Lake County Sentinel
Painesville Harvey cruises past Ashtabula Lakeside, 61-19
BY KEN KRIZNER
STAFF
(PAINESVILLE, OH) - The Painesville Harvey Red Raiders struck early and often Friday night at Jack Britt Memorial Stadium, scoring touchdowns on all but one of its first-half possessions as they rolled over Ashtabula Lakeside, 61-19.
It didn’t take Harvey long to strike. Starting at their own 27 yard line after taking the opening kickoff, the Red Raiders took three plays to go 73 yards, with a 63-yard pass from senior quarterback Markese Wise to senior running back Shahn Alston moving the ball to the Lakeside 5 yard line. From there, Alston went in for the Harvey score.
The Dragons, however, came right back, fueled by a 50-yard kickoff return by Jorge Diaz. After an offside penalty on Harvey on a fourth-down play gave Lakeside a first down, sophomore quarterback JJ Murphy hit Terry Brown Jr. with a 21-yard touchdown pass to tie the score.
But back came Painesville Harvey. Going 58 yards in six plays, sophomore running back Marshawn Sturdivant went 10 yards for the touchdown. The extra point was no good. The Sturdivant touchdown followed a 29-yard pass from Wise to senior wide receiver Armani Hall.
After Lakeside couldn’t convert on a fourth down inside Harvey territory, the Red Raiders took a chance and went for it on fourth down themselves from their own 34. It paid off when Wise hit Alston on a 10-yard pass, then Alston went down the sideline for 56 yards and a touchdown on the following play.
The Dragons had a chance when Diaz took the ensuing kickoff 88 yards to the Harvey 2 yard line. But the play was nullified by a Dragons holding penalty. To make matters worse, the Dragons fumbled on the next play, and the Red Raiders recovered at the Lakeside 21 yard line.
The first quarter ended with Harvey scoring on all three of its possessions and having a 20-7 lead.
The Red Raiders picked up where they left off at the start of the second quarter, turning the Dragons’ turnover into a touchdown with senior Chris Burt going over from 1 yard.
After Lakeside turned the ball over on downs midway through the second quarter, Hall took in a 70 yard touchdown pass from Wise to increase the Red Raider lead to 34-7.
Then, after both teams exchanged turnovers with about two minutes left in the half, there was a scoring fury. It started when Alston went over from 3 yards for a Harvey score. After the kickoff, the Dragons struck quickly when Murphy hit freshman Leonardo Rodriguez on a 32-yard touchdown pass with 30 seconds remaining.
Not content to run out the quarter, Burt took in a pass from Wise and raced past Lakeside defenders for a 54-yard touchdown pass and a Harvey 48-13 halftime lead.
Wise threw two touchdown passes in the first half, while Alston ran for three and Burt had one rushing and one receiving touchdown.
Painesville Harvey Coach Mickey Mohner credited the Red Raiders fast start to the offensive line.
“They set the tone,” he said. “We put a lot of work in the offseason figuring out what schemes fit our kids. We executed the scheme. That was the key for us.”
Mohner also credited his seniors – Wise, Alston and Burt.
“We tell our seniors, we go as they go,” he said.
The second half began with a running clock. After a Dragons’ turnover, the first-string Harvey offense came back on the field and Alston scored his fourth touchdown of the night one play after Wise hit Burt with a 45-yard pass. Sturdivant scored his second touchdown of the night on the final play of the third quarter giving the Red Raiders a 61-13 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Junior Chance Arnold went in from a yard out for a Dragons’ fourth-quarter touchdown after Brown went over the top of a Red Raiders defender to haul in a 44-yard pass from Murphy.
The star for the Dragons was sophomore Diaz who had kickoff returns of 30 and 50 yards (aside from the long return that was called back because of a penalty).
Defensively, Mohner believes the Red Raiders began to turn the corner in the second half of a tough Week 3 loss to Lakewood and continued the improvement during win over Lakeside. Again, he credits his three seniors.
“To have Alston, Wise and Burt play defense for us, it’s huge,” he said. “They have stepped up for us. It changes the way we can scheme.”
The Red Raiders broke a two-game losing streak and evened its record at 2-2 on the season, while the Ashtabula Lakeside, which counts many sophomores and freshmen on its roster, fell to 0-4.
Harvey travels to Jefferson Area next week, its final tune-up before beginning play in the Chagrin Valley Conference Chagrin Division.
“We have to continue to focus on execution and being tough,” Mohner said. “We’re looking forward to seeing what we can do the rest of the season.”
POSTED 09/12/2025 23:22
Related Stories
.
Photo by Ken Krizner
