MINERAL RIDGE, OH — Mineral Ridge owned the trenches Friday night, and once the Rams got rolling downhill, Crestwood couldn’t find a way to slow them down.
Behind a bruising ground attack, a big night from its defense and a momentum-flipping punt return from Owen Sylak, Mineral Ridge powered past Crestwood, 31-10, in Week 3.
The Rams made their intentions clear from the jump. Tim Serensky and Chandler Busse pounded away on the opening drive, pushing Ridge inside the Crestwood 10 before the Red Devils finally dug in. Dom Gutierrez salvaged the possession by drilling a 22-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
From there, Mineral Ridge’s offensive line went to work. The Rams leaned on the run throughout the second quarter, and after six straight carries softened up the Crestwood defense, quarterback Ethan Deley went over the top. Deley found Sylak streaking down the middle for a 30-yard touchdown with 33 seconds left in the half. Sylak absorbed a huge hit in the back of the end zone but held onto the football.
Ridge took a 10-0 advantage into the locker room. Mineral Ridge wasted little time turning up the heat after halftime. Busse ripped off a pair of first-down runs and added a 23-yard reception to quickly put the Rams in the red zone. Serensky finished the march by bulldozing his way across the goal line from four yards out, stretching the lead to 17-0.
Then the Ridge defense took over. Phoenix Walker, Brad Wallace and Derek Racich were among the Rams making plays all night, but Tanner Sharp was an absolute problem off the edge.
Sharp wrecked consecutive Crestwood possessions, seemingly finding the football on every snap. On one series, he was in on all three tackles before batting down a pass in the backfield to force a punt.
That punt turned into six. Sylak, who had muffed a punt earlier in the night before recovering it, got his redemption. He fielded the kick after one bounce, made two defenders miss and exploded into open space for a 67-yard house call.
Just like that, it was 24-0 with 4:40 left in the third. Crestwood quarterback Michael Kalista kept battling. His best run came on a 25-yard scramble down the Mineral Ridge sideline, with a late-hit penalty tacking on another 15 yards and putting the Red Devils in scoring position.
But the Rams slammed the door again. Facing fourth-and-four from the Ridge 23 on the final play of the third quarter, Crestwood tried to hit a quick slant. Jesse Rozzi read it perfectly and snagged a one-handed interception to kill the drive.
Mineral Ridge continued rotating Deley and Preston Kline at quarterback, but the Rams didn’t need to go to the air to find their final touchdown.
Serensky found daylight, hit the accelerator and broke loose for a 41-yard touchdown run with nine minutes remaining, putting Ridge in complete control at 31-0.
Crestwood refused to fold. Nick Hess capped a hard-running night with a one-yard touchdown plunge with four minutes left, finally breaking up the shutout.
Chris Mory added another late spark, cutting back through the defense and racing 23 yards to the end zone with 1:40 remaining before adding the conversion to cap the scoring.
But the night belonged to the Rams. Mineral Ridge controlled the line of scrimmage, got explosive plays from Serensky, Busse and Sylak, and unleashed a defense that kept Crestwood bottled up for most of the game. Mineral Ridge will stay home in Week 4, when the Rams welcome Springfield for their next matchup.