ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (Aug. 25, 2022) -- News and notes after Rocky River's 21-0 loss to Midview on Aug. 19 and leading into the Pirateh Friday game at Firelands ...
GAME 1: The 106th season opener in Pirate Football history resulted in the Double-R being outgained 337 yards to 238. Midview (1-0) racked up 214 yards on the ground while throwing for 123. Rocky River (0-1) ran for 49 and threw for 189. The Pirates 238 yards marked the program's fewest in a single game since Oct. 8 (232 vs. Glenville). The final score marked River's first shutout loss since Sept. 18, 2020 (34-0 loss to Holy Name). ... The Middies did well to possess the football for long stretches. For the game, they ran 64 plays to Rocky River's 45.
OPENERS: Prior to River's setback at Midview, the last time the Buccaneers had lost a season opener was Aug. 30, 2013 (38-26 loss to Fairview). Since 2011, the Pirates are 10-2 in season lid-lifters.
RIVER RETURNEES: Thirteen Double-R starters and 17 lettermen return as members of the 2022 roster. They return from a team that finished 7-6 a year ago, winning a Great Lakes Conference championship and earning a berth in the Buckeye State playoffs. ... 2022 Great Lakes Conference Coach of the Year Josh Wells returns for his eighth season at the helm of the Pirate program. Wells is 47-29 (.618) for Rocky River. His 47 wins mark the most by a RRHS coach since Bill Jones won 57 games over 10 seasons from 1988-97.
BUCS-SCORE BULLET POINTS: Junior quarterback Julian Patti went 13-of-27 for 189 yards to lead the Buccaneer aerial attack. Rocky River had seven different players record catches in the game. Senior Stan Heuler (nine catches), senior Mack Massad (five), and junior Owen Kleckner (three) were Patti's most frequent targets. ... Senior running back Johnny Bebie logged eight carries for 35 rushing yards. ... Top tacklers were junior Trent Delventhal (18), Heuler (nine), and senior Charlie Fadel (seven).
TACKLE BOX: Trent Delventhal had 60 career tackles -- all recorded in 2021 -- before Friday. His single-game high a year ago was seven tackles (twice). ... Johnny Bebie registered a milestone tackle among the six he logged at Midview. Bebie's second stop of the night marked the 100th of his career. Bebie finished the night with six tackles, one pass break-up, and a forced fumble. ... Sophomores Josh Mommers (6T) and Cameron Bulkowski (4T) were the top underclassmen tacklers in the opening game. ... The Pirates logged just one tackle for loss (senior Aiden Andracko) in Friday's game. In 2021, River managed 2.9 TFLs per contest (over 4 per game from Oct. 15-on).
RUSH TO JUDGMENT: The Pirates' 49 rushing yards and 2.7 yards per carry marked their lowest single-game total and average since that same 2020 loss to Holy Name (Sept. 18). Rocky River was held to 40 yards (2.5 average) in that contest. ... A year ago, the Sons of Blackbeard rushed for 3,424 yards in 13 games (263.4 yards per game) and clocked an average of 7.9 yards per attempt.
GAME 2: Last Friday's contest in Grafton marked the front half of back-to-back road games in Rocky River's start to the 2022 season. The Pirates will be at Firelands on Friday (7 p.m.--Firelands Field). The Pirates and Falcons also tangled in last year's second week of the season: River defeated Firelands 45-14 behind Tommy Bebie's 16 carries, 137 rushing yards, and four touchdown runs. The Pirates had six rushing scores in the game. ... Firelands dropped its 2022 season opener, losing 28-7 to Edison.
by Skip Snow
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