Kingsborough a chip off the old block for Ridley
UPPER DARBY — Watching a Kingsborough running through tackles or catching slant routes across the middle of the field in a green football jersey isn’t something new at Ridley. In Gavin Kingsborough, a junior for the Raiders, the echoes to his father Brian are uncanny.
Brian was a key member of the Green Raiders team that advanced to the 1990 PIAA Class AAAA championship game against North Allegheny and a two-time All-Delco running back.
Brian was a four-year starter and has shared much of what he learned with his son. Gavin has not disappointed while sharing the backfield with Dylan Staley and Malachi Williams this season, always seeming to take advantage of his opportunities.
“He has given me a lot of pointers and tips,” Gavin said. “He’s always telling me what to do. A lot of my running style comes from stuff he has told me.”
The lessons paid off Friday night. Gavin amassed 201 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns in spearheading Ridley’s 35-14 Central League victory over Upper Darby.
He ran for 148 yards, including 119 in the first half. His 13-yard touchdown gave the Green Raiders (5-1, 4-1 Central League) a 14-0 lead with 9:08 remaining in the second quarter.
Kingsborough was the recipient of two of quarterback Jack Grace’s three touchdown passes, on back-to-back drives to close out the game. His downhill running set up a 26-yard scoring pass from Grace with 8:21 left to play. Six minutes later, Grace found him again, this time on a 27-yard connection for the final score.
Ridley had 269 yards on the ground, and a new formation made the difference in opening up the passing game.
.@RHS_Raiders strike first as Jack Grace finds Dylan Staley for an 11-yard TD connection. Ridley leads 7-0 to end the 1Q #Delcofootball pic.twitter.com/QPLXrlDKDP
— Rich Flanagan (@richflanagan33) September 27, 2019
“We just put in a new formation, the trips offense,” Kingsborough said. “It relies on a lot of runs by me. They would always blitz their outside linebacker then we would audible to a sweep to me. This gave me chances to the outside because they kept crashing in.”
Grace only threw for 70 yards, but he had the three scores, including a three-yard connection with Staley for the first points of the game. His two touchdowns to Kingsborough kept the Royals (2-4, 2-2) at bay.
Head coach Dave Wood has been stressing the need to implement Kingsborough more into the offensive game plan, and it has paid dividends.
“We haven’t been perfect but we’re running the football better,” Wood said. “Our quarterback Jack Grace is getting better every week going through reads. Kingsborough had an awesome game. The last few weeks we’ve been saying, ‘We have to get him the ball more.’”
Wood was noting a few miscues that have kept the Green Raiders from being “perfect.” They turned the ball over on downs on their opening drive, and Chris Vinci missed a 27-yard field goal toward the end of the second quarter.
Corey Robinson made his first start under center for Upper Darby after Kevin Kerwood went down with a knee injury last week. He was 11-for-15 for 181 yards and a 24-yard touchdown pass to Fakhr Stewart on a quick screen. That drive came after two consecutive punts where the Royals totaled seven yards. He hit James Tuayemie six times for 109 yards.
Robinson worked with Kerwood over the course of the week, and the former starter mentored the backup throughout the game.
“He told me to keep my head up,” Robinson said. “Go through your progressions. Trust the offensive line’s blocking.”
The Royals did little on the ground (151 yards) but Maxwell Avoutsou’s 11-yard score tied the game at 14-14 in the third quarter. From there, the Green Raiders scored 21 unanswered points, which included both of Gavin’s touchdown receptions.
