ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (Sept. 8, 2023) -- The Detroit Rocky River Bridge has seen plenty of orange barrels and changes in traffic patterns over the last few months. On Friday night, the Bridge was open but evidently just for one-way traffic, as the Rocky River Pirates barreled into the Lakewood Rangers, defeating the visitors 46-14 in a Great Lakes Conference crossover game.
The 2023 Battle for the Bridge was contested at Rocky River Stadium on a beautiful night under the lights. The traffic below was indeed a one-way flow down the hashmarks, and the Pirates had the right of way all evening. The Sons of Blackbeard scored five touchdowns on their first 13 plays from scrimmage, would lead 43-0 at halftime, and eventually close out the Rangers in running-clock fashion.
If tickets had been doled out for speeding, the River offense would surely be due in court someday soon. The Buccaneers' first-half lead was built on the strength of four TDs that measured 20 yards plus. Three TDs were on the first plays of a drive.
The only thing that seemed to stop the smooth-sailing Pirate ship was a second-half running clock which saw two late scores for the visitors and RRHS senior Tony Liva's first career field goal, a 19-yarder midway through the third quarter.
Liva and 16 other Pirate greybeards were honored pregame, as Friday marked Rocky River's Senior Night. The eldest Sons of Blackbeard were lauded for their impactful contributions to the program. And that impact was certainly on display while the Rocky River Stadium scoreboard was flipping points-scored digits quicker than boosters flipping burgers some 30 yards away.
The festivities got underway with a six-play scoring drive the first time the Pirates touched the ball. Senior linemen Max Fano, Connor Granzier, Connor Kane, Zane Lindquist made room for ball carriers to operate. Senior running back Nick DiSalvo capped off the drive with a 4-yard rush to paydirt, and the Double-R had itself a lead it would hold the rest of the night.
Rocky River's next play from scrimmage was a 20-yard TD pass from senior quarterback Julian Patti to senior wide receiver Rowan McDougal. Other senior-senior connections would follow. Patti would throw five touchdown passes as part of a 16-of-23, 302-yard performance. Senior receivers Andrew Lang, Nate Mitchell, and Ryan Ricketti all recorded catches. Ricketti hauled in six receptions (for a career-high 123 yards); two of those resulted in TDs. Lang also reached the end zone. He scored to cap off a marvelous 90-yard, 17-play drive that ate up over six minutes of clock time in the second quarter.
The River defense, meanwhile, made room for little else but the Ranger punter in the Lakewood box score. The Pirates (3-1) forced a turnover (Josh Mommers' fourth career interception) on Lakewood's first possession of the game. With senior defenders Trent Delventhal, Fano, Lang, Liva, Aidan Ranjan, Ricketti, Abel Sereika, and Colin Slomka making plays, the Buccaneers forced punts on five of the Rangers' next six drives.
For the game, Rocky River outgained Lakewood 495 yards to 179. River's 46 points marked the most for either side in this series since 2013 (49-35 Pirates win).
For the Maroon & White, Friday night made for bragging rights. At least until next fall when it all -- once again -- becomes water under the Bridge.
CANNON FIRE ...
OPENING SALVO: Nick DiSalvo carried the ball 10 times for 140 yards. DiSalvo has three 100-yard games this season and has rushed for 547 yards on a 12.4-yard average per carry. The senior speedster has logged nine rushing TDs alongside three scores on pass receptions.
PATTI WAGGIN': Julian Patti has thrown for 230-plus yards in each game this season. His five touchdown tosses Friday equaled his output from game 1, and the senior has now thrown 15 TD passes this season. Through four games, he is 70-of-115 (60.9%) and has passed for 1,218 yards.
SENIOR SALUTE: Rocky River's gridiron squad rosters 17 members of the class of 2024. They are: Trent Delventhal, Nick DiSalvo, Max Fano, Connor Granzier, Connor Kane, Andrew Lang, Zane Lindquist, Tony Liva, Rowan McDougal, Nate Mitchell, Julian Patti, John Perry, Aidan Ranjan, Ryan Ricketti, Abel Sereika, Colin Slomka, and JJ Worgull. ... The RRHS senior class went 3-1 over four games against Lakewood (2020-23). With Friday's triumph, Rocky River is now 7-10-1 all-time against its neighbors to the east.
ON DECK: The Pirates will be on the road the next two Fridays. On Sept. 15, River will take on Valley Forge at Byers Field in Parma (7 p.m. start time). On Sept. 22, Rocky River will open GLC West Division play with a road test at North Olmsted. The Buccaneers' next contest home will be the program's Homecoming Game versus Westlake on Sept. 29.
by Skip Snow
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