommy Bebie). The Pirate momentum was retained but in dissipated capacity.

River's emotional leverage would fade a bit more when the offense was forced to punt after three ineffective plays. Taking over at the Pirate 34-yard line, the Bruins wrested away the momentum of the moment and would keep it the rest of the night.

Padua went 34 yards on four plays to increase its lead to 21-9, and the drive included yet another Bruin success on a third-and-14. With the Padua touchdown coming at the 15-second-mark of the third quarter, time was in short supply for a Pirate crew which had just spent 11 exhilarating minutes of game play getting back in the game and getting to the brink of even bigger pursuits.

The balance of the contest played out with just 26 yards of River offense and a final Bruin TD against a tiring Pirate defense.

Throughout the night, scarcely more than three consecutive plays were run without penalty flags littering the field, and at times the contest had all the flow and pace of a Dodgem Cars session at Cedar Point. But for the Pirates -- especially in the third quarter -- the overall ride was full of thrills, and yes, spills. In mixing theme parks, if not metaphors: if you haven't seen them yet, you've got to check out this Pirate ride.

And with this football season this fall, you still can.

In a unique autumn when bracket battles are held in mid-October, the next step for the defeated Pirates will also be unique. Rocky River will continue its gridiron slate with games that are essentially a postseason postseason with games counting as regular season. That part of the fall slate picks up Friday with a Great Lakes Conference game against Buckeye (Rocky River Stadium, 7 p.m.).

No Buckeye State brackets. Just Pirate football (hopefully) the rest of the fall. And that's plenty good enough.


CANNON FIRE ...

BIG-PLAY BUCS: The Rocky River defense was paced by the play of Evan Merk (tackle for loss, pass break up), Matt George (multiple pass break-ups), and Charlie Hudson (leading tackler). John Bebie, Tommy Bebie, Sam Fuchs, Patrick Lang, and Joey Pike were were also active on what was a busy night for that side of the River football. For the game, the Bruins ran 48 plays to the Pirates' 36, and that was with an extreme end-game slowdown on the Padua side.

BEAR OF A GAME: The Bruins out-gained the Pirates, 438 yards to 178, in what marked the first meeting between Padua and Rocky River. The Bruins advance in the brackets and will now take on West Holmes in regional quarterfinal action (Oct. 23).