The old adage is “Speed Kills” . Ridley used their speed to their advantage in a 28-3 Central League win over Springfield Friday nite. The Ridley win spoiled the much anticipated Head Coaching debut of Dan Ellis.
Leading 7-3 to begin the second half, Ridley (1-0) held Springfield on downs and took over the ball on their 40. It took the Green Raiders 9 plays from there as Troy Foster hauled in a 24 yard pass from Andrew Pidgeon on a 3rd and 11 with 4:00 to go in the third quarter to extend their lead to 14-3.
“I felt that was very critical that we held them there,’ said Ridley Head Coach John Waller. “I Felt that if we could get the first score in the second half that that might take some of the wind out of their sails,” he added.
“What was it for a half, 7-3″ said Ellis, as his team played outstanding defense in the first half, forcing 3 fumble recoveries, 2 on punts. ” We made some little errors in the second half and you can’t do that to a team like Ridley. That’s a good football team over there,” he said.
The Green Raiders then increased their lead to 21-3 just 3 plays later as Pidgeon (8-14 for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns) hit Foster again, this time from 48 yards away. The play was set up when Vince Jennings recovered a Springfield fumble on a 2nd and 10 play.
Springfield (0-1) took a 3-0 lead with 7:04 to play before halftime as Rob Tumelty connected on a 23 yard field goal. The play was set up as Stephen Jones took a screen pass from Wally Rutecki and scampered 72 yards to set the Cougars up First and Goal on the Ridley 10.
“Take away the screen pass and I don’t think the stats are even close.” said Waller. He was right as Ridley rolled up 111 yards on the ground and 180 in the air compared to 87 yards on the ground and 79 in the air for Springfield.
With the win, Ridley continues on the road next week as the travel to Radnor, while Springfield remains at home to play Upper Darby.
