Defense keeps postseason hopes alive for Rams

Ross finishes in a 3-way tie with Mt. Healthy and Northwest in FAVC Scarlet.

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By Bob Ratterman, Staff Writer 1:30 AM Saturday, October 29, 2011

ROSS — A league championship and possible playoff berth nearly disappeared for the Ross High School football team Friday, but the Rams rallied for a 21-14 double-overtime win over Edgewood.

“We beat them and we’re champions,” Ross coach Brian Butts told his team after the game. “We don’t know what next week holds, but we are champions.”

Ross finishes the regular season 8-2 overall and 4-1 in the Fort Ancient Valley Conference Scarlet Division, good for a three-way tie with Mt. Healthy and Northwest.

That was up in the air until the final whistle when the Ross defense held the Cougars out of the end zone on a fourth-down play from the 2-yard line. Ross had scored earlier in the second overtime, and it took a monumental defensive stand to keep the game from going to a third extra frame.

“It’s a strange thing,” Butts said. “In 1998, we lost to them in two overtimes in the playoffs, and they have had a run of wins against us. We hoped to return the favor. I hope we’ve turned the corner.”

The winning touchdown in the second OT on Friday night came when quarterback Ross quarterback Tyler Noonan scrambled for a 5-yard touchdown run.

Ross used a fake punt to set up Cody Lotton’s 4-yard TD run.

Edgewood (3-7, 2-3 FAVC) took the lead with 1:02 left in the first half as junior quarterback Eric Pelfrey hit senior Cody Riegelsperger with a 35-yard scoring strike. The PAT gave the Cougars a 7-6 halftime lead.

“That first quarter, all I could think of was Mt. Healthy, where we did not make big plays,” Butts said, referring to the Rams’ loss to the Owls last week. “This was an exciting game to win. I feel sorry for the Edgewood kids. They battled hard.”

Edgewood took a 14-6 lead two minutes into the second half when A.J. Pieratt ran for a 39-yard TD.

Ross tied the game with 4:53 when Noonan got the ball back on a double reverse and threw a TD pass to senior Brennan McGuire. Noonan scored on a conversion run to tie the game at 14.

A disappointed Edgewood coach Phil Mauro said he was proud of his team.

“It was a great, hard-fought battle,” Mauro said. “I’m proud of them. They fought back like warriors. It’s just not the way I wanted it to end.”

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