One final dress rehearsal
The Ridgeland Panthers and Dalton Catamounts traveled to Ringgold High School this past Thursday night for a three-team scrimmage with the Tigers.
A lightning delay halted played for close to 45 minutes and brought an early end to the night’s first twoquarter scrimmage between Ridgeland and Ringgold, but action would resume once the weather cleared.
The Panthers would display their running game against the Tigers, rushing for 236 yards on 22 carries (10.7 yards per carry) and three touchdowns as they beat Ringgold, 21-7.
Ridgeland opened the night with an efficient five-play, 80- yard drive. Markeith Montgomery began the drive with a 28-yard scamper. Quarterback Tanner Hill would go 2-for-2 on the march and Jalyn Shelton capped the 1:24 drive with a 5-yard TD run.
Ringgold would get the next seven points late in the first quarter. Ty Jones found a seam up the middle and raced 38 yards from the Tigers’ 26-yard line to the Ridgeland 36. Ringgold lost five yards on a penalty, but one play later, quarterback Cole Kibler scrambled to avoid a sack and heaved the ball downfield to tight end Drake Starks, who caught it just out of reach of a Ridgeland defensive back and trotted into the end zone for the 41-yard pass play.
The rest of the scrimmage, however, would be all Panthers.
A 39-yard run by Desmond Johnson helped set up a 14-yard run on a quarterback bootleg by Shelton just one minute after Ringgold’s score. The Panther defense would later force a punt to get the ball back for the offense and Montgomery burned the Tigers with a 54-yard TD run on a toss sweep with 8:14 left in the second quarter.
The junior varsity squads entered the game with just under seven minutes left and Ridgeland drove from its own 29 to the Ringgold 44 when lightning was detected by game officials. Play would be stopped with 5:03 to play and the scrimmage was not resumed following the lengthy delay.
Montgomery had 82 yards on just two carries. Terrance Roberts picked up 40 yards on three carries, while Shelton had 31 yards on seven carries. Hill was 3-of-4 through the air for 30 yards.
Kibler was 2-of-7 for 52 yards for Ringgold and Jones had 37 yards on just three carries, but the Tigers were limited to 87 total yards of offense and just 35 on the ground on 10 carries.
Tim Bowman and Derayl Helton had sacks for Ridgeland, while Cade Nayadley recorded one sack for Ringgold.
After the weather delay, Ridgeland faced off with Dalton and managed just 62 yards of offense, all on the ground. The Catamounts
rushed 23 times for 89 yards and were 2-of-5 in the air for 39 yards, but Ridgeland would get two defensive touchdowns on fumble returns, although a late missed extra point would allow Dalton to pick up the 14-13 win.
Jordan Blackwell would scoop up a fumble and race 61 yards for Ridgeland’s first TD at the 7:28 mark of the first quarter and Kobe Montgomery would add a 92-yard fumble return for a score with 3:12 remaining. Markeith Montgomery would also record an interception.
“I was pretty happy with how we did,” head coach Wesley Tankersley said. “I think we started to get a little tired at the end (of the night), but, overall, we did pretty well. I think our No. 1 offensive linemen did a lot of good things. You lose a little bit when you get guys like Fred (Norman, Jr.) out of there, but I thought our No. 2’s did alright when they were in there.”
The final two-quarter scrimmage of the night pitted the Tigers against the Catamounts. Both teams struggled for points until midway through the second quarter when Starks was left wide open in the middle of the field and outraced the secondary for a 59-yard TD pass from Kibler.
Dalton’s normally sure-footed kicker Ivan Mora missed a 32-yard field goal early in the second quarter and Din Bilick and Eric Dumas helped preserve Ringgold’s 7-0 win with second-quarter interceptions.
Ringgold outgained Dalton, 221-160, in the 24-minute tussle. Kibler went 8-of-17 for 131 yards, while Joey Collins had 34 of the Tigers’ 90 yards on the ground. Starks had two grabs for 72 yards.
“We were a little lethargic those first two quarters, but a lot of that had to do with Ridgeland,” Tigers head coach Robert Akins said. “They are an outstanding football team with speed we haven’t seen in a long time. But we were a lot more aggressive against Dalton those final two quarters. From the very beginning (against Dalton), we brought a lot of intensity and emotion and we got better as it went along.”
Akins said the running game, keyed by the offensive line, really got on track against the Catamounts.
“The O-line really stepped up,” he continued. “Coach (Chase) Fleming really challenged them between halves and they came out ready to play. We ran it exceptionally well and I believe you have to run the ball to be successful in Georgia high school football.
“Defensively, Coach (Houston) White and the other coaches have them playing on an emotional high. Our kids love to play defense now and that’s exciting.”
The Generals made their way to Athens, Tenn. on Thursday and took care of the Cherokees.
Senior Blake Bryan went 11-of-15 in the air and through four TD passes, two to Luke Grant and one each to Ryan Carter and Carson Sherill as Heritage led 28-0 with the No. 1’s on the field.
“The scrimmage went well. Blake Bryan had a great first outing. We made it out healthy and had some bright spots. We’re excited to get ready for the real thing this week.”