KARNS CITY — The effort and desire was there from start to finish for Ridgway. But sometimes, the other team is just better.
The Elkers saw their season come to an end on Saturday as they lost to District 10 champion Wilmington 56-14 in the PIAA Class AA Quarterfinals at Karns City.
Ridgway simply had no answer for the Greyhounds’ (12-1) overpowering rushing attack. Wilmington racked up 456 yards on the ground, as seven different players gained at least 30 yards rushing.
“They are a good football team,” Ridgway head coach Mark Heindl said simply afterwards. “We said coming in that they’re a football factory, and they’re definitely going to make another press with the kids that they have back from last year.
“But I’m proud of our kids: they didn’t back down from them. I know the score doesn’t reflect the effort that our kids put in today, but I’m proud of each and every one of them.”
Wilmington quarterback Robert Pontius (58 yards) scored three times on the ground, while Cameron Marett (92 yards, 2 TDs) and Ethan Susen (100 yards, 1 TD) also had big days.
It was rough from the start for the Elkers, who began the game pinned back against their own goal line after a penalty, eventually handing the Greyhounds great field position on their opening drive. Marett would cap that drive with an 18-yard score to get Wilmington off and running.
“It’s not what you want to start on but you’re not going to make excuses,” Heindl said about Ridgway’s start. “You’ve gotta step up, you’ve gotta play the full four quarters. Wilmington exposed a lot of things and it’s the reason why (they’re) probably going to wind up in the state finals again.”
Susen would score from eight yards out midway through the quarter to make it 14-0 Greyhounds.
Ridgway had an opportunity to make it a one-score game after recovering a fumble in Wilmington territory. But the Elkers would eventually be stopped short in the red zone.
Ridgway’s offense struggled to move the ball for most of the day, as Wilmington outgained the Elkers 471-145. The Ridgway running game found little room to operate (91 yards on 3.6 yards per carry), forcing more passes than what Heindl’s team is usually comfortable attempting.
Marett would score from 39 yards out on the next Wilmington drive to end the quarter with the Greyhounds up 21-0.
In the second quarter, Pontius showed off his legs, scoring three touchdowns in a six-minute span — matching the number of passes he attempted for the entire game. The runs came from 4, 25, and 12 yards.
Those three scores put Wilmington up 42-0 going into halftime and started the running clock in the second half.
Though it came too late to make a difference in the final score, the Elkers got off to a great start in the third quarter. Ridgway forced and recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff, and then converted on the short field with a two-yard touchdown run by Gabe Watts.
But even with their backups in, Wilmington was still pounding away on the ground. Garret Guth and Darren Miller would add scoring runs of 24 and 12 yards, respectively, to up the Greyhounds’ lead to 56-6.
Going up against a team with such depth and talent from top to bottom was certainly eye-opening for Ridgway. But even here Heindl was able to find positives for his team to take away.
“They’re some big boys,” he said of the Greyhounds. “We told our kids coming into this thing, one thing about a community like Wilmington, they are a football town.
“But the beauty about the kids that we have on our squad, they’re going to leave today as football players. Tomorrow they’ll start basketball and wrestling and in the spring season they’re into spring sports. Our kids do everything and that’s what we want them to do; we don’t want them to just be football players.”
Watts would find the end zone again near game’s end, this time on a 39-yard scamper. He would finish the game as Ridgway’s leading rusher with 73 yards on nine carries.
The loss brings to an end a third consecutive district title-winning season for Ridgway. For Heindl, this campaign was especially sweet due to the fact that the Elkers entered 2018 with lowered expectations after losing so much talent from last year.
Don’t expect those same kind of doubts next time around.
“The big thing is that everyone counted us out this year,” Heindl said. “I think we were supposed to take ninth in the Large School Division and we ended up winning that. Definitely not the ending we wanted for our season but I’ll take it every day of the week to be 11-2 and we’re excited about getting ready for next year.”
AT KARNS CITY
BY QUARTERS
Wilmington 21 21 7 7—56
Ridgway 0 0 6 8—14
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: W: 17, R: 9; Rushes/Yards Rushing: W: 48-456, R: 25-91; Yards Passing: W: 15, R: 54; Comp-Att-Int: W: 2-4-0, R: 13-21-1; Penalties: W: 8-73, R: 8-45; Fumbles-Lost: W: 4-2, R: 1-0; Total Yards: W: 471, R: 145 Offensive Plays: W: 52, R: 46
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing: W: Robert Pontius 1-3-7-0-0, Caelan Bender 1-1-8-0-0; R: Paul Gresco 13-21-54-0-1
Rushing: W: Cameron Marett 6-92-2, Noah Hunt 4-36, Ethan Susen 8-100-1, Robert Pontius 6-58-3, Luke Edwards 5-28, Garret Guth 6-36-1, Darren Miller 8-59, Caelan Bender 3-20, Henry Behm 1-32, Isaac Duffy 1-(-5); R: Gabe Watts 9-73-2, Jake Wickett 7-7, Cole Secco 3-9, Matt Dush 3-15, Paul Gresco 2-(-12), Robert Briggs 1-(-1)
Receiving: W: Cameron Marett 1-7, Mason Reed 1-8; R: Austin Green 2-0, Jake Wickett 2-15, Daunte Allegretto 2-(-4), Matt Dush 3-40, Gabe Watts 4-3
Scoring summary
First quarter
W: Marett 18-yard run (PAT by Ethan Winters), 9:51
W: Susen 8-yard run (PAT by Winters), 4:42
W: Marett 39-yard run (PAT by Winters), 0:06
Second quarter
W: Pontius 4-yard run (PAT by Winters), 6:47
W: Pontius 25-yard run (PAT by Winters), 2:22
W: Pontius 12-yard run (PAT by Winters), 0:58
Third quarter
R: Watts 2-yard run (PAT blocked), 9:12
W: Guth 24-yard run (PAT by Ricky Telesz), 4:31
Fourth quarter
W: Miller 12-yard run (PAT by Telesz), 4:25
R: Watts 39-yard run (2-pt conversion by Wickett), 2:13
