Lake County Sentinel
Willoughby South Rebels remain undefeated, winning the Civil War 21-14
BY JOEY SCHNEIDER
STAFF
(EASTLAKE, OH) - In the state of Ohio, there are many great school rivalries, but only one is known to the cities, communities, students, and players as the "Civil War." The Eastlake North Rangers and Willoughby South Rebels. Two high schools, who share the same school district (Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools), separated by just four miles have been battling it out in not just football, but all sports since the 1960's. The game on Friday night was the biggest history, as both teams entered the game at 8-0 on the year, the first time they have ever faced off with undefeated records. The communities have been gearing up with many restaurants and venues hosting tailgating, the students from both schools showing their pride all week long, and social media buzzing about the biggest game in history.
In this 67th game of the rivalry, South holds the lead overall with record of 35-29-2, and also winning 19 of their last 21 meetings. The Rangers last won in 2023 beating South 10-3 that night, but Friday's game isn't just for bragging rights, it's for playoff seeding and for the opportunity to go into next week's game with a chance of going 10-0, a perfect regular season. South has had four perfect 10-0 season's coming into the game. 1980, 1986, 2005, and 2012. Eastlake North was looking for their first.
The Willoughby South Rebels came out with pure speed and determination, while the Eastlake North Rangers used power and a toughness that you cannot teach. Neither team wanted to give an inch, but after the smoke had settled the Rebels came away with a 21-14 victory in the greatest "Battle of the Border" of all time.
The atmosphere was absolutely electric from kickoff until the final whistle. The stands were packed to the point that people had to stand around the fence circling the field and the student sections were going wild. It was the greatest atmosphere this year of any game in Lake County.
South won the toss and received the ball to start the game. On the very first play South's Luke Jensen connected with Ethan Christopher on a 76-yard touchdown pass, only for it to get called back on a holding penalty. It did show just however just how fast the Rebels can score.
The first score of the game didn't happen until the second quarter as each team's defense was superb in the first quarter. South's junior wide out Anthony Mock took a reverse 16-yards into the end zone as the rebel faithful went wild with nine minutes left in the half. Eastlake North answered right back on their next drive that was capped off with by a 30-yard dash up the middle by Ranger's junior running back Josh Fenick. The brotherly connection between Luke Jensen and Josh Jensen, something that the Rebels have relied on all year happened at the 4:27 mark in the second quarter as Luke found Josh on a 10-yard touchdown pass and the Rebels went into the half leading 14-7.
The third quarter was another defensive showdown until South's Moogy Fullerton ran around the end and sprinted for 16-yards for another Rebel touchdown as time expired in the quarter and extending South's lead 21-7.
The Ranger's knew they needed a touchdown and fast, and they would get one as North's junior running back Javion Whaley would cut into South's lead as he dashed for a 31-yard touchdown with 8:28 left in the game, and the Ranger's now trailing by seven, 21-14.
It again became a war of the defenses. North could not give up another score, and South knew they needed to buckle down and stop the phenomenal run game of the Rangers. With North driving, the Rebel's got their stop on a fourth down as junior defensive end Thomas Jones came flying to the outside and stopped the Rangers with just 3:11 remaining.
The Ranger's defense would get the ball back into the hands of the offense with two minutes left. North would get into range after a 40-yard passing play, their first, pass of the game, putting them on the 25-yard line with one minute left, knocking at the door of the end zone, but they went for another pass that the Rebels were ready for and was intercepted by junior Harlen Boyd for a touchback. The Rebel's would take a knee in victory formation and run out the clock as the sideline, bleachers, and student section went crazy, picking up the win and a chance at a perfect regular season 21-14.
After the game South offensive lineman, Aiden Ernst, Tyler Sowa, and Owen Willis talked about the big win and improving to 9-0. "Aiden started, "It's feels amazing. It's nice to be on top finally." Tyler continued, "It starts really in the summer with conditioning, showing up every day and this this is the outcome you get." Owen ended with "like he (Tyler Sowa) said, showing up every day in the off-season, everything we put towards this. We put our lives into this sport and that's what it comes down to right here."
While the North Rangers may have lost on Friday, they are still the winningest team in the history of the school and are already in the OHSAA playoffs in division II, region 9. They played with heart and courage and even though they may have come up short, they have built a culture that should see them winning for years to come.
The Willoughby South Rebels will try to complete their perfect regular season next week as they take on the (1-8) Lutheran West Longhorns at home at Harry. E Winters Field in Willoughby, while the Eastlake North Rangers will travel to Gates Mills, looking to finish the year 9-1 against the (7-2) Hawken Hawks. Both games are scheduled for Friday, October 23rd, at 7 pm.
POSTED 10/17/2026 00:39
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. Photo by Joey Schneider
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