2A GSHL football: Ridgefield 27, Columbia River 12

VANCOUVER – Cly Stephens rushed for 283 yards and the Ridgefield Spudders used a dominating second half to pull away from the Columbia River Rapids 27-12 in a 2A Greater St. Helens League contest at John O’Rourke Field at Columbia River High School.

Ridgefield opened the second half with a 11-play, 63-yard drive which took nearly half of the third quarter. Three plays later, Cash Hill interecepted a Brayden Schiefer pass, giving the Spudders the ball at the Rapids’ 29 yard line. Ridgefield then took another four minutes off the clock as Stephens scored from 29 yards out, turning a close 13-6 game at halftime into a commanding 27-6 Ridgefield advantage.

The Spudders outgained Columbia River 226-50 in the second half and ran 35 plays compared to 16 for the Rapids. Stephens, who had to shoulder the rushing load with senior running back Rocco Wright missing the game due to injury, rushed for 177 of his 283 yards in the second half.

Hill intercepted two passes for Ridgefield, who improved to 4-1 in league play with the win (5-2 overall) and are tied atop the league standings with Woodland, who defeated Hudson’s Bay. The Spudders travel to Longview to face R.A. Long next week, and then have a possible league championship matchup in the final week of the regular season against Woodland.

Columbia River’s lone touchdown came in the final quarter on a Savion McCoy 102-yard interception return. The Rapids, who fell to 2-3 in league play and 2-5 overall, travel to Washougal next week and finish off the regular season by playing host to Hudson’s Bay.

RIDGEFIELD 27, COLUMBIA RIVER 12

Ridge  0 13 14 0 – 27

Col River   3 3 0 6 – 12

First quarter

CR – Aeden Pena 33 field goal

Second Quarter

R – Brayden Malella 2 run (Brandon Rogers kick)

R – Cash HIll 20 pass from Malella (kick failed)

CR – Aeden Pena 27 field goal

Third Quarter

R – Malella 4 run (Rogers kick)

R – Cly Stephens 29 run (Rogers kick)

Fourth Quarter

CR – Savion McCoy 102 interception return (kick failed)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Ridgefield: Cly Stephens 34-283, Brayden Malella 9-14, Luke Everett 2-9. Columbia River: Brayden Schiefer 9-48, Chris Parkin 10-40, Ethan Long 2-7, Savion McCoy 4-4, Ha’aheo Delarose 1-0.

PASSING – Ridgefield: Brayden Malella 6-12-0-68, Logan DeBeaumont 6-10-1-36. Columbia River: Brayden Schiefer 8-18-2-129, Ethan Long 0-2-0-0.

RECEIVING – Ridgefield: Cash HIll 6-56, Landon DeBeaumont 2-35, Wyatt Hemmelman 3-9, Brian McLemore III 1-4. Columbia River: Chris Parkin 3-63, Seth Arnett 1-33, Ha’aheo Delarose 1-18, Jacob Boothe 1-9, Hayden Rapp 1-7, Joey Pena 1-minus 1.