For the seventh straight season, the Streetsboro Rockets’ football team have seized the upper hand in the Battle of Lake Rockwell. The Rockets used a fast start to dominate Metro Athletic Conference and Portage County rival Ravenna 63-14, spoiling Homecoming Night last Friday evening at Portage Community Bank Stadium’s Gilcrest Field.
“We had a heck of a week of practice this and probably our best week of practice this season,” said Coach Pete Thompson. “We came out of the gate with 28-0 in the first quarter and it certainly proved to our kids that the work that they put in during the week surely paid off.”
It marked the final clash between the neighborhood rivals as league foes as Ravenna (3-4, 1-3) will join the Greater Portage Athletic Conference next season while the Rockets (5-2, 3-1) will remain in the MAC.
Since Thompson took the helm, the teams have competed against each other annually his 10-year run as the Rockets’ coach. It is a rivalry he has never taken for granted.
“Any time you can travel two or three miles and play somebody in your backyard that is awesome”, the 10th-year coach noted. “Ravenna and Streetsboro have not always been in the same conference. That is a proud program, and I am proud of what we have been able to do against them the last several years, but their kids always play hard.”
On Friday, the Rockets established a firm grip on the game by racing ahead 28-0 in the first quarter. The Ravens’ defense stacked the box to slow down Streetsboro’s rushing attack, but the Rockets attacked through the air. Senior tailback/defensive back Noah Hodge recorded two touchdowns, one on a 57-yard touchdown reception and one on an eight-yard touchdown run . Senior tight end/linebacker Kyle Giacomo caught a 57-yard touchdown pass and senior running back/defensive back Logan Fincham found the end zone on a one-yard run.
“We jumped on them immediately,” added Giacamo, “Our coaches told us to jump on them immediately and get some of these junior varsity guys in and get some playing time for these young players and help them develop.”
The Rockets’ senior tight end finished with 83 receiving yards and two touchdowns on only three receptions, marking the second straight season he erupted offensively in the annual rivalry game.
“Every time I play them, I am wide open in the secondary and the same play is always there,” he noted. “I don’t know if it is because it is a rivalry or Colton Cox and I just have a connection.”
Ravenna showed life in the second quarter, engineering a pair of long touchdown drives, one on an 11-play, 53-yard drive capped off by a two yard touchdown run by Ravens junior tailback/linebacker Carson Swauger and another on an eight-play, 80-yard drive, capped off by a 15-yard touchdown reception on fourth-and-eight by junior wide receiver/defensive back Isaac Thompson, cutting the Rockets’ advantage to 35-14.
Sophomore offensive/defensive lineman Jaxon Fedor acknowledged that the Rockets were not playing team defense on those drives.
Streetsboro responded with an 18-yard touchdown run by Fincham, extending the lead to 42-14 and Fedor erased another potential Ravens’ rally when he strip-sacked Ravenna junior quarterback/defensive back Ethan McKamey and recovered the ball on the Ravenna’s 25.
“The play before I missed the sack, so I knew I had to go get one back and I made up for it,” he added. “I was so pumped and we got the ball back.”
Giacamo scored his second touchdown of the game, on a 15-yard pass reception, on Streetsboro’s final drive before the half, pushing the lead to 49-14 and triggering the running clock for the second half.
It marked one of the few instances that the Rockets’ offense struck quickly, as they have focused on more methodical drives this season to adjust to their limited depth.
Giacamo said that the Rockets have adjusted well to playing more two-way football this season and that the team’s bond has grown despite being a smaller squad than in previous years.
“I feel like we are a brotherhood. We played so many downs and so many reps recently,” he said. “All summer we had no rotational guys, but I feel like we are a brotherhood. This is what football is, it is blood, sweat and tears, you put that work in and you deserve what you get, and we are getting what we deserve.”
Streetsboro will hit the road and face MAC and Portage County foe Field at Falcons Stadium on Friday night at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Ravens also will play a road game, taking on MAC rival Cuyahoga Falls at Clifford Stadium on Friday evening at 7 p.m.
