Rossford prevails over Springfield

Bulldogs' offense lights up scoreboard

Springfield's JeSean Fisher makes a catch for a first down as Rossford's Sean McCormick makes the tackle in Friday night's game.

The Blade/Andy Morrison
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Rossford's Ian Stoler (5) rushed for 207 yards and recorded 133 yards receiving for the Bulldogs to go with his three touchdowns.

Rossford and Springfield combined for nearly 900 total yards and just over 80 points in an old-fashioned football shootout on Friday night.

Rossford halfback Ian Stolar proved to be the difference, rushing for 207 yards on 17 carries, catching three passes for 133 yards, and scoring three touchdowns to lead the way to a 45-36 win at Springfield.

Stolar scored on runs of 75 yards and 53 yards, the latter coming late in the fourth quarter to secure the victory. He also scored on an 83-yard screen pass from Ryan Clay in a contest that was delayed after halftime an hour by two 30-minute lightning delays. Clay passed for 166 yards and rushed for 97 yards, including a 75-yard TD run in the fourth.

"It was definitely a slug match," Rossford coach Todd Drusback said. "Too bad somebody had to lose a game like this. I'm happy it wasn't us."

Rossford, which won only one game last season, improved to 2-1 to close out nonconference play.

PHOTO GALLERY: Springfield vs. Rossford

Springfield wideout JeSean Fisher pulled in eight catches for 177 yards, including touchdown receptions of 13 and 23 yards. Elijah Todd rushed for 133 yards on 24 carries, including touchdown runs of 22, 11, and 2 yards.

The Blue Devils (0-3) played the final quarter without starting quarterback Clay Fink, who suffered an injury on the final play of the third quarter. He was taken off the field on a stretcher by paramedics and was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons.

Fink completed 11 of 23 passes for 169 yards, including a touchdown pass. Ricky Griffin filled in for Fink and tried to rally the Blue Devils by completing 4 of 6 passes for 106 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown pass to Fisher.

Stolar quickly put the Bulldogs in front 7-0 when he went on a 75-yard scamper for a touchdown with 11:45 left in the opening quarter.

The Bulldogs closed out the opening quarter with a 14-0 lead after Clay connected with Sean McCormick on a six-yard slant pass for a touchdown with 55 seconds left in the quarter. An interception of a Fink pass by Jacob Cowell put the Bulldogs inside the Blue Devils 10 to set up the two-play, 7-yard scoring drive.

Springfield's JeSean Fisher makes a catch for a first down as Rossford's Sean McCormick makes the tackle in Friday night's game.

Springfield came right back and went on a six-play, 57-yard scoring drive that ended with Todd scoring on a 28-yard run to make it 14-7 early in the second quarter.

But Stolar came right back to sting the Blue Devils defense by taking a screen pass from Clay and motoring 83 yards for a TD to give the Bulldogs a 21-7 lead with 9:22 left in the first half.

Springfield responded with a nine-play, 73-yard scoring drive to make it 21-14. Todd provided the finishing touch on the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run.

Rossford's Hector Aguirre booted a 21-yard field goal with five seconds remaining to help the Bulldogs take a 24-14 lead into halftime.

The Blue Devils came out of intermission playing with more intensity than the Bulldogs.

It resulted in Springfield's defense producing the first points in the third quarter. Springfield linebacker Ryan Stickley sacked Clay in the Bulldogs end zone for a safety to make it 24-16 with six minutes left in the quarter.

The Blue Devils used the possession after the safety and went on a four-play, 53-yard scoring drive that concluded with Fink lobbing a 17-yard touchdown to Fisher to make it 24-22 with just over four minutes left in the third quarter.

The Blue Devils' attempt to tie the score with a two-point conversion try came up empty with an incomplete pass.

Moments later, the game officials halted play because of lightning in the area.

Following the delays, the Bulldogs outscored the Blue Devils 21-14 to hang on for the win.

Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com, 419-724-6302 or on Twitter @DemmonsBlade.