McGovern’s pick six plants Ridley
RIDLEY TWP. >> The Ridley coaches in the press box Friday night saw Father Judge’s safeties biting on a play fake to the strong side on several plays run from a certain formation. It was with that knowledge that they felt a pump fake one way would open up the door for a pass to the weak side from quarterback John Bakey to running back Dylan Staley.
Offensive coordinator Scott Green told Bakey and Staley to be ready, because they were going to go to it in the fourth quarter.
Trailing by two scores, with a first down at midfield, the time seemed right. Just one problem…
Crusaders’ safety Shane McGovern didn’t go for the fake this time, stepped in front of Staley, intercepted the ball and sprinted 47 yards to the end zone to put the game away.
Ridley would show some pride and add a late touchdown to make the final score 35-21 in favor of Father Judge, but that play was the backbreaker in a game that was pretty even through the first three quarters. It was also a microcosm of Ridley’s uneven play.
The Raiders played solid defense for almost the entire first half while the offense scuffled. While the offense was better in the second half, the defense was leaky against a high-powered passing attack for the Crusaders led by Shane Dooley. He finished with 235 yards passing and three touchdowns through the air and another 84 yards rushing with a touchdown.
“He’s a talented quarterback,” Ridley coach Dave Wood said. “He and (wide receiver Katob Joseph), they’re two really good players. We knew they were going to be a challenge, and for the first part of the game, we were up to that challenge.”
Despite holding the Crusaders off the scoreboard on their first three drives and taking an early 7-0 lead after Elijah Yakpasuo scored the first of his two rushing touchdowns, things went awry quickly for Ridley.
Dooley hit Joseph on a slant, and there was no help over the top as Joseph was able to scamper 32 yards for a score to tie the game with less than three minutes to go before halftime. Ridley’s offense sputtered and went three-and-out, but after a booming 51-yard punt by Myles Turner pushed Judge back to its 23-yard line with 1:21 to go, Wood decided to abandon his nickel defense for a base defense thinking Judge would be content to go into the locker room up a touchdown.
Au contraire.
On second down, Dooley rolled to his right and lofted a beauty of a pass downfield, hitting Joseph in stride for a 72-yard score that deflated the Ridley sideline.
“We’re a young team and we had a hard time with that one,” said Michael McDonnell (2½ sacks), a junior defensive lineman who played well in his first game as a starter for the Raiders. “Maybe once we have more experience we’ll respond better and realize we’re only down a touchdown at that point, but tonight, we gave up for a few minutes and you can’t give up even for one minute.”
From there it was the Dooley show, leaving Ridley to pick up the pieces before it starts its Central League schedule with a bit of a gauntlet against Garnet Valley and Springfield, two of the top three teams in the Daily Times Super 7.
“We’re a young team with some upper classmen who are playing regularly for the first time — and that’s what we looked like,” Wood said. “We didn’t block well at times, we didn’t run well at times, we didn’t cover well at times, and that hurts when you play a good football team.
“We have some kids playing two ways who we have to take a look at and see if maybe they go back to playing one way and we give some younger kids an opportunity to play. I think that’s what this year is going to be about for us.”
