Raiders cruise to win in 2026 playoff debut
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BEAVER TOWNSHIP -- After a week off, South Range showed few signs of rust in its playoff opener Friday.
The second-seeded Raiders largely picked up where they left off in the regular season as they breezed past No. 7 Smithville 49-28 to advance to the semifinals of Division VI, Region 21.
"Thought it was a great game, great atmosphere for playoff football," South Range head coach Dave Rach said. "Proud of the way our kids executed the game plan. Proud of the way they competed. I’m excited for next week."
The Raiders' defense took the field first and, after allowing an initial first down, forced three consecutive incompletions from Smithies quarterback Brady Sidle to bring about the first punt of the game.
Despite an early penalty, South Range moved the ball at will once on offense. First, through the air with a 23-yard connection between Nick Toy and Gavin Hiscox to open the drive. Then, on the ground with a combined effort by Ridge Ewert, Jason Vorshak and, finally, Toy.
After Vorshak and Ewert bruised their way down to the Smithville 1-yard line, Toy easily crossed the plane to give the Raiders a lead less than five minutes into the game.
The Smithies responded with a similar drive, in which they quickly charged down the field with back-to-back first-down runs.
However, after a 7-yard completion put Smithville a yard away for fourth down, a false start backed the visitors up before the crucial down. On fourth-and-6, Sidle then threw an incompletion, turning the ball over inside the Raiders' 35.
South Range punished the missed opportunity, with Vorshak rushing for 21 yards across two plays before Toy took the snap, rolled to his right, reversed field and followed blockers down the Smithies' sideline en route to a 46-yard touchdown run with less than two minutes to go in the first quarter.
The Smithies' woes continued on the next drive, which only lasted a play, as their jet sweep pass sailed over the intended receiver's head and into the hands of Collin Kay for an interception.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, they could not capitalize on the takeaway because a holding penalty to close the period put the offense in a third-and-long, which they were unable to convert.
The penalties continued on defense.
After Sidle extended the Smithville drive with a 26-yard run on third-and-11, South Range granted the Smithies another first down with a defensive pass interference. Soon after, the Raiders committed another pass interference, this time on fourth-and-8.
Sidle found Lee on a subsequent third down to move the chains before they connected on a swing pass for a 3-yard touchdown to make it 14-7 with 4:35 left in the half.
"It’s weird. We’ve had three games now out of the 11 where over 60% of our penalties have occurred in those games," Rach said. "So it’s hard. I don’t know. We’ll have to go back and take a look at the film and see what we can do better."
Another penalty brought back a long kickoff return by Hiscox, although it only delayed another Raiders touchdown.
Toy starred throughout the possession, first running ahead for 14 yards on third-and-13 before rushing for another 10 and then completed passes to Hiscox and Tommy Titus for another first down.
After an Ewert run and a false start, Toy dropped in a long pass to Titus, who reeled it in for a 37-yard gain. Toy then capped off the 80-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown run with 1:35 to go before halftime.
Rach used a pair of his timeouts, and his defense got the stops it needed to force a Smithville punt with just over a minute to play, which proved to be more than enough for the South Range offense.
Beginning the drive at their 45 with 61 seconds to go, Toy completed a 15-yard pass to Hiscox before Toy ran for 7 yards, which led Rach to use his final timeout.
After a 9-yard run by Vorshak, Toy took to the air again. This time, he looked to the end zone and found Hiscox, who leaped above his defender and emphatically pulled down the pass to put his team up 28-7 with 21 seconds left to spare.
"I thought we were explosive. I thought we were efficient for the most part," Rach said. "A couple drives, I thought, ended due to miscues, just a lot of procedural errors. Penalties were big during the first half, stalled out a couple drives. But for the most part, I thought we were efficient. And the skill guys did a great job, I thought, making plays. And the line did a great job of creating some space."
Vorshak did the bulk of the work on the Raiders' opening drive of the second half, as he took a handoff, bounced off a tackler and ran 64 yards down the field before being caught and dragged down at the Smithville 7-yard line.
After Ewert got down to the 1, Toy rushed for another short touchdown to put South Range ahead 35-7.
Tyler Cole led the Raiders back down the field on their next drive, picking up multiple first downs before scoring from 2 yards out with 6:40 to go in the third quarter.
The Smithies immediately answered and temporarily halted the running clock when Chase McFarlin returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown.
By the end of the quarter, however, South Range was back ahead by 35 after Toy completed a 29-yard pass to Tommy Valentine, who bobbled the ball before securing the catch near the goal line. After a three-play stand by the Smithville defense, Vorshak took the option pitch from Toy and lunged into the end zone for the 3-yard rushing touchdown on the final play of the third period.
Undeterred, the Smithies, while playing against several South Range reserves, responded with another touchdown, as Sidle connected with McFarlin on a 24-yard touchdown pitch-and-catch with 5:24 remaining.
McFarlin scored his third touchdown of the game with 2:10 left after breaking off a run to pull Smithville within three scores.
With the win, South Range improved to 10-1 on the season and advanced to next Friday’s regional semifinals. The Raiders will host No. 6 United, which eked out a 21-14 road win vs. No. 3 Columbia in the quarterfinals.