Takin’ care of business Ridgeland earns third 6-AAAA title in four years

The Ridgeland Panthers came into the 2019 season with the goal of taking care of some “unfinished business”.

Ridgeland had won back-toback Region 6-AAAA titles in 2016 and 2017, but saw that streak snapped as Pickens ran the table to earn their first-ever region title in football last year. However, in order to get back to the top of the region, the Panthers needed to beat Southeast Whitfield on Friday and get some help from Heritage.

And once the dust had settled on Friday night, that’s exactly what happened.

Around about the same time the Panthers were polishing off a 55-35 home victory over a gritty group of Raiders, the Generals were staving off one final Hail Mary pass by Northwest Whitfield to post a 30-22 victory. The combination of those two wins gave Ridgeland its seventh region title in the past 12 seasons.

Ridgeland (6-4 overall) and Heritage (8-2) both finished atop the region slate with 5-1 marks. However, the Panthers’ 25-20 victory over the Generals back on Sept. 28 gave them the all-important head-to-head tiebreaker.

“We told our guys all week to expect a hard-fought game because (Southeast) Coach (Sean) Gray always has his teams ready to play,” Ridgeland head coach

Kip Klein said. “Our guys have battled penalty of adversity. Our seniors have had three head coaches in four years, but they took a chance to believe in me, so to be able to see them smiling and jumping up and down on the field afterward was just great.”

The Panthers were without senior tailback Jordan Blackwell, who suffered a lower leg injury the week before against Gilmer. However, Terrance Roberts stepped up with three touchdowns on runs of 34, 16 and 7 yards. Fullback Jeremiah Turner would score on a 5-yard run in the first half and added a 19-yard run in the second half, while Torrence Roberts (34 yards) and Julian Brooks (9 yards) would both add a rushing touchdown. Darrian Burks would add a late score on a 55-yard scamper to seal the victory.

Ridgeland, who led 28-21 at halftime, had 466 yards of offense, including another 400yard game on the ground (435 yards). Terrance Roberts shouldered the load with 20 carries for 169 yards, while Brooks made his return to the field and picked up 89 yards on 13 carries. Turner (65 yards) and Torrance Roberts (55 yards) added to the Panthers’ rushing total, while Burks’ 55yard scoring run accounted for all of his yards on the evening.

“Not having Jordan back hurt us, but Terrance and Torrance