Big Apple Deli victory boosts Rangers

They might as well make a permanent showcase at Northwood High School for the Big Apple Deli Trophy.

Cardinal Sritch coach Gene Rucker noted that the last time Stritch beat Northwood, most of his players were not even born. But he thought this was the year to do it.

However, in the final regular season game, Northwood defeated Cardinal Stritch, 49-48, in a wild and crazy shootout and retained possession of the Big Apple Deli Trophy. The Rangers garnered 422 yards rushing and the Cardinals had 280 rushing and 116 passing.

Entering that game, the Rangers (4-4 overall, 3-1 Toledo Area Athletic Conference) and Cardinals (5-3, 2-2) still had a shot at a co-championship if Ottawa Hills could beat Edon, but the Bombers prevailed 52-28.

Still, the Rangers finished one game behind league champion Edon (9-1, 4-0), who the Rangers did not play this year because of Covid protocols.

“Edon looks like the best team here. Edon is pretty loaded and has a veteran wingback from last year and they have a transfer in from Edgerton who was an all-state player over at Edgerton,” Northwood coach Ken James said.

However, the Rangers were not done playing football yet. The win over Stritch propelled them into the Division VI playoffs. Saturday, No. 15 seed Northwood traveled to take on No. 2 seed Ashland Crestview (10-0) with the winner advancing to the regional quarterfinals. Crestview is ranked fifth in the final Associated Press poll. Stritch was not done yet, traveling to take on Colonel Crawford (9-1) Saturday.

It’s been a strange season for Northwood — only one other close game, a 5-2 loss on a rainy night in Ottawa Hills, full of strange anomalies, like the score indicates.

“They drove the ball down on us early and turned it over at the three-yard line. Then we gave up a safety. We had a bad snap and the ball ended up in the end zone,” James said.

“It went back and forth but nobody could really do anything for a while. Then they got decent position and they have a heck of a field goal kicker (junior Emilio Duran). Then we drove it down and fumbled it on the one-foot line later at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and it would have given us the lead. Then we got the safety on them right after that, and that is the way it ended.”

The Rangers had their chances to win it, even kick a field goal early in the game that would have ultimately tied the score.

“We had some chances to win last week and made some errors. We kicked a field goal early, but they called a time out right before we kicked it, and then they got an offsides penalty that put us inside the five,” James said.

“Percentage-wise, we thought we’d take a shot at it (touchdown), went for it and didn’t get it. Then we turned it over a couple times — once at their one-yard line, so there’s just some stuff we got to do. If we were a little more consistent, we’d be a good football team.”