Spudders stopped short as W.F. West wins in 3OT

RIDGEFIELD — A couple of inches can be the stuff that dreams are made of.

Or nightmares.

A couple of inches were all that turned Ridgefield’s dream of a first state playoff appearance in a decade into a nightmare that will be hard to awaken from.

A couple of inches are all that separated W.F. West and Ridgefield in an epic 2A district playoff matchup Friday night at Spudders Stadium.

Those couple of inches are all Jalen Williams needed to finish his two-point conversion try in the end zone and propel the Spudders onto state.

But when the bodies unpiled and the linesman pointed at a spot a couple of inches shy of the goal line, the Bearcats escaped with a 31-30, triple-overtime victory that ended Ridgefield’s season.

“This was my 12th season of football, and that was about the worst way I can think of to go out,” said senior quarterback Cade Morrill.

“Ever watch Friday Night Lights? We all love it as a team. One year on the show, they lose the state championship when they’re tackled on the half-yard line as time runs out. It’s crazy that almost the same thing happened to us.”

There was no questioning coach Dan Andersen’s decision to go for two after Williams burst untouched into the end zone from 10 yards out on the Spudders’ first play of the third overtime.

After almost three hours of slugging it out with the Bearcats (6-4), it was time for someone to go home a winner.

“I thought we could push it across on that last play,” Andersen said. “We had a check called based on how they lined up, and they lined up how we thought they would so we could get in.”

Two hours earlier, it certainly did not seem as if these teams would need three overtimes to decide things. The Spudders (8-2) built a 17-0 lead early in the third quarter after Morrill rumbled and stumbled through the West defense for a 38-yard touchdown run.

That was when the Bearcats decided to open up their attack, and things got interesting.

A pass interference call, followed by two big pass completions, set up Elijah Johnson’s 1-yard touchdown run with 7 minutes left in the third — the first points the Spudders had allowed in 12 quarters.

Ridgefield looked like it would answer West’s score, but a bad pitch on third down stalled a Spudders drive at midfield. Five plays after Ridgefield punted, the Bearcats closed to within 17-14 on a 44-yard screen pass from Johnson to Austin Emery.

“They started throwing the ball more, and once they did that, everything changed. They made some big plays and got the momentum,” said Morrill, who finished with a season-high 100 yards rushing, threw for a touchdown and made a team-high seven tackles at safety.

W.F. West tied the game on a 26-yard field goal by Cory Davis with 6:45 left. Ridgefield then drove to the Bearcats 34 before getting stopped on downs, and the Spudders survived to overtime when an apparent game-winning touchdown pass was nullified by a holding penalty.

The teams exchanged touchdowns in the first overtime, with Johnson scoring on a 5-yard run and Tommy Herz turning a pass to the left flat into a 20-yard score.

Ridgefield was poised to score in the second overtime, but Nathan Anglin picked off a third-down pass in the end zone. The Spudders answered by holding the Bearcats to no yards on their possession.

W.F. West got the ball first in the third overtime, and Johnson ran the ball three times, powering in from the 1 for the score.

“I knew this game would be a battle,” Anderson said. “And it ended up being every bit of one.”

W.F. WEST 31, RIDGEFIELD 30 (3OT)

W.F. West 0 0 14 3 7 0 7—31

Ridgefield 7 3 7 0 7 0 6—30

First Quarter

R—Jalen Williams 1 run (Michael Martin kick)

Second Quarter

R—FG M.Martin 22

Third Quarter

R—Cade Morrill 38 run (M.Martin kick)

WF—Elijah Johnson 1 run (Cory Davis kick)

WF—Austin Emery 44 pass from Johnson (Davis kick)

Fourth Quarter

WF—FG Davis 26

First Overtime

WF—Johnson 5 run (Davis kick)

R—Tommy Herz 20 pass from Morrill (M.Martin kick)

Third Overtime

WF—Johnson 1 run (Davis kick)

R—Williams 10 run (run failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–WF, Johnson 26-105, Emery 7-34, Nathan Anglin 3-3, Kolby Steen 3-7. R, T.Herz 12-56, Williams 12-51, Morrill 14-100, Taylor Nolan 2-20, Jarrett Mocca 3-(minus 6).

PASSING–WF, Johnson 12-26-0-224, Dakota Hawkins 0-1-0-0. R, Morrill 5-8-1-81.

RECEIVING–WF, Garrett Yarter 5-60, Emery 3-70, Anglin 3-41, Nole Wollan 1-53. R, T.Herz 2-18, Williams 1-20, Conner Bell 1-43, Nathan Herz 1-0.