Lake County Sentinel
West Geauga outlasts Harvey 28-14
BY JOEY SCHNEIDER
STAFF
(CHESTERLAND, OH) - The West Geauga Wolverines scored first and fast on Friday night and never let go of the lead in a battle against the Harvey Red Raiders, outlasting them 28-14 at Howell Field in Chesterland.
West Geauga head coach Rossi Santo before the game said "We had a good week of practice, especially Wednesday. We have a few skill players out, but it's week seven and most teams are dealing with injuries." When asked if the team wanted to avenge last year's loss. "I don't like bulletin board material, our team was 2-8 last season. We have had a great season so far. We are a few plays going differently from being 5-1."
Harvey's coach Mick Mohner said pregame, "We have won three in a row, but we don't think about it that way. Each week is new, it's game one every week." He went on to praise the West Geauga program. "We have a ton of respect for West G and what coach Santo has done. They can grind out a long drive for a score and really take up a lot of time off the clock. We need to be ready on defense. They have a great group of players.
The Wolverines didn't have to grind out the first drive of the game as they scored just 49 seconds into the game on a 45-yard touchdown run by senior running back Miles Baker who in total had 278 yards on 23 carries and 3 touchdowns against the Red Raiders. Baker broke off three runs of 45, 64, and 74 yards in the game. It seemed as if whenever the Wolverines needed a big play Miles Baker was ready to answer the call. After the game he talked about his big game. "I wouldn't be able to do half the things I do without the guys on the line. Everyone works hard every single play to make they do their job." He then talked about what is means going over the 1,000 yard mark on the season. "It means the world to me. It's exciting," he paused for a second then with a big smile said, "I'm coming for that record."
Harvey's Shahn Alston did his best against a defense that seemed to key in on him all game. He finished with 81 yards rushing on 19 carries and a touchdown as well as playing a good amount of receiver, gaining 115 yards on 11 receptions and a touchdown.
Defense is where the game was won and neither team wanted to give an inch. Both teams forced multiple turnover on downs in a true hard hitting game for both defenses. It came down to who made fewer mistakes and Harvey just gave up a few more big plays.
Coach Santo after the game talked about the teams defense. "We preached all week not to give up the big play, because they have the D-1 kid (Shahn Alston) number three is really good (Chris Burt), the quarterback is good, so our defense bailed us out today. They played very very well and I'm proud of the kids.
Coach Mohner also spoke about the loss. "Our defense played their butts off, unfortunately from an offensive perspective we didn't match their energy and their efforts. Even defensively we were one or two plays away from this being a different ballgame. Offensively, when we get our stops we need to find a way to score and we just didn't get it done tonight. We live with the result and find a way to get better going into next week."
A great story from this game is the kickers for both teams. Harvey's Giselle Moreno and West Geauga's Adison Cook, are both the first female kickers in each schools history. Moreno has been perfect the last two weeks going 10/10, while Adison Cook has not missed an extra point or field goal all year outside of a few blocked kicks.
Both teams are now 4-3 and are looking to next week where the Harvey Red Raiders are on the road again taking on a very good Perry Pirates team, while the Wolverines of West Geauga are also on the road facing a winless Lutheran West. Harvey's game is on Thursday, October 9th at 7:00 pm, while West Geagua's game is the following day, Friday the 10th, also at 7:00 pm.
POSTED 10/04/2025 01:18
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Photo by Joey Schneider
