The Ridgefield defense allowed the R.A. Long offense a single touchdown, but it wasn’t enough to come away with the victory as the Lumberjacks won 7-5 Friday.
Nick Thomas blocked a punt in the first quarter, which squirted out of the back of the end zone for a safety to put the Spudders up 2-0.
R.A. Long responded on the next possession as quarterback Owen Bertram threw a strike to Payton Miller to set up a 6-yard run by Austin Darnell on the following play.
Ridgefield added a field goal after a fumbled punt by R.A. Long, but was unable to convert the remainder of the game.
R.A. Long could not find any momentum following the score, as Ridgefield had 15 separate defensive stops behind or at the line of scrimmage, an interception and the safety.
After throwing only four times in the first half and connecting on one, Ridgefield took to the air more often in the second half, as Jonah Roberts went 6-for-9 with 50 yards over the final two periods.
Nathan Eggleston was the workhorse for the Spudders, as he rushed 22 times for 82 yards. The entire team put up 179 yards of offense, while R.A. Long wasn’t far behind with 174 total yards.
R.A. LONG 7, RIDGEFIELD 5
R.A. Long 7 0 0 0–7
Ridgefield 5 0 0 0–5
First quarter
R — Safety, Nick Thomas blocked punt out of end zone
RAL — Darnell 6 run (Balbuena kick)
R — Michael Martin 33 FG
Individual statistics
RUSHING — RAL: Opgrande 8-21, Teigen 1-12, Darnell 11-6, Bertram 2-5, Coons 1-(minus 1), Weiler 1-(minus 6); Ridgefield: Eggleston 22-82, Roberts 6-30, Williams 4-12.
PASSING — RAL: Bertram 7-13-135-1, Darnell 0-1-0-0; Ridgefield: Roberts 7-13-0-55.
RECEIVING — RAL: Payton Miller 2-56, Geier 2-41, Jones 2-33, Opgrande 1-5; Ridgefield: Nolan 3-23, Herz 2-15, Couch 1-12, Morrill 1-5.
