GREENFORD — For the third year in a row, the South Range Raiders have clinched a NE-8 league championship by virtue of their dominating 66-6 victory over the Lakeview Bulldogs Friday night.

The win over the Bulldogs cliches at least a share of the league title, one game ahead of Poland as they improve to 6-0 in the league and a perfect 9-0 overall record on the season. The Bulldogs fall to 3-6 on the season and 1-5 in the league.

“We started playing in the league with these seniors,” Raiders coach Dan Yeagley said. “It’s been fun to watch them grow. To watch them grow and contribute from their freshman, sophomore, junior, and now senior year. It is special. The league is full of great players and great coaches, and it has been fun to watch these seniors perform at the level they are. League titles are what we fight for, and we are fortunate in how things have worked out.”

With the Raiders winning their sixth game of the season with a running clock being in play, it would appear that they have had an overwhelmingly dominant season, but Yeagley is quick to point out that they have been tested on several occasions. And they still have room for improvement.

“This week we were working on some things we feel we needed to improve,” Yeagley admitted. “Last week at Jefferson with the rain, it was something we hadn’t experienced yet, so we were working on some different things to help us prepare for the weather conditions in Ohio. Tonight, just before the half we got to work on our hurry-up offense which we haven’t had a chance to work on that.”

Despite the lopsided score, Bulldog’s head coach Sam Bellino recognizes that the Bulldogs football team has been more competitive this year. The Bulldog’s three wins are three more than last year.

“It’s hard after what’s up on the scoreboard tonight. That is the class of the league right there. South Range is the class of the league. They are going to make a deep run in the playoffs,” Bellino stated. “We have made some progress. Right now, it doesn’t feel as good as it should.”

The Raiders took control of the contest right from the opening kickoff. Kicker Logan Butcher popped the ball over the Bulldog’s front-line defenders allowing Raider’s sophomore Andrew Brian to pounce on the ball at the Bulldogs’ 35. Three plays later the Raiders were on the scoreboard following a 3-yard pass play from quarterback Billy Skripac to tight end JD Crouse.

From there, the Raiders took advantage of two muffed punt attempts by the Bulldogs to score on a 1-yard run by Tyler Remish at the 7:09 mark, and a second 3-yard run by Remish with 3:21 left in the first quarter to build a commanding 21-0 advantage.

“Especially against South Range you can’t make any mistakes against them,” Bellino explained. “You give them the ball three times on their side of the field, they are going to score. They are a machine. They are doing a lot of things right.”

The Raiders would go on to build a 52-6 halftime lead courtesy of a 4-yard run by Skripac with 41-seconds left in the opening quarter followed by a 23-yard run by Jake Starkey at the 9:44 mark of the second frame, and a 15-yard fumble return by Landon Moore with 4:13 remaining before halftime. They would add a 39-yard field goal by Butcher on the final play before the end of the half.

The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard with 2:20 remaining before the break on a big pass play from quarterback Damien Natali to receiver Andrew McRoberts. Natali hit McRoberts over the middle for a 71-yard play which made it 49-6 at the time.

The Raiders added two additional touchdowns in the second half with Tristan Toy scoring from 14-yards on the last play of the third quarter, and Jimmy Powell raced 55-yards for the Raider’s final score in the game.

The Raiders will wrap up their regular season schedule next Friday when they travel to Hubbard. The Bulldogs will host Jefferson next Friday in their season closer.