Rangers Off to 4-0 Start, Best Since 2009!

Quarterback Brendan Watchorn looks down field with protection from Mitchell Waugaman (62).

The North Ridgeville High football team is young. But the Rangers are also rough and ready and they have put together a 4-0 record to start the season.

The Rangers have beaten North Olmsted, Valley Forge and Normandy in non league play and opened Southwestern Conference action with a resounding 34-3 win at Amherst last Friday.

The 34-21 win over North Olmsted made a statement and started the momentum for the season. The Rangers were determined to atone for a losing season in 2021 and weren’t about to go into 2022 as a bunch of nobodies! Led by freshman running back Zach Barnhart, who picked up 101 yards on 21 carries, the Rangers were off and running. Evan Monter was right behind with 69 yards on 11 carries.

: Brady Quinn (64) protects his quarterback

: Enthusiasm is running high with the Rangers, off to their best start in years.

Andrew Ennis sees open field

In a 21-20 win over Valley Forge in week two, Ridgeville battled back from a 20-7 deficit in the fourth quarter to lodge a thrilling victory. Barnhart capped long fourth-quarter drives of 80 and 74 yards with TD runs of 3 yards and 4 yards to give the Rangers the lead. Forge fumbled away the past possession of the game as the Ranger defense sealed the win.

North Ridgeville then walloped Normandy, 51-10 in Week 3 as Connor Costin caught a 48 yard TD pass in the first quarter and returned an interception in the second half to pace the rout. Charlie Steinmenz scored two TDs and quarterback Brenden Watchorn threw for two more.

Thank you to North Ridgeville Convenient Sunoco for fueling up the Ranger Football Team during a pre-game meal with their famous Chicken and JoJo’s. A winning combination!

Then came last Friday’s win over Amherst. Quarterback Brendan Watchorn, a sophomore, connected with Mason Worcester on a short pass that went for an 86-yard scoring scamper. A Brett Lienerth fumble recovery followed with Barnhart capitalizing with a three yard TD.

Then, to open the second half, Wathhorn found a wide-open Steinmetz on another short pass that went for an 83-yard TD and a 19-3 Ridgeville lead. Ridgeville then flipped the game to a running clock with a two-yard TD from Watchorn and a one-yard Barnhart plunge.

North Ridgeville now heads into the heart of the conference season. The Rangers host Olmsted Falls this Friday, then travel to Avon and then host Elyria over the next three weeks.

In the first installment of the OHSAA computer playoff rankings released this week North Ridgeville is ranked third in their region one spot ahead of Avon.