“This was going to be a 4-5 matchup, you know, two good teams,” South Range coach Dan Yeagley said. “(Bellaire) was in the playoffs last year, those kids that played last year understood what it took when you get into a playoff game.

“We weren’t in last year, our kids, this was actually some of their first playoff game actually starting, so I’m really proud of them. We got behind, we had to play a little catch up, the kids regrouped. That was the whole message, my goodness, you got to continue playing as a team, you got to continue playing for each other.”

The Big Reds (7-4) chewed up much of the first quarter on the game’s opening possession when they used roughly seven minutes to drive downfield and score on a 5-yard touchdown run by Cole Porter to give Bellaire an early 7-0 lead.

South Range struck back when Corey Kougher sacked Bellaire quarterback Jake Heatherington in the end zone for a safety with 1:43 left in the first quarter to cut the deficit to 7-2.

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Luke Crumbacher of South Range (18) breaks up a pass intended for Trenton Wilson of Bellaire.

Kougher said his team’s defense stepped up after his safety.

“We knew we had to, I mean we were having trouble moving the ball a little bit, and we picked it up after the second half, but we always step up defensively.

“Points on the board got us going. We started from there and then we just kept going, we knew we had to get up and that was the start of it.”

Neither team scored again until after halftime, when the Raiders marched downfield on their first possession of the second half, capped off by a 5-yard touchdown run by Patrick McCabe to give South Range a 9-7 lead.

“It was a matter of adjusting to them more than anything.” Yeagley said. “Like I said, they’re a very good team, very well-coached. They came in with a great game plan and did some things, watched film, and they did some things that go at us. But, you know what, we just ended up having to do our job a little bit better and that was the key.”

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Dylan Dominguez looks for running room during the first half against the Big Reds at Raiders Stadium.

It didn’t take long for the Raiders to find paydirt again, as Michael Patrone launched a 49-yard pass to Trey Pancake early in the third quarter to increase the Raiders’ lead to 16-7.

Patrone found Dylan Dominguez in the opening moments of the fourth quarter on a 32-yard touchdown to make it a 23-7 game in favor of South Range. Dominguez scored one more time late in the fourth quarter on a 38-yard run to close out the 30-7 win.

Patrone ended with a stat line of 15-for-23 with 225 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also added 12 yards rushing on seven attempts in his first varsity start. Senior quarterback Isaac Allegretto is out for the rest of the season.

Patrone is a junior and felt that he was well-prepared going into Friday night’s game.

“First of all, practice was great. We practiced great this week and it was fantastic.

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Luke Blasko runs the ball for South Range Saturday night against Bellaire.

“Then, when it came to game time we were ready to play.”

He also said Allegretto helped him going into his first career start.

“Issac helped me a lot, he taught me all the plays again, and went over everything. I was so happy for him, he helped me out a lot, and I thank him for that.”

Yeagley was proud of his junior quarterback.

“This was his first varsity start, and he did a great job. My goodness, very proud of him. Little anxious, little nervous, threw some long balls a little over heads and everything else, but he settled down and I tell you what, what a great young man, and he did a great job leading the team.”

“(Allegretto) is on the sideline, he’s a great encourager. He encourages Michael along, helped him throughout the whole week. We didn’t know until later that he wouldn’t be able to play, but continued helping Michael. What a great leader when you have a senior like that, that’s been through this kind of stuff, he was very encouraging and helped him. He was his eyes, he really was, very thankful for Isaac.”

South Range (8-3) moves on to play Kirtland (11-0) next Saturday in the Region 17 semifinal round at a site that’s yet to be announced.