Photo: Ridgewood quarterback Jace McQueen is tracked down by Newcomerstown’s J.J. Justice (3) and Dominic Singer (5).
Ridgewood held a 21-0 lead at halftime, but the Generals made their biggest statement in the third quarter.
The entire third quarter.
After recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff in the second half, Ridgewood put on a drive that took up the whole third quarter in Friday night’s 28-6 win over Newcomerstown in a Region 23 playoff opener at Lee Stadium.
The ninth-seeded Generals, now 9-2, will play in a second-round Division VI game against top-seeded Centerburg.
Ridgewood’s long possession didn’t result in any points – the Generals fumbled the ball into the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 4th and goal from inside the 1 – but the drive took away valuable time that Newcomerstown needed to mount a possible comeback.
“How about how cool of a drive that was,” said veteran Ridgewood coach John Slusser. “We used up all the time. Obviously I didn’t want to fumble on the half-yard line, but it served its purpose. It used up the entire quarter and kept them off the field.”
“The whole third quarter … that didn’t help,” said Newcomerstown coach Dirk Gadd, whose team was eliminated with a record of 7-4. “They’re physical, they play hard and they get to the ball well. That’s all I can say … they’re a good football team.”
It was the second straight year Newcomerstown was eliminated by Ridgewood in playoff competition. Ridgewood won last year’s backyard battle 34-14 in a Week 12 contest.
Ridgewood did all the scoring in the first half starting with quarterback Jace McQueen hitting Preston Ator with a 23-yard scoring pass late in the first quarter.
“I thought it was important that we came out early and threw the ball,” Slusser said. “We hit some pass plays that loosened them up a little. They came in, like most people, and wanted to stop our running game, but those pass plays helped us.”
Bryce Tolliver and McQueen scored rushing touchdowns in the second quarter to make it 21-0.
Dominic Singer looked ready to put the Trojans back in the game with a long kickoff return to open the second half. The Generals recovered the fumble at the end of the play and began the clock-eating drive that ate up the third quarter.
Talon Cams scored for the Generals midway through the fourth quarter before Newcomerstown got on the board on a run by Singer late in the game.
“This was a good game for us,” said Gadd, whose team was in playoff action for the third straight year. “I told the kids this gives us something to work for. We’ll be back. We’ve got to be ready to rise up to a challenge like this.”
PLAYOFF TIME
Looking ahead to Week 2 in the playoffs:
- Indian Valley, which had a first-round bye, will host Circleville Friday night in Gnadenhutten in Region 15 action.
- In a Region 21 game, Garaway, a 49-7 winner over Mineral Ridge, will play at Columbiana Crestview on Friday.
- In a Region 25 contest, Malvern, a 34-0 winner over Ashtabula St. John, travels on Monroeville for a Friday night game.
- Conotton Valley, which outscored Zanesville Rosecrans 78-46, will play top-seeded Jeromesville Hillsdale in a Region 27 game.
- Also in Region 27, Strasburg, a 28-14 winner over Lucas, will travel to face No. 2 Waterford. – Claymont played in a Region 17 game Friday night and fell to Youngstown Liberty 25-7.
"Every fighter is fueled by his past and whatever they’ve got going on. What got him to this point, I can’t tell you, but whatever it is, he uses it very well to do what he’s doing here.”
