By Don Dreger
Record-Courier assistant sports editor
BRIMFIELD "It was Senior Night at Field High School, honoring players and band members. In turn, the seniors honored their fans with a convincing victory over Ravenna.
By the time the dust settled on the field, the Falcons (7-2, 5-1 PTC Metro) had earned a 38-18 win over the Ravens (6-3, 4-2) in a brutal, hard-fought contest between the two teams that battled for the Portage Trail Conference Metro Division title last year.
While Ravenna came out on top a year ago, the Falcons turned the tables on Friday by abusing the Ravens defense with 284 yards rushing on 49 carries. Field junior running back Jay Lugo gained 173 yards on 24 carries, many of them with three or four tacklers draped on the 160-pounder's back.
When Lugo wasn't carrying the ball, Falcons quarterback Matt Eldreth was throwing his 180 pounds against the Ravens linebackers on quarterback draw plays for 80 yards. If that wasn't enough, 225-pound senior teammate Carlton Gray chimed in by bouncing off tacklers for 31 yards and two touchdowns that would make the highlight reels.
"Our offensive line was outstanding," said Field rookie coach Patrick Youel. "Our backs were in their secondary all night. The kids finally bought into what we have been telling them all year, that they were a very good football team. We could have gone south after the Kent Roosevelt (loss in Week 4), but we didn't.
"Our defense contained Ravenna's great running back, Blayre Davis, except for one big play. We made a big stop late in the game."
Ravenna's chances of making the Division III state playoffs disappeared with the loss, while Field should make a big move up the standings with the win.
"You have to hand credit to Field," said Ravenna coach Jim Lunardi. "We weren't prepared mentally. We had kids in position to make tackles but failed to do so. All-in-all, it wasn't a good performance."
The game started off with Field taking the opening kickoff and marching 65 yards in 13 plays, with Gray bursting over from the 3 for the score. Aaron Polasky made the first of five PATs for a 7-0 Field lead. The drive was aided by a pass interference call on Ravenna on a fake punt.
After exchanging punts, Ravenna started a drive on its own 4. Five plays later, Davis sprinted of right tackle, reversed to his left and outraced the Field secondary for an 83-yard score. The PAT failed, and Field still had a 7-6 lead.
Lugo scored in the second period to give the Falcons a 14-6 halftime lead, outrunning the Ravenna defense on his 26-yard scamper.
The Ravens came out in the third period with a vengeance. Zack Thomas came in at quarterback after missing two games and ran two draws for 40 yards. Jamiran Mack added a 32-yard gain on a quick dive play, and Davis scored on a 1-yard plunge to cut Field's lead to 14-12 as the potential game-tying 2-point conversion failed.
But the Falcons then seized control.
Field scored the next two times it had the ball. First Eldreth scored on a 6-yard off-tackle play. Then after Ravenna fumbled deep in its own territory, Gray broke at least five tackles on an 11-yard score, and suddenly the Falcons were up 28-12.
Polasky added a 32-yard field goal before Ravenna's Parnell Taylor scored on a 9-yard pass play from Thomas, trimming the deficit to 31-18 in the fourth quarter. But Gray completed the scoring late in the game with a 10-yard run as Field was trying to run out the clock.
Davis finished with 152 yards rushing on 16 carries.