DUBOIS — Ridgway and Coudersport began their respective 2017 campaigns back in August. The Elkers took that game 29-8, though the game was closer than the score indicated.

That wasn’t the case on Saturday, as Ridgway thoroughly dominated the Falcons in the District 9 Class A semifinals en route to a 47-6 victory.

Ridgway’s defense put forth an impressive display, forcing four turnovers and holding the Coudy offense to just 120 total yards, a figure that would’ve been even lower if not for a couple of big plays near the end of the game.

The win brings coach Mark Heindl’s squad one step closer to repeating as district champions.

“It’s an exciting thing right now for our kids and our program,” Heindl said about the chance to play for another district trophy. “I couldn’t be prouder of them.

“Coudersport came out fired up, ready to go, and stuffed us on the first three plays of the game. Then our guys woke up and played our style of football: we forced turnovers and capitalized on turnovers.”

Senior quarterback Johnny Mitchell was the catalyst on offense for Ridgway, doing most of his damage on the ground. Mitchell scored on touchdown runs of 70 and 12 yards and finished with 131 yards on just eight carries.

“Johnny plays well on turf,” Heindl said of his QB’s performance at E.J. Mansell Stadium. “That’s his big thing. But Johnny’ll be the first guy to tell you, without his offensive line he wouldn’t have been able to do any of that stuff today.”

Meanwhile, fellow senior Neil MacDonald made an impact on both sides of the ball.

MacDonald scored a pair of 2-yard rushing touchdowns in the early going to spot Ridgway a 14-0 advantage. Then, shortly after Mitchell’s long TD run, MacDonald scooped up a loose ball on defense caused by a jarring hit by Jake Zimmerman and ran it into the end zone from 28 yards out.

That scoop and score put Ridgway up 27-0 midway through the second quarter, putting the game out of reach before the halftime whistle even sounded.

Ridgway’s ability to create turnovers erased any chance of Coudersport’s offense gaining traction; the Falcons picked up just five first downs in the game and were forced to punt seven times.

“It got them out of their game,” Heindl said about the turnovers. “We preached it all week: we had to be more physical than them, and to see what Coudersport did last week being down 20-0 and fighting their way back… We knew that they were fighters and we knew that we had to play physical with them not just for a quarter or two but for all four quarters and our kids did that today.”

Mitchell contributed to two more touchdowns in the second half: his second scoring run midway through the third quarter and a nicely-lobbed 21-yard pass to Josh Thorwart early in the fourth.

Sophomore Hayden Yeager added a 3-yard run for the Elkers’ final scoring play.

Coudersport’s only scoring drive featured several nice plays, including a 21-yard run by Brandt Kightlinger and a beautiful 48-yard pass from Hayden Keck to Daniel Frame.

Those two plays helped set up a 6-yard scoring run by sophomore Jacob Pitcher.

MacDonald finished with 76 rushing yards for Ridgway, while Aaron Hinton added 51 yards on six carries.

Ridgway will attempt to defend its district title next week when they take on Curwensville at Mansell Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m.

With a team featuring a lot of the same guys who won it all last year, Heindl has total confidence in his players’ ability to get the job done.

“When you get down to this point of the season, you’re not seeing any slouches,” Heindl said. “We’re here for a reason and Curwensville are here for a reason.”

BY QUARTERS
Coudersport  0   0   0    6—6
Ridgway        7  20  6  14—47
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: Coudersport 5, Ridgway 9; Rushes/Yards Rushing: Coudersport 39-70, Ridgway 45-302; Yards Passing: Coudersport 50, Ridgway 23; Comp-Att-Int: Coudersport 2-7-1, Ridgway 2-5-0; Punts: Coudersport 7, Ridgway 4; Penalties: Coudersport 4-35, Ridgway 5-40; Fumbles-Lost: Coudersport 5-3, Ridgway 2-1; Total Yards: Coudersport 120, Ridgway 325; Offensive Plays: Coudersport 46, Ridgway 50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Passing: Coudersport: Jared Green 1-5-2-0-0, Hayden Keck 1-2-48-0-1; Ridgway: Johnny Mitchell 2-5-23-1-0

Rushing: Coudersport: Steve Kelly 13-33, Brandt Kightlinger 1-21, Jared Green 9-10, Jacob Pitcher 1-6-1, Derek Keglovits 1-4, Hayden Keck 9-1, Thomas Wilson 4- -5; Ridgway: Johnny Mitchell 8-131-2, Neil MacDonald 14-76-2, Aaron Hinton 6-51, Evan Furlong 1-8, Jake Wickett 1-8, Hayden Yeager 3-5-1, Greg Simon 2-4, Max Ehrensberger 1-3, Devin Smith 1-2, Cole Secco 1-0, Daunte Allegretto 1- -1

Receiving: Coudersport: Daniel Frame 1-48, Hayden Keck 1-2; Ridgway: Josh Thorwart 1-21-1, Aaron Hinton 1-2

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

Ridgway — MacDonald 2-yard run (kick by Hinton), 2:28

Second quarter

Ridgway — MacDonald 2-yard run (kick by Hinton), 11:56

Ridgway — Mitchell 70-yard run (kick by Hinton), 9:21

Ridgway — MacDonald 28-yard fumble recovery (kick no good), 7:46

Third quarter

Ridgway — Mitchell 12-yard run (conversion failed), 6:15

Fourth quarter

Ridgway — Thorwart 21-yard pass from Mitchell (kick by Hinton), 11:04

Ridgway — Yeager 3-yard run (kick by Paul Gresco), 6:17

Coudersport — Pitcher 6-yard run (kick no good), 3:19