Correspondent photo / Michael G. Taylor South Range’s Billy Skripac (17) attempts to stiff arm Hubbard’s Mchael Zapka (52) during their contest Friday night. South Range shut out the Eagles 34-0 to finish the regular season undefeated.

GREENFORD — In the short history of the Northeast 8 Conference, the South Range Raiders have made quite a name for themselves.

Friday night, the Raiders stonewalled the undefeated Hubbard Eagles 34-0 to claim their second consecutive NE8 crown and firmly cemented themselves in the OHSAA playoffs that begin next week.

South Range, the smallest school in enrollment in the NE8, improves to 10-0 on the season, 7-0 in the NE8. The Eagles end the regular season with a 9-1 mark, 6-1 in league play.

Both teams came into the contest with offenses that were putting big numbers up on the scoreboard, but it was the Raiders’ defense that won the contest. They held the Eagles’ talented senior running back Timothy Caffey to just 71 yards on the night. Meanwhile, the Raiders offense was able to control the game on the ground and make some big plays in the air to methodically pull away.

“Hats off to my defensive staff,” Raiders’ coach Dan Yeagley stated. “Coach Rach and all those guys. They came up with a game plan and they made it happen. The kids have played fantastic all year and we came into tonight knowing we had to play our very best. And those guys rose to the occasion. They played unbelievably.”

Perhaps the play that epitomized the game was just before halftime when the Raiders quarterback Billy Skripac scrambled to his right evaded a would-be Eagles defender, and then launched a 26-yard scoring strike to a wide-open Conner Jones in the end zone to stake the Raiders to a 20-0 lead. That score came with just 43-second before halftime.

“It was supposed to be just an eight-yard turn-around play, but all the safeties went outside so I just kept going. Billy was scrambling and I just kept thinking throw to me. I wasn’t nervous until the last second when I saw him (defender) get up in front of me,” Jones said. “It was pretty big right before halftime.”

In the second half, the Raiders took advantage of a costly mistake by the Eagles. Following a three and out by the Raiders to start the half, it looked like the Eagles were in good shape to make a dent in the deficit. But when senior Landan Bates raced 34-yards to the Raiders 30, he would have the ball punched out of his hands and recovered by the Raiders Logan Cormell.

The Raiders took advantage of the miscue by driving 70-yards on 13 plays with Dylan Dominguez racing 5-yards for a score with 1:34 remaining in the third quarter. The score was set up on a perfectly executed hook and lateral to Dominguez who picked up 27-yards down to the Eagles’ 36.

The Raiders scored their last touchdown on an 8-yard run by Jake Starkey with only 2:14 left in the contest. That provided the points in the game.

“I commend the way they played tonight. We just couldn’t get anything going offensively,” Eagles’ coach Brian Hoffman remarked. “That was the problem, and our defense was on the field. I think our defense played well at times. But offensively we just couldn’t get into any rhythm tonight.”

An opening drive by the Raiders gave them an early 6-0 lead when junior JD Crouse plowed into the endzone from just 1-yard out. The score came at the 5:46 mark of the first quarter.

They would add to their lead with 4:55 remaining in the first half when Skripac found junior Shane Lindstrom on a screen pass that Lindstrom sidestepped a defender and raced 11- yards for the score. That gave them a 13-0 lead.

“We put a lot of heart and energy into this week and then to get this result is not what we wanted. It wasn’t what we practiced for, so we are going to have to go back to the drawing boards and get ready,” Hoffman said.

Next week, both the Eagles and Raiders will appear in the OHSAA playoffs. The Eagles look to host a first-round game next Friday night. The Raiders will also host a first-round playoff game, except on Saturday night.

“It’s definitely a momentum builder,” Yeagley said. “We have to keep it going. We want to make a run in the playoffs.”