All week, the focus of Jeff Riesen’s North Ridgeville Rangers was to finish offensive drives and Friday night they did just that as they knocked off Lakewood 42-28 in the Cleveland Browns High School Game of the Week, presented by Cleveland Clinic.
Over 200,000 votes were cast on ClevelandBrowns.com, with fans selecting a battle of the Rangers. Both teams are now 1-1.
“You don’t score 42 points without finishing drives,” Riesen said. “I thought our kids played really hard.”
North Ridgeville DB/WR Mark Szylakowski was named the Game MVP after finishing the night with two interceptions and a touchdown reception.
“Mark’s been a winner ever since I’ve known him,” Riesen said. “He’s a great young man to coach, he plays hard all of the time. Our kids know who our leaders are and he’s one of them.”
A back and forth battle for much of the night saw Lakewood jump on the board first with a 12-yard touchdown run by quarterback Aturo Morgan midway through the second quarter.
North Ridgeville came right back on its next possession with an 11-play drive capped off by a bruising 5-yard touchdown run by senior running back Brandon Mundell, who finished the night with two touchdowns.
Szylakowski would then go to work, picking off a Morgan pass, and three plays later, making an impressive 26-yard touchdown catch.
“On the interception in the first half, the quarterback threw the ball low,” Szylakowski said. “I was on the tight end and knew where I needed to be.”
North Ridgeville led 14-7 at the half.
Lakewood received the second half kickoff and put together a 15-play, eight minute drive that ended with a Marcus Campbell touchdown run.
The teams would then each swap touchdowns before North Ridgeville would put the game away with three scores over the span of four minutes in the fourth quarter, including one that was set up by Szylakowski’s second interception of the night.
Riesen was also name the Cleveland Browns High School Coach of the Week and will receive $1,000 for North Ridgeville’s football program on behalf of the Browns and the NFL.
