KINGSTON – After squandering an 18-point lead in the second half and seeing Holy Redeemer take a one-point lead with 4:24 to play, it might have been easy for Northwest to fold and give the ball right back to Holy Redeemer, where the Royals could have iced the game with another score.
Instead, the Rangers dug deep and responded to the adversity being presented to them. They put together a nine-play, 64-yard drive that not only put them over 300 yards rushing on the evening, but also produced the eventual game-winning touchdown, as Noah Arentt’s 19-yard rushing touchdown with :42 left gave the Rangers the lead once again, and a short time later, Northwest made a game-ending interception as the Rangers rallied back to defeat Holy Redeemer 36-31, and give head coach Greg Mullins his first win in his first game as the Rangers’ head coach.
“We’ve tried to teach these kids to be comfortable being uncomfortable and when adversity hits, how do we respond,” said Mullins. “I said, my biggest fear for this program was how mentally tough they are. Can they handle adversity? And they showed today that they’re in it for the long haul, which is exciting.
”One thing I wanted to make sure we got back to at Northwest was our identity. We’re a gritty bunch of young men, our neighborhood is tough, we’re strong and that’s what we do. We’re going to run the football and impose our will.”
The Rangers ran for 308 yards, which partially offset a very strong game by the Royals’ Brady McDermott, who completed 16-of-31 passes for 277 yards and five touchdowns, while Josh Grochowski caught six passes for 141 yards and two scores.
Cole Cavuto’s 13-yard touchdown run gave the Rangers a 30-12 lead with 6:58 remaining in the third quarter. That followed a 21-point second quarter for the Rangers that gave them a 24-12 lead at halftime, as Northwest asserted itself with its running game for much of the night. Cavuto only completed a single pass on the evening, but it was a big one – a 31-yard pass to Ben Bonham late in the second quarter to immediately answer Holy Redeemer’s biggest play of the night – a 77-yard touchdown from Brady McDermott to Josh Grochowski.
After Cavuto’s touchdown in the third quarter, the Royals answered back by putting together a nine-play, 69-yard drive capped by a 16-yard touchdown from McDermott to Kevin Arroyo to cut the lead to 30-19 with 2:16 remaining in the quarter.
The Rangers then quickly went three-and-out, and a short punt gave the Royals the ball back at the Northwest 35. McDermott and Arroyo connected on the first play for a 35-yard touchdown, cutting the lead once again to just 30-25 with 1:26 left in the quarter.
Northwest then looked to be on the doorstep of another answer, but its 67-yard drive was stopped a yard short as Cavuto fumbled the snap at the 1-yard line, and it was recovered by Holy Redeemer. The Rangers had some trouble holding onto the ball at times, as they committed five fumbles but only lost the one.
From there, Holy Redeemer benefitted from a personal foul penalty on first down, and then McDermott hit Ryan Zelinka for a 49-yard reception to flip the field position all the way from the Royal 29 to the Northwest 22. Four plays later, McDermott hit Zelinka again for a one-yard touchdown pass, giving the Royals their first lead since early in the second quarter, 31-30.
“We got down by 19 there, but the kids fought and showed a lot of resiliency to take the lead again,” said Holy Redeemer coach Vito Quaglia. “This time of the year, you often have a lot of guys going down with cramps and we seemed to have that every other play. We were trying to hold on for that last drive but they’re a big, physical and strong team and ran the ball really well. It’s hard to stop that kind of powerful run late in the game, especially when you have guys cramping up but our kids fought and fought and that’s what we’re going to build on. I told them if they keep bringing that intensity and effort, they’re going to have a lot of opportunity for success.
With 4:24 still remaining – still plenty of time to go down the field on the ground and not have to resort to the passing game, Northwest picked up three first downs and advanced from its own 36 down to the red zone on the Royal 19 with under a minute to go. On just his second rushing attempt of the game, Noah Arnett took the handoff and found a hole through the left side for 19 yards to put the Rangers back on top, 36-31.
Zayden Meeker then sealed it by picking off a desperation heave by McDermott near midfield to give Northwest the win in its season opener for the first time since 2022.
“We’ve watched Brady McDermott from afar and him coming into that program last year as backup and then got the starting job. That’s an outstanding young man, he’s very smart and it was awesome for our kids to be able to make plays against him, but he made a lot of plays as well,” said Mullins.
Though he didn’t have one of Northwest’s scores, Robby Voyton led the way out of Northwest’s backfield as the big bruising senior fullback had 110 yards on 17 carries. It was a total group effort, though, as Loegan Diltz finished with 43 yards on nine carries and Cavuto had 46 yards on nine carries and Ben Bonham had 37 yards on five carries. Each had key runs that resulted in important, drive-extending first downs throughout the game.
Northwest 36, Holy Redeemer 31
Northwest (1-0) 3 21 6 6 – 36
Holy Redeemer (0-1) 0 12 13 6 – 31
First quarter
4:53 – (N) Wyatt Olowski 21-yard field goal, 4-6, 1:49
Second quarter
10:48 – (HR) Josh Grochowski 10-yard pass from Brady McDermott (kick blocked), 13-90, 6:05
4:58 – (N) Ben Bonham 10-yard run (Olowski kick), 7-75, 3:17
2:15 – (N) Loegan Diltz 4-yard run (Olowski kick), 3-56, 1:23
1:44 – (HR) Josh Grochowski 77-yard pass from Brady McDermott (pass failed), 3-77, :31
1:16 – (N) Ben Bonham 31-yard pass from Cole Cavuto (Olowski kick), 1-26, :28
Third quarter
6:58 – (N) Cole Cavuto 13-yard run (run failed), 7-39, 3:23
2:16 – (HR) Kevin Arroyo 16-yard pass from Brady McDermott (Mohutsky kick), 9-69, 4:43
1:26 – (HR) Kevin Arroyo 35-yard pass from Brady McDermott (run failed), 1-35, :10
Fourth quarter
4:24 – (HR) Ryan Zelinka 1-yard pass from Brady McDermott (pass failed), 8-98, 2:33
:42 – (N) Noah Arnett 19-yard run (run failed), 9-64, 3:42
Statistics
N HR
First downs 17 19
Rushes-net yards 47-308 22-90
Passing yardage 31 277
Passing 1-6-1-0 16-31-5-1
Fumbles-lost 5-1 2-2
Penalties-yards 6-72 6-55
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Northwest: Robby Voyton (17-110), Cole Cavuto (9-46-1), Loegan Diltz (9-43-1), Ben Bonham (5-37-1), Noah Arnett (2-23-1), Shane Hemple (2-6), Caleb Ide (1-41), Jake Ide (1-3), Team (1-(-1)); Holy Redeemer: Jerry Fino (14-58), Brady McDermott (6-30), Max Mohutsky (1-6), Logan Shrader (1-(-4))
PASSING: Northwest: Cole Cavuto (1-6-31-1-0); Holy Redeemer: Brady McDermott (16-31-277-5-1)
RECEIVING: Northwest: Ben Bonham (1-31-1); Holy Redeemer: Josh Grochowski (6-141-2), Ryan Zelinka (5-68-1), Kaden Sepkoski (3-17), Kevin Arroyo (2-51-2)