Lake County Sentinel
Riverside defeats North to keep conference title hopes alive
BY KEN KRIZNER
STAFF
(EASTLAKE, OH) - It wasn’t Painesville Riverside best game of the season as Head Coach Jeremy Ishmael pointed out. But the Beavers did enough on Friday night at Nick Carter Stadium to come away with a 42-21 Western Reserve Conference victory over Eastlake North.
The Beavers (6-3, 3-1) will go into their week 10 game against Willoughby South with a chance to win the WRC championship and perhaps secure a home game in the first round of the OHSAA Division II, Region 5 playoffs.
“Early on, we could have played better,” Ishmael said. “But as the game went on, we started to play our brand of football and got the win.”
Meanwhile, Eastlake North (3-6, 0-4), which played hard to the end, scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns on long drives, lost its fifth consecutive game.
“Our kids played hard,” said North Head Coach Shawn Dodd. “We battled, but unfortunately, they made more plays than we did.”
Almost immediately, things went wrong for the Rangers. On the third play of the game, senior Riverside linebacker Spencer Short picked up an Alexavier Harris fumble and went 20 yards untouched for a touchdown.
“Obviously, it didn’t start off the way wanted,” Dodd said. “We can’t give up a defensive score in our own territory to start the game. That immediately put us behind the eight ball. We have to do better.”
Later in the first quarter, following a North punt, the Beavers went 61 yards in eight plays with senior running back Kyndall McCaleb picking up 45 of those yards on the ground. Then in a bit of razzle-dazzle, junior quarterback Bo Brandehoff handed off the ball to McCaleb, who flipped it to senior Ethan Baker, who in turn passed it back to Brandehoff for the touchdown.
Despite its shaky start, North responded, fueled by Harris’ 39-yard run to the Riverside 5 yard line. Then on fourth down, the run-oriented Rangers turned to junior Kaydn Young who hit senior tight end Mike Lowrie on a 6-yard pass for the touchdown. It was North’s only pass attempt on the night.
After the North touchdown, both defenses stiffened for a portion of the second quarter. Each defense forced the opposing offense into two consecutive three-and-out drives.
But McCaleb broke the defensive stalemate by running 67 yards for a touchdown to up the Beavers lead to 21-7 at halftime.
McCaleb finished the first half with 127 yards on nine carries and the one touchdown, while senior running back Harris finished the half with 71 yards on 11 carries for North.
Riverside took further control of the game on the first drive of the second half. After a McCaleb touchdown was called back by a penalty, sophomore running back Dominic Bottiggi busted out for a 35-yard touchdown run.
On their next possession, the Beavers stuck to the ground for 82 yards, including runs of 41 by senior Wes Andrson, 12 yards by McCaleb and 15 yards for the score from Short, who finished the night with an offensive and defensive touchdown.
Ishmael said it is very important for the Riverside offense to have a balanced attack to keep defenses from keying on McCaleb.
“We can’t always put our eggs in No. 34’s (McCaleb’s) basket,” Ishmael said. “We have to be diverse on offense and distribute the ball. We cannot be a one-man show.”
North, however, would not quit. Mixing in a no-huddle offense, the Rangers went 70 yards – all on the ground – in 15 plays and picking up six first downs with Harris and fellow senior running back Brayden Sandstrom taking the bulk of the carries. Harris finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.
The Rangers followed up the touchdown with an onside kick, but it was recovered by Riverside, which took the ball 52 yards for its final score of the night. The highlight of the drive was a Brandenhoff to Baker pass for 30 yards. McCaleb finished the drive with a run of 2 yards for his second touchdown of the night.
Harris and Sandstrom combined to go 83 yards for the final touchdown of the night, with Harris going 41 yards on one play and Sandstrom taking it in from 5 yards for the North score.
The Rangers and Beavers end the regular-season next Friday by playing their final WRC games (the conference will disband at the conclusion of the 2025-26 academic year).
For North, who plays host to host Mayfield, it’s one last opportunity to secure its fourth win and end the season on a high note, although Dodd is also looking for continued improvement from his team.
“I hope we can continue to work, improve and focus on the process,” he said. “Obviously, everyone wants to win, but it can’t be about just wanting to win. We have to do the work during the week to earn it.”
For Riverside, which went into this week’s action in a four-way tie for first place, it’s a home battle with Willoughby South and the WRC championship on the line.
“We have to play good football next week,” Ismael said. “South is a tough football team. It’s going to be a game.”.
POSTED 10/18/2025 00:29
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Eastlake North's Alexavier Harris runs the ball up the middle in North's loss to Riverside. Photo by Ken Krizner
