LORAIN — In the “Battle for Lorain”, Southview scored at opportunistic times to defeat cross-town rival Admiral King 28-19 at George Daniel Field on Saturday. The win was the first time the Saints beat the Admirals since 2004.

With bragging rights on the line, the seniors wanted to go out as a winners, and both teams wanted something positive to build on after disappointing 2009 campaigns.

It was cold and windy, but both teams came out of the gate firing on all cylinders.

On the opening kickoff, Admiral King made the dubious mistake of kicking the ball to the Saints’ explosive return man Ricky Earl. Earl fumbled the ball, but recovered it quickly and knifed through the Admirals’ kickoff coverage for a 89-yard touchdown return. Mo Al-Zeer added the extra point to give the Saints a 7-0 lead.

“I couldn’t really see at first, then the ball hit me in the facemask,” Earl said about the opening kickoff. “When I picked the ball back up, I told myself ‘I need to score now’.”

After he scored, Earl said the team felt like they were on top of the world at that point and could not be stopped.

The Admirals (1-9, 0-4 LEL) were not intimated by the quick score, and marched down the field on its first possession to tie the game at seven. Rayshawn Morgan’s four yard run, capped off a 9-play, 69-yard drive by the Admirals.

Southview (3-7, 1-3 LEL) regained the lead after Christian Nogueras took an end-around hand off and sprinted 40 yards to the end zone to make it 14-7. Admiral King refused to the kick the ball to Earl again, and the Saints were able to take advantage of great field position, as the drive started at their own 47-yard line.

“The coaches keep telling me that if I get to the outside, nobody can catch me,” Nogueras said. “As soon as I got outside, I made my first cut and took off.”

The scoring barrage continued for the Saints, and this time it was the defense that got involved in the action.

On 1st-and-10 from the Admiral 24, Luis Mendez got hit in the backfield and fumbled. Jordan Foster picked up the ball and ran 19 yards for a TD. Al-Zeer’s extra point gave the Saints a 21-7 advantage with 45 seconds left in the first quarter.

The fumbles were a recurring theme for the Admirals as they fumbled three times in the first half and lost all three.

For Admiral King head coach Mike Akers, it’s been the theme for the whole season.

“We gave it away for three weeks straight, it’s a broken record,” Akers said. “We gave up the kickoff return, and then we put one on the ground and they returned it, and that’s the difference of the game.

“We’ve made a conscious effort to play young players and hopefully it will payoff for us next season.”

The Admirals scored before the first quarter came to an end as Collin Bryant connected with Mendez for a 64-yard touchdown pass. Admiral King went for the two-point conversion, but the conversion run failed and the Admirals trailed 21-13.

The Admirals closed the gap to 21-19 on a 21-yard run by Mendez with 1:19 in the first half. The drive was set up after Shawn Hazlewood recovered a Matt Andjuar fumble deep in the Saints’ territory.

The second half was a defensive struggle, but the Saints were able to extend their lead early in the fourth quarter.

After Luis Morales recovered another Admirals fumble, the Saints traveled 38 yards on seven plays, capped off by a one-yard TD run by Earl.

Southview coach Todd Auvil said he liked his team’s effort to start the game, but felt his team could’ve played better.

“I was upset because we came out like gang busters and scored every way possible, but then we let them back in the game before halftime,” Auvil said. “I told them they were blowing a great opportunity. I called some of our kids out, and some of our young kids like Christian Nogueras stepped up for us.

“There’s no doubt this was a big win for us,” Auvil added. “I’m a Lorain High guy, and I hate Admiral King with every single fiber in my body. But I’m wearing the red, white and blue now and it still feels great to beat them.”

For seniors like Earl, the game erases a lot of hardships and bad memories during the season.

“This is bragging rights for the whole year, and this win is also for all the seniors,” Earl said. “For the rest of our lives we’ll know that we beat them the last time we all played together.”

For others like Nogueras, who is sophomore, it gives hope and promise into the future.

“Hopefully this win will show everyone that we can achieve great things if we stick together,” Nogueras said. “Hopefully we get more kids in here next season and try to get a winning season.”