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Ridgway hangs on for victory against Otto-Eldred |
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Saturday, 19 September 2009 |
By Greg Reedy
Sports Editor
Ridgway's special teams again were key to a victory.
The Elkers blocked a field goal on the final play of the game to preserve a 21-20 victory over Otto-Eldred Friday night.
Ridgway (2-1) stifled three Otto-Eldred (0-3) field goal attempts, including the final play of the game from the Ridgway 5.
"I give a lot of credit to coach (Brian) Hinton," Ridgway head coach Mark Heindl said. "They work on that all the time during practice and it showed here again that special teams are important in a ballgame."
Heindl said the Elkers got excited when Otto-Eldred elected for the field goal instead of using its successful second-half offense to try and win the game.
"It was big, when they lined up for that field goal, our kids were excited," Heindl said. "I give Otto-Eldred credit, they drove down there and they took the winds out of sails a little bit but the kids hung in there and I'm proud of them for that and we got the win."
Otto-Eldred started the final drive from its own 42-yard line and got off to a poor start as a fumble drove them back 12 yards. Otto-Eldred followed with a 57-yard connection from quarterback Noah Colbert to wide receiver Justin Bird down to the Ridgway 22. A nine-yard reception by Bird, followed with a 10-yard reception by Drew Coscia took the Terror down to the Ridgway 3. A two-yard loss from Coscia set up the Otto-Eldred 22-yard field goal which was blocked.
Prior to that, Ridgway, trailing 20-13, took the lead with 1:31 left. Quarterback Josh Mitchell threw a 58-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline to Ben Jaques to cut the Terror margin to one. Ridgway went for two and took the lead as Cory Eshbach bulled it into the end zone. Heindl said the decision to go for the lead was easy.
"That was a no-brainer because one of the things we preach to our kids is they got to keep chipping away," Heindl said. "I give Otto-Eldred credit, they came down here and took our power game away in the second half. The kids, they believe in themselves, they went in that huddle and wanted to pass the ball. We decided to go for it and that's a credit to them. In crunch time, they learned a lot about themselves."
Heindl said before the touchdown pass, Mitchell had asked to put the ball up.
"Josh is a special kid," Heindl said. "Josh came up to us and said 'Coach, let me throw the same pass again.' He executed and that kid has come leaps and bounds as a freshman. And the same thing for Jordan Lundin, I'm not taking anything away from Jordan. They both worked their tails off."
Otto-Eldred held a 14-13 lead entering the fourth quarter and extended the lead as Coscia scored from one yard out. The extra point was kicked into the line and the Terror led 20-13 until Mitchell's touchdown to Jaques.
"Otto-Eldred did a great job adjusting in the second half," Heindl said. "They found something in our defense and really exploited it. Our biggest problem is tackling. We kept missing tackles, diving. They did a fantastic job getting a lot of yards."
Early on, Eshbach and the running game were strong. Eshbach scored the opening touchdown from six yards out as Ridgway took a 7-0 lead with 8:31 to go in the opening quarter.
"First quarter, we couldn't be stopped and we did a good job stopping them," Heindl said. "In the second, third quarters, they changed designs and I give them credit, they adjusted to what we were trying to do."
Eshbach added his second touchdown with a one-yard burst on the opening play of the second quarter to give Ridgway a 13-0 lead, a lead the Elkers would take into halftime.
Otto-Eldred cut the margin in the third quarter as Coscia zig-zagged his way through the Ridgway defense for a 19--yard touchdown run to put the Terror within seven.
Ridgway is at Coudersport Friday for a 7 p.m. start.
Otto-Eldred 0 0 6 14 - 20
Ridgway 7 6 0 8 - 21
Scoring summary
First quarter
R - Cory Eshbach 6 run (Jordan Lundin kick), 8:31
Second quarter
R - Eshbach 1 run (kick failed), 12:00
Third quarter
O - Drew Coscia 19 run (kick failed), 4:24
Fourth quarter
O - Coscia 3 run (Justin Bird run), 10:02
O - Coscia 1 run (kick failed), 1:55
R - Ben Jaques 58 pass from Josh Mitchell (Eshbach run), 1:31
Team statistics
Otto-Eldred Ridgway
11 First Downs 10
37-184 Rushes-Yards 38-103
127 Pass Yards 89
311 Total Yards 192
8-60 Penalties-yards 3-31
2-1 Fumbles-lost 2-1
Individual statistics:
Passing: Otto-Eldred: Noah Colbert 9-18-127-0-2. Ridgway: Josh Mitchell 4-6-80-1-0. Jordan Lundin 1-5-9-0-0.
Rushing: Otto-Eldred: Drew Coscia 23-143, Justin Bird 10-41, Tate Rodgers 1-2, Noah Colbert 3-(-2). Ridgway: Sam Skraba 17-79, Cory Eshbach 11-43, Ben Jaques 3-3, Jordan Lundin 3-(-10), Josh Mitchell 4-(-12).
Receiving: Otto-Eldred: Justin Bird 4-94, Jake Knapp 2-19, Drew Coscia 3-14. Ridgway: Ben Jaques 2-67, Zack Zelcs 2-20, Steve Mitchell 1-2.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 20 October 2009 )
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