BLYTHEWOOD – With four straight wins under its belt, the Westwood football team weathered the thunderstorm that drenched the field before game time looking for a fifth straight victory.
Shortly after kickoff, Ridge View’s simple but solid game plan changed Westwood’s course. The Blazers dominated the line of scrimmage and ran.
Spencer Bobian rushed for 191 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries, and the Blazers rolled up 304 rushing yards on 46 tries to plow past the Redhawks 46-8.
“They’re one of the best teams in the state of South Carolina, and we’re not. And tonight showed that,” Westwood first-year head coach Stephen Burris said. “They’re physical, they’re fast, they play the game the way it’s supposed to be played, and until we do the day-to-day things as a program to get to that stage, these nights are going to happen.”
Nine Ridge View runners had touches, most of them as substitutions in the second half. Bobian’s running attack set up all the scores in the first half.
The Blazers, 3-2 after its Region 5-5A opener, cruised through the first half riding the coattails of Bobian, who went into the locker room at halftime with 161 yards and a score on 17 carries.
Bobian’s rushes set up Ashton Champman’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Carter Coleman and two Ryan Williams rushing touchdowns of 23 and 17 yards. Bobian gave Ridge View a 32-0 lead with a 1-yard TD run with 1:40 left in the first half.
“We’re a good rushing football team. We’ve got two or three guys who can really run the football,” fifth-year Ridge View head coach Derek Howard said. “A lot of it is Aiden Keefe who’s been playing H-back for us. He’s opened up a lot of holes. He’s like an extra offensive lineman playing in a fullback position. We’re a different offense when he’s in there. Spencer Bobian did a great job of carrying the football and I think Ryan Williams did a good job for us as well.”
After Champman’s TD pass to Coleman and Williams’ first score—both of which Aidan Keefe followed with 2-point conversion runs—The Blazers defense chalked up a safety at the 2:57 mark of the first quarter to go up 18-0.
“That’s kind of where we are and what we do,” Howard said about Ridge View’s start. “When we’ve come out in our games we’ve been hyped up real early, it’s just trying to keep that intensity throughout the whole game is the part that we’re trying to work towards.”
The only highlight of the night for the Redhawks—and the team’s only first down, came just before halftime.
Ridge View held Westwood (4-2, 1-1) to minus-8 total yards until late in the second quarter. With the Redhawks parked at their own 20-yard line, Jovan Howard burst up the middle for a 78-yard run. Carrington Carter finished the quick drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Miles Grant. Carter found Jaylen Donaldson in the end zone for the 2-point conversion with 12.6 seconds to go before intermission to cut Ridge View’s lead to 32-8.
In a scoreless third quarter the Westwood defense managed to force Ridge View to two turnovers on downs, but the Blazers’ offense couldn’t capitalize.
The Blazers picked up two fourth-quarter scores, Bobian’s 2-yard TD run and Toryn Stuckey’s touchdown from 20 yards out, to seal the win.
Ridge View’s two losses came as single-digit defeats to two defending state champions—5A Division 1’s Dutch Fork (28-21 Sept. 5) and 5A Division 2’s Northwestern (35-28 Aug. 29).
Since those defeats the Blazers blasted 2023 3A state runner-up Camden 56-13 Sept. 12, and continued to roll at Westwood.
While Ridge View will likely continue its run through the region, Burris implied that he does want the team to take something away from the lopsided defeat—to be more focused on practice, and to pay attention to detail in practice and on game day.
“We always talk about nameless, faceless opponents, so regardless of who we play, our standard doesn’t change,” Burris said. “The one thing that we need to see on the film and at practice is if we are doing our job. I think at times tonight due to the way that they played and how hard they play, I think we got lost in that, and it’s a kind of a part of growing the culture and building the program.
Burris continued, “We’re not to the level of elite in the state. I have to remind myself that it’s a process. One of my buddies over there, (Ridge View track and field) Coach Charles Proctor, he always says ‘trust the process.’ So we’re in that process, and these nights are tough, but the sun’s gonna come up tomorrow and we’ve got to get back to work.”
Ridge View plays host to Spring Valley Friday. Westwood is idle this week and plays the Vikings at Spring Valley Oct. 9.
Ridge View – 18-14-0-14 – 46
Westwood – 0-8-0-0 – 8
First Quarter
R – Carter Coleman 17 pass from Ashton Champman (Aidan Keefe run) 7:42
R – Ryan Williams 23 run (Keefe run) 5:01
R – Safety 2:57
Second Quarter
R – Williams 17 run (Issaija Yohannes kick) 3:01
W – Miles Grant 2 pass from Carrington Carter (Jaylen Donaldson pass from Carter)
Fourth Quarter
R – Bobian 2 run (Yohannes kick) 10:31
R – Toryn Stuckey 20 run (Yohannes kick) 1:41
RV WHS
First downs 22 1
Rushes-yds 46-304 20-70
Passing yds 35 4
Att-Com-Int 15-9-2 14-2-1
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties-yds 10-83 3-30
Punts-avg 1-41 8-28.8
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: R – Spencer Bobian 24-191, Ryan Williams 5-40, Aidan Keefe 4-9, Chris Capers 3-12, Chris McDonald 3-6, Toryn Stuckey 2-27, Liam Mueller 2-6, Ashton Chapman 2-(-7), Jalyq Black 1-21. W – Jovan Howard 8-76, Carrington Carter 8-11, Quentin McGill 4- (-17).
PASSING: R – Ashton Champman 8-12-1 Bijon Virgo 1-3-1. W – Carrington Carter 2-13-1. Josiah Henryhand 0-1-0.
RECEIVING: R – Jourdin Mack 3-19, Carter Coleman 2-20, Aidan Keefe 2-(-2), Chris McDonald 1-(-2), Tyler Mathis 1-4. W – C.J. Bennett 1-2. Kham Cunningham 1-2.
