Ridgeland stakes their claim Panthers assume Region 6-AAAA lead with 35-14 victory
A quick strike offense has been a hallmark of the Ridgeland Panthers all season long.
Ridgeland has shown that they can score from any point on the field on just about any play and on more than a few of their touchdown drives this season, they have needed just a small handful of plays to put the ball in the endzone.
But for the most part of their highlyanticipated region showdown with fellow unbeaten Heritage, Ridgeland’s offense used an old-school approach.
Running the ball and grinding up yardage, along with the clock, fourth-ranked Ridgeland picked up 319 of its 369 yards on the ground and maintained their perfect record with a 35-14 win over the Generals on Friday night in front of approximately 9,000 fans at jam-packed Jeff Sims Field.
For the first time all season long, Ridgeland had two players go over 100 yards on the ground. Jalyn Shelton provided the thunder with 26 carries for 129 yards - most coming in the second half - and three scores, while Markeith Montgomery provided the lightning. The senior had nine carries for 122 yards and two touchdowns, including an 81-yard scamper midway through the second quarter that helped staked the Panthers to a commanding 21-0 halftime lead.
“Both Markeith and Jalyn really had great nights,” Ridgeland head coach Wesley Tankersley said. “Markeith on the big plays and Jalyn was just a hammer all night long. We knew that he was going to get us four or five yards a carry all night. And our offensive line, with as many new guys as we have on it, has played really well all season too.”
Ridgeland (7-0 overall, 3-0 in Region 6-AAAA) opened with a 13-play, 80-yard march that took 6:09 off the clock. They overcame a first down-and-27 situation from midfield after a holding penalty, thanks in part to a 22yard, fourth-down catch by Stephon Walker, to help set up Shelton’s first score on a 3-yard run.
After forcing a punt at the 50-yard line, Ridgeland went 80 yards in 10 plays, aided by a 15-yard penalty on the Generals and two big 14-yard receptions by Walker and Jordan Tucker. Montgomery got the call on play No. 10, taking a handoff and dancing through the line on a 10-yard scoring run.
On its ensuing possession, Heritage (7-1, 3-1) got a 24-yard completion on a thirddown slant pass from Blake Bryan to Luke Grant that moved to the ball to midfield. But three plays later, pressure from a blitz off the corner resulted in a rushed thrown by Bryan that was picked off by Ridgeland defensive back Shawn Wilson.
The lone turnover of the game for either team was converted into points just seconds later as Montgomery found a hole right up the gut and took off on his longest TD run of the year.
The Generals would threaten to put points on the board at the end of the half, but Montgomery broke up two passes inside his own 30-yard line - one coming in the endzone - and the Panthers
of the night – most of it, at least – was the Mountaineer defense. They held the Tigers out of the end zone until Cole Kibler hooked up with Andre Tarver for a 60-yard bolt of lightning with 4:09 left in the third quarter.
A missed field goal – one of three failed conversions that would prove critical, meant the Tigers would be shut out in the first half. Their defense was up to the challenge, however, keeping Ringgold within one touchdown’s difference by forcing six North Murray punts.
The only score in the first half came on Tidwell’s 6-yard run at the end of an eight-play drive, all on the ground. Tidwell had runs of 21 and 23 yards in the march.
Ringgold tried to answer in the final minutes of the half. Kibler hit tight end Drake Starks down the middle for a hard-fought 52-yard catch-and-run and the Tigers got as close as the North Murray 8-yard line, but Ty Jones was stuffed on third down and a high snap led to a shanked 22-yard field goal as
time expired in the half.
History repeated itself in the opening drive of the third quarter. Jones leaped a defender as part of a 49-yard run, but stuffed again on third down and came out of the pile with a leg injury that ended his night only three minutes into the second half. A low roller of a snap could not be placed in sync with kicker Garrett Davis and another shank ensued.
Jones was well on his way to a career night, exiting with 122 yards on only 14 carries. It was the fourth time this season that the senior cracked the 100-yard plateau.
The two teams swapped three-andouts before Kibler and Tarver connected with the icebreaker with Tarver shrugging off a tackler before going off to the races.
A sack of Kibler ended another drive in Mountaineer territory before Tidwell broke through the heart of the Ringgold defense for his 70-yard scoring dash. However, North Murray’s normally reliable Jansen Trejo missed a PAT of his own, keeping the home team’s lead at 13-6 with just 5:37 to play.
But the poised
Kibler delivered in the clutch, hitting Starks on a frenzied-looking catch-and-run that Starks was able to get across the goal line. Davis converted the vital PAT with 2:25 left in regulation. Kibler finished the game with 259 yards passing to go over 2,000 yards for the season.
Ringgold got the ball first in overtime and wasted no time as Joey Collins slipped in from 15 yards out. Davis converted to give the Tigers their first and only lead of the night 20-13.
But then it was North Murray’s turn. Tidwell carried three straight times, the final going for his third and final score of the night, and Poag made the decision to play for the win. The wiry Tidwell spun and bounced his way through the heart of the Ringgold defense for the two winning points.
The Tigers (4-4 overall, 1-2 subregion) will have Friday night off before concluding at home against Coahulla Creek. North Murray (4-3, 3-1) will take on the winless Colts this week before a possible winner-take-all battle for the subregion title against the Warriors the following week.