The second-seeded Raiders gave it all they could, scoring more points than anyone did against the Hornets all season. It still wasn’t enough, as the defending state champions beat South Range, 49-35.

“I am so proud of our kids and the effort they gave tonight was tremendous,” said coach Dan Yeagley, whose team finished 9-1. “They knew they were in a battle tonight.

“It’s a game of inches and we missed out on that call (in the first series) by inches and then we had a chance to make a big stop down here in the fourth quarter and didn’t get it. It’s football and we lost to a tremendous team.”

After falling behind 28-13 at halftime, the Raiders pulled within 35-27 early in the fourth quarter when J.D. Crouse caught a 6-yard touchdown from Michael Patrone and Dylan Dominguez added the two-point conversion run with 11:17 remaining.

Correspondent photo / Dave Dermer South Range’s JD Crouse (20) ends up on his head after catching a touchdown pass Saturday night in the Raiders’ 49-35 loss to Kirtland in the Division V, Region 17 championship game at Mentor.

But the Hornets (9-0) did something they didn’t do all game — have a time-consuming drive. They went 77 yards in 12 plays and chewed up 7:08 to stake a 42-27 lead.

The key play in the drive was a third-and-11 pass from quarterback Liam Powers to Joey Grazia that went for 43 yards to the South Range 24. Grazia ran a stop-and-go and Powers placed the ball over his shoulder perfectly in stride to beat good defensive coverage.

“They made more big plays and that was the difference,” Yeagley said. “We knew they had potential to throw the ball, even though they’ve been running it down defenses’ throats. They have passing ability and we wanted them to have to pass it because our main goal was to stop their run attack.”

Powers was efficient, connecting on 5-of-7 attempts for 222 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown to Anthony Demarco on the Hornets’ first play from scrimmage and a 65-yard TD toss to Grazia on their third play from scrimmage.

The Raiders countered with long, sustained drives, but after falling behind 42-27, Patrone threw his second interception of the season. His receiver tipped the ball in the air and Grazia returned it 54 yards to the South Range 6. Two plays later, Mason Sullivan scored on a 1-yard run to make it 49-27 with 3:54 left to seal the decision.

Correspondent photo / Dave Dermer South Range's Michael Patrone throws a pass during the first half of their game, Saturday night at Mentor High School.

South Range never gave up, going 74 yards in four plays and Dominguez added the two-point conversion run to account for the final score with 2:55 left. Kirtland recovered the on-side kick and ran out the clock.

The other big play of the game for South Range came in its first possession when Patrone threw to Dominguez on a fake punt on fourth-and-11. Dominguez appeared to have the first down by a full yard, but got short-changed on the spot and ended up two inches short.

Upset about the call, South Range’s defense took the field for the first time and got burned on the Powers-to-Demarco touchdown on the first snap.

Patrone rushed for 78 yards and a touchdown on 14 runs and was 15-for-22 passing for 201 yards and three scores. Dominguez finished with 64 yards rushing on 13 carries and Luke Crumbacher had three catches for 61 yards.

“It was a tremendous season for us,” Yeagley said. “We have very few seniors, but they led and took the underclassmen under their wings and showed them how to be a complete team. I couldn’t be prouder of these young men, all of them.”

bemerine@tribtoday.com