Ridley holds on for win in Florida

Ridley showed Friday night that it travels well and is pretty resilient.

Gavin Kingsborough scored one touchdown and added a two-point conversion, and kicker Chris Vinci made the crucial extra point as the Green Raiders held on for a 21-20 victory over Cooper City, Fla. at the Austin-Tindall Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Fla.

All three of Ridley’s touchdowns came on the ground, but it was Vinci’s extra point after a one-yard touchdown run by Malachi Williams in the fourth quarter that proved to be the difference. That happened when his kicking counterpart, Brennan O’Malley, missed a PAT, and a 35-yard field goal attempt in the waning seconds of the game.

Both teams broke through after a scoreless first half. The Green Raiders struck first when senior quarterback Jack Grace and junior Gavin Kingsborough hooked up on a pair of long pass plays to get Ridley on the board.

Grace found Kingsborough for 27 yards and a first down. Then, after Grace recovered a bad snap from center, the pair hooked up on a 30-plus yard pass play to break the scoreless deadlock. Vinci’s PAT kick was wide right, leaving the Green Raiders with a 6-0 lead.

The Cowboys countered with a touchdown pass from Peyton Monaco and O’Malley added the extra point to give Cooper City a 7-6 advantage.

That lead did not last long. Dylan Staley ripped off a 59-yard touchdown run and Kingsborough pulled in a two-point conversion pass from Grace to put the Green Raiders back on top, 14-7. Isaiah Javier raced 75 yards on Cooper City’s next play from scrimmage to even the score once again.

Williams, a senior, took a pitch from Grace and swept left to break the deadlock on a one-yard run and Vinci added the PAT for a 21-14 Ridley lead. Javier countered with a 17-yard TD run, but O’Malley’s kick was wide right, leaving the Green Raiders with a 21-20 advantage.

With a little over a minute to play, Javier broke off a 59-yard run to give the Cowboys a first down at the Green Raiders’ 22-yard line. Cooper City got to the 17, but the drive stalled there and the Cowboys brought in O’Malley for a 35-yard field goal try with five seconds left. His kick was off the mark with five seconds to go in the game.

The Green Raiders had to kneel down twice to secure the victory.