‘Phenomenal win’ Blackwell shines as Ridgeland runs past Lafayette

Ridgeland tailback Jordan Blackwell was voted as the 2018 Region 6-AAAA Offensive Player of the Year.

Friday night at Lafayette, he reminded everybody why.

The senior took advantage of some stellar blocking by the Panthers’ offensive line and made a few things happen on his own as he carried the ball 19 times for 260 yards and three touchdowns in Ridgeland’s 4220 victory over their Walker County rivals.

Ridgeland collected 449 total yards of offense, 406 of it coming on the ground. The Panthers ran the ball 45 times for an average of nine yards per attempt, while the defense gave up 195 yards rushing to the Ramblers and 80 more through the air.

Panthers head coach Kip Klein called it “a phenomenal win.”

“Our kids played their hearts out,” he said. “We challenged them two weeks ago and put in a whole new blocking scheme, and the offensive line really stepped up tonight. They were opening up holes against a defensive line for Lafayette that we know is pretty good. But they were just hammering down tonight and making it go.”

Even with those impressive numbers, Lafayette trailed 28-20 after a 7-yard scoring pass from Jaylon Ramsey to Trey Taylor with 1:58 left in the third quarter. However, Blackwell would answer with two long touchdown runs on Ridgeland’s next two possessions to put the game out of reach.

Early on, Lafayette had their offense rolling. Runs of 35 and 20 yards by Ramsey help set up a 33-yard field goal from Max Studdard and, after Ridgeland fumbled at the Ramblers’ 29-yard line four plays into its first possession, Jamario Clements burst up the middle and outran the Ridgeland secondary for a 66-yard scoring scamper. Studdard’s extra point gave the Ramblers a 10-0 lead with 5:03 left in the opening period.