Prep Pays Off
Ricky Goodson, listed as Frederick Goodson on the game roster, wasn’t always a defensive back for The Prep.
But he showed how far he’s come with a huge pass breakup in the fourth quarter on Saturday. With Maryland down just 30-21 at the time and facing 4th-and-7 on their own 48, they decided to go for it. Quarterback Jabari Laws uncorked a deep ball down the left side, which Goodson and a receiver went up for and Goodson was able to wrestle down for an incompletion.
“I saw the ball coming to me and I just wanted to make the most out of the play,” Goodson said. “I went to pick it initially, but he got hands on it so all I could do was break it up. I was excited to get the breakup and happy to share that excitement with my teammates.”
Committed to Amherst College, Goodson didn’t undersell the experience of getting to play with two of his Prep teammates in Greene and H-back Jack Crossed one more time.
“It was special, they’re my really good friends, we’re all close but it was fun to be up here all week with them,” Goodson said. “It was cool to meet so many new people too, everybody was cool but it was still nice to have that core of people with me.”
The only Prep guy on the defensive side, Goodson nevertheless fit right in with the high-energy, ballhawking PA defense. Downingtown East’s Jeremy Jennings had an interception, Baines got great pressure on a first-half rush to force an incompletion and Valley Forge linebacker Audley Isaacs was in on at least 10 tackles.
“From not knowing anybody coming in, we all bonded so quickly,” Goodson said. “It was everything from jokes to seriousness to shared moments. We had a good time and the defense, we stuck real tight together so when it was game time, we knew what our strengths and weakness were. I was excited to play with this group.”
Greene, a Monmouth recruit, had a quiet first half with just one grab for 11 yards, but it was a good one as the 5-foot-11 speedster made a sliding snare of a Udinski pass.
He went off after halftime. After Maryland scored on the opening drive of the third quarter, Cedar Cliff’s Grant Brenenman led PA down the field and capped it off with a 31-yard TD strike to Greene.
Udinski was up on the next drive and he twice found Greene on a scoring drive, the first a nineyard completion on thirdand-8 to move the sticks. After Greene was held by a Maryland corner as Udinski looked his way, the North Penn quarterback went right back to him after the pass interference flag.
This time, there was no hold and Greene scorched the same corner for a 39yard gain to set up a Jaelen Thompson touchdown.
“It means a lot, as a kid, everybody looks up to this game and to have three kids from our one school is amazing,” Greene said. “The number one thing was to have fun but we all knew we wanted one thing and that was to go out of our last high school game with a win.”
Greene’s highlight play came after Jennings’ pick. He took off down the field and got under a heave from Brenenman, outpacing everybody for a 72-yard touchdown. Goodson said he started jumping up and down the entire sideline once he saw his teammate make the grab.
Like Goodson, Greene gained plenty from the new relationships he made. The receiver noted his game buddy, Mason, and his host family, the Hunters as making a big impact on him in the short time they spent together.
Getting one last game with his brothers was a nice bonus too.
“We came a long way together from when we were freshmen,” Greene said. “Ricky didn’t always play corner, but the transition was good for him and I wish him luck. I love him a lot.”