Bradlee Nelson (15) toes the sideline while the Ridge View defense gets away with a facemask. (Photo/Ross Burton)
BLYTHEWOOD (Oct. 22, 2016) – Ridge View went up two scores on Westwood early on in their game at District 2 Stadium Friday night, but held off a stubborn Redhawks defense.
The Blazers needed two Nick Lawyer field goals in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to put some distance between them and Westwood, and walked away with a 27-14 victory.
The Westwood defense kept the Redhawks in the game, but the offense could not move forward and get more points on the board. Three lost fumbles, including two in the second half when a score would have tied the game, hurt Westwood.
“We had some big turnovers,” Westwood head coach Dustin Curtis said. “Ridge View made us put the ball on the ground a few times. We just didn’t do a good job of getting things consistently going.”
Westwood forced Jalen Smith to 1-of-10 passing in the third quarter, and cut Ridge View’s lead to 21-14. The Redhawks could not capitalize after their score at the start of the second half. Ridge View finally pulled the offense together late in the fourth quarter for a 16-play, 63-yard drive that drained the clock. Lawyer kicked in a field goal from 21 yards out, and added another field goal from 22 yards out, to give the Blazers a two-possession cushion in the closing minutes of the game.
“We’re still not playing good football, but we’re 7-1,” Ridge View head coach Perry Parks said. “We’re not doing a good job coaching, because we’ve got some great athletes. We’ve got to find a way to beat some people convincingly. We let people think they have a chance to stay in games with us, and we can close games out.”
Ridge View (7-1 overall, 2-1 Region III-4A) held a 14-0 lead going into the second quarter, getting scores from a 2-yard Smith touchdown run and a Smith-to-Cameron Butler TD pass of 38 yards.
The Redhawks (2-6, 0-3) intercepted Smith twice over three Blazers possessions in the second quarter, and finally got on the scoreboard with a 12-yard Elijah Heatley-to-Cortez Braham TD pass with to cut the lead to 14-7.
Smith found Cam Napper for an 18-yard TD pass with 37 seconds left to take a 21-7 lead into the locker room at the half.
Westwood opened the third quarter with a 3-yard Dimarco Harvey-to-Braham TD pass to cut the Blazers’ lead to 21-14.
Bradlee Nelson had 15 carries for 100 yards to lead Westwood, which needed just 86 yards as a team.
Latheron Rogers-Anderson had 21 carries for 148 yards to keep the chains moving for the Blazers.
RV: 14-7-0-6 – 27
WHS: 0-7-7-0 – 14
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
R – Jalen Smith 2 run (Nick Lawyer kick) 4:15
R – Cameron Butler 38 pass from Smith (Lawyer kick) 1:13
Second Quarter
W – Cortez Braham 12 pass from Elijah Heatley (D.J. Fields kick) 5:53
R – Cam Napper 11 pass from Smith (Lawyer kick) :37
Third Quarter
W – Braham 3 pass from Dimarco Harvey (Fields kick) 9:04
Fourth Quarter
R – Lawyer 21 field goal 3:57
R – Lawyer 22 field goal 2:51
TEAM STATS
RV W
First Downs 19 10
Rushes-Yards 33-147 30-86
Passing Yards 178 60
C-A-I 13-37-2 6-17-1
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 4-3
Penalties-Yards 8-45 6-25
Punts-Avg. 3-26.7 6-38.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: RV – Latheron Rogers-Anderson 21-148, Jalen Smith 5-(-8), Ronald Brown 4-3. W – Bradlee Nelson 6-100, Victor Smith 4-1, Demarco Harvey 6-1, Elijah Heatley 2-(-7), Kayshon Mitchell 1-2.
PASSSING: RV – Jalen Smith 14-37-2. W – Elijah Heatley 4-13-0; Dimarco Harvey 1-1-1; Bradlee Nelson 1-1.
RECEIVING: RV – Cam Napper 5-69, Cameron Butler 5-58, Tre’ High 1-10, Bernard Porter 1-8, Waylan Napper 2-33. W – Cortez Braham 5-46, Victor Smith 1-14.
