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Ravens solidify second season

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by Don Dreger
October 25, 2008

By Don Dreger
R-C assistant sports editor
SPRINGFIELD - Faced with a dismal rainy night and needing a win to solidify a playoff slot, Ravenna High School came through with a 25-12 win over winless Springfield on Friday.
The Ravens finish the regular season with a 7-3 overall mark and 5-2 in the Metro Division of the Portage Trail Conference. The two losses in the Metro Division secured third place.
Ravenna will likely play at Liberty in the first round of the Division III playoffs in Region 9. Selections will be announced on Sunday.
"Our team was challenged tonight by a team of young players," said Ravenna coach Jim Lunardi. "The weather dictated that we eliminate any turnovers. It was raining very hard most of the game. We like to run out of the shotgun, but not tonight. We went straight ahead.
"Springfield never gave up, even though they were winless. We gave up a few big plays but keep them at bay."
Blayre Davis, Ravenna's top running back, earned 96 tough yards in 17 carries. He scored three touchdowns, starting with a 10-yard run in the first period.
He added two more scores in the third period.
Opting to go with a full-house backfield, Ravenna ran most of the night between the tackles and got two big plays out of it, once by Davis for 41 yards and the other a 42-yard sprint up the middle by fullback Xavier Jones that caught the Springfield defense napping.
The Ravens only passed five times, completing two passes for 31 yards.
The Raven defense held Springfield to 93 yards rushing and 95 yards passing. A 55-yard pass play from quarterback Scotty Cole to Jonathan Hofer set up the Spartans' second touchdown.
The game opened with the teams trading punts.
On the Ravens' second possession, they scored in three plays with Davis carrying the load. Tyler Bennett made the only PAT of the evening to give Ravenna a 7-0 lead.
Ravenna added another score late in the first period after Jones' long run. The stocky 235-pound sophomore knocked it over from the 1 for a 13-0 lead.
Ravenna carried a 13-6 lead into the locker room after stalling at the Springfield 11 on the final drive of the half.
In the third period, Ravenna scored twice in a matter of minutes.
First, Davis scored on a 5-yard run. Then senior Marlo Sanders blocked a punt on the Springfield 12, and two plays later Davis added the final Ravenna touchdown.
"We saw the Springfield punter was having trouble with the snap," said Lunardi of the blocked punt. "We rushed everyone and Sanders came up with the block."
Springfield scored on a Zack Talbert run in the first part of the fourth period to complete the scoring. Ravenna then ran out the clock in the final seven minutes for the win.




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