NORTH RIDGEVILLE, OHIO – Amherst senior running back Khennedy Scagliozzo put the Comets on his back Friday night, rushing for 284 yards and four touchdowns, as Amherst stayed unbeaten, topping the North Ridgeville Rangers 38-9 in Southwestern Conference action.
Scagliozzo punished the Rangers defense, rushing off chunks of yards and getting many of his hard earned yards after contact, earning every inch of his huge effort in the runaway win.
“Feels great, not only for myself but also for my teammates, during the whole week they put in the work and it feels great to give back to them, they are giving to me so I want to give back to them,” Scagliozzo said.
The Comets remain perfect at 3-0 on the season, and have been dominant in all facets thus far, outscoring the opposition in the first three games 127-9.
Friday the Rangers became the first team on the year to reach the end zone against them, as Cael Bright’s 8-yard score with 6:42 to play in the third quarter cut into the Comets lead at 21-9.
“Defensively we needed to make an adjustment, they were hitting us inside and a couple of guys were out of position, so we needed to change the call and we had to settle down, and once we settled down we were able to get back to doing what we do best when we’re playing good defense,” Comets coach Mike Passerrello said.
Passerrello had to be happy with the way his offense was able to blow the Rangers off the ball, as the teams’ offensive line was just too much for the Rangers, opening holes for their feature running back in Scagliozzo to have a huge night, rushing the ball 30 times for close to 300 yards.
“We were able to win the battle in the trenches, and able to give Khennedy room,” Passerrello said.
“Whether we had big plays, or chipping four or five yards at a pop, you have to give credit to the offensive line and to Khennedy and all the guys blocking.”
For the Rangers, they are now 1-2 on the season, and last week’s huge 31-30 win over Midview quickly is now in the rear view mirror, as they have to reset and get ready for another SWC game next week at Berea-Midpark.
After rushing for 210 yards as a team last week in the one-point win over the Middies, the Rangers were held to just 113 yards on 32 carries by a tough Comets defense.
“They can score very quickly, and during the game we needed that drive to keep their offense off the field,” Passerrello said.
The Comets scored first, as Scagliozzo broke off a 53-yard run on his first carry, setting up a Dan Makruski 7-yard score to make it 7-0 Amherst with 8:17 to play in the opening quarter.
Amherst pushed the lead to 14-0 on Scagliozzo’s first score of the night, a three-yard run with 5:01 left in the first half.
He scored his second touchdown after an Amherst field goal from nine yards out with 1:17 left in the half to give Amherst a 21-3 lead at the break.
The Rangers went on their best drive of the night, covering 11 plays and 82 yards in 3:29 as Bright went in from eight yards out to close it to 21-9 after the two-point conversion failed.
The Comets defense and more Scagliozzo took care of business the rest of the way, as the secondary picked off North Ridgeville quarterback Matt Steinmetz twice in the second half to ensure there would be no Rangers comeback.
Scagliozzo scored twice more in the second half from 16 and 11 yards out to put the game away. His final score came with 5:06 to play to make it a 38-9 game and final.
“It’s great to be 3-0, but we have a lot of work ahead of us, we know every week things get tougher, we have a very good Midview team next week, overall it’s great to be where we are at, but it’s nowhere near where we need to be,” Passerrello said.
The Comets will host Midview next week in what should be a hard hitting SWC showdown in Amherst.
Player of the Game:
Amherst Senior RB Khennedy Scagliozzo
The senior back for the Comets was unstoppable for Amherst, piling up 284 yards on 30 carries with four touchdowns, as he led the way for the Comets offense to score 38 points in the huge win.
Scagliozzo was again effective in rushing for yards after contact, never seeming to go down after the first hit, and it showed in the second half when his legs never seemed to stop turning and he and the Comets offensive line took over in the 27-point win to get to 3-0 on the season.
It’s the Kennedy Scagliozzo show in North Ridgeville tonight – 9-yard TD run and @SteeleComets are up on @NR_Rangers 21-3 – Scagliozzo w/ 138 yards rushing on 13 carries and 2 TD’s thus far @NEOhsFootball @AM930WEOL @NEOSportsInside @FOX8FNTD pic.twitter.com/jlWFArZF1F
— Matt Loede (@MattLoede) September 7, 2018
Khennedy Scagliozzo w/ a 3-yard TD run – @SteeleComets up 14-0 on @NR_Rangers w/ 5:01 left 1st half Scagliozzo w/ 102 yards on 9 carries @NEOhsFootball @NEOSportsInside @AM930WEOL @FOX8FNTD pic.twitter.com/VE5sVM39m6
— Matt Loede (@MattLoede) September 7, 2018
Here’s a photo gallery from North Ridgeville as the Comets and Rangers went at it in week three action.
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