Prep football: Ross routs Edgewood to win first SWOC title

Ross quarterback CJ Boze and the Rams blitzed Edgewood 63-35 on Friday night to win the Southwest Ohio Conference title. Nick Graham/FILE

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

Ross quarterback CJ Boze and the Rams blitzed Edgewood 63-35 on Friday night to win the Southwest Ohio Conference title. Nick Graham/FILE

Ross High School football coach Kenyon Commins has talked about taking everything in stride and using every opportunity to get better.

On Friday, the Rams seized their moment with a league title up for grabs.

After a back-and-forth battle the first half against Edgewood, Ross took off in the third quarter and left the Cougars in the dust. The Rams (4-1 overall, 4-0 Southwest Ohio Conference) turned a seven-point halftime lead into a 63-35 blowout win to claim their first SWOC title and first league title since 2011.

“Coach Commins talks about ‘the moment,’ -- this was a big moment for us as a program, first SWOC championship in school history,” senior running back Jackson Gifford said. “… It feels pretty darn good.”

Gifford played a big role in the Rams' victory, rushing for 182 yards and four consecutive touchdowns that helped Ross pull ahead.

After Ross tied the game at 21 on Jackson’s first score with 3:09 left in the second quarter, the Rams finally gained the momentum when the defense forced the first punt on a three-and-out. Gifford responded to give his team its first lead of the night just before halftime, an advantage that wouldn’t be lost.

The Rams received the kickoff to start the second half, and Gifford came through again for a pair of four-yard touchdown runs on consecutive drives with the defense getting another stop in between. Gifford recorded 121 of his rushing yards in the second half, as he found a rhythm behind a stout offensive line he wanted to reward.

“It wouldn’t happen without the offensive line,” he said. “I was just making cuts in the secondary. They were tucking with their head down a little bit, so I noticed that and just started cutting back and there was no one there.”

Edgewood (2-3, 2-2 SWOC), which needed a win to keep its title hopes alive, had stayed toe-to-toe with Ross in the first half.

The Cougars opened the game with a scoring drive, and the two teams traded touchdowns until late in the second quarter when Edgewood had to punt for the first time. Ross made halftime adjustments, particularly on defense, and the Cougars didn’t seem to have a solution. Their two second-half touchdowns came with the help of big plays – sophomore Cole Miller returned a kick to the 1-yard line to set up Tavionne Crosby’s score in the third quarter and Miller closed the game with an 85-yard run against the backups.

“We talked about the times we have the ball, we have to score, we’ve got to change field position,” Edgewood coach Scott Clemmons said. “If they get a stop, they are going to come back and slam us like that, and that’s what they did.”

The Rams caught Edgewood off guard on a couple big scoring plays in the first half. Quarterback C.J. Boze ran one in from 52 yards out on a third-and-8, and Boze found Brayden Fraasman wide open in the middle of the field for a 55-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-5 to open the second quarter.

Boze finished with 120 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground, and his touchdown pass was the only attempt he made throwing the ball.

Edgewood quarterback Eli Jones completed his first six passes but finished 7-of-13 passing for 114 yards and one touchdown. Landon Howell finished with a team-high 50 yards rushing.

“That first half, coach Clemmons did a phenomenal job of dinking and dunking us and picking where he wanted to take his shots,” Commins said. “He did a great job of running that play clock down, really using it well there. And then defensively, we made phenomenal adjustments at halftime. ... Then, offensively, with the line we have and Jackson Gifford, he just gets you in the meat grinder and it’s just tough to deal with.”

Ross finishes the shortened regular-season Friday against Mount Healthy, while Edgewood looks to rebound against Harrison.

“I want to end this thing on the right note too,” Commins said. “I don’t want to walk away with a loss next week so I hope they enjoy it this weekend, ice it up, come in and watch film in the morning, 8 a.m. and we’re back to work. I’m excited, I’m pumped up for them, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

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