JOHNSONBURG — Ridgway head coach Mark Heindl said he wanted his team to start fast in its game against Bradford.
His Elkers delivered on the first play from scrimmage as Gabe Watts took a tip-pass from Paul Gresco 51 yards for an Elker touchdown, and they never looked back en route to a 55-0 win over Bradford in District 9 Large School Division play at Johnsonburg High School.
“We needed to (start fast),” Heindl said. “We keep referring back to a couple weeks ago (a 25-21 loss to Kane), and we left some points on the field and not on the scoreboard. We realized that we have to maximize each possession that we get.”
It was a dominant performance for Ridgway (3-1, 3-1) from start to finish. The Elkers outgained Bradford (0-4, 0-4) in total yardage 404-88, and racked up 20 first downs compared to the Owls’ five.
Heindl points to the play of his offensive and defensive lines for the dominance.
“Overall, just controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides, that was the key for us,” he said.
The Elkers also won the turnover battle handily, as Bradford coughed the ball up five times. Hayden Haupright, a defensive lineman for Ridgway, picked off a Bradford screen pass, and three Elkers — Austin Scruggs, Dominic Allegretto, Tyler Merritt — recovered fumbles.
“It’s huge (to win the turnover battle),” Heindl said. “And it wasn’t just our starters, either. A lot of our younger guys got in and made plays throughout the game, and it’s a credit to them and their work ethic.”
Offensively, Ridgway quarterback Paul Gresco was as efficient as his team could have hoped. The signal-caller completed eight of his 11 passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns — all in the first half.
On the receiving end of Gresco’s scores, Austin Green hauled in two touchdown receptions and Gabe Watts had one. Green finished with 76 yards receiving on four receptions, while Watts racked up 85 yards on three catches.
On the ground, five different Elkers — Watts, Jake Wickett, Josh Sorg, Ben Briggs and Camron Marciniak — hit paydirt on the evening. Sorg finished with 46 yards on four carries, and Dominic Cherry chipped in 48 yards on five carries for Ridgway.
The Elkers jumped out to a 13-0 lead through the first quarter after a pair of Gresco touchdown throws, the first to Watts and the other to Green. Gresceo and Green connected early in the second to extend the Elker lead to 21-0.
“(Gresco) is unbelievable. He’s a good kid and a great quarterback,” Heindl said. “He’s an awesome leader on the field… And he’ll be the first to tell you he couldn’t do what he’s doing without his line.”
Once that initial air raid ended, the Elkers started churning out scores on the ground. Watts, Wickett and scored each scored from 20, 14 and one yard out to put Ridgway up 42-0 by halftime.
In the second half, Briggs scored on a six-yard run and Marciniak on a one-yard run to push the Ridgway lead to 55-0.
The loss is perhaps a step in the wrong direction for Bradford, which showed some positive signs of growth last week against Kane. But, as head coach Jeff Puglio pointed out, the competition was fierce.
“That was a really good football team over there. They show on film that they play a certain brand of football, and we just could not match that tonight,” he said.
The highlights were few and far between for Bradford, which was held off the scoreboard for the third time in four games.
In the ground game, the Owls mustered just 22 yards. Austen Davis led the Owls in rushing with 20 yards.
Quarterback Caleb Nuzzo completed seven of his 21 passes for just 65 yards, and was picked off once. However, three of his passes went for 16, 18 and 21 yards — a positive sign for an Owl offense that’s still finding its identity.
“It’s coming along. It’s a whole new offense, a whole new system. It’s going to be a work in progress every week,” Puglio said. “I don’t think we need to panic or anything. We’re just making critical mistakes. We start getting positive plays and then we’ll get penalties and turnovers, which has been the story of the season.”
The Owls now enter a three-week stretch against teams also in search of their first win, beginning with Moniteau Friday at Parkway Field.
“These are good, quality opponents, so we can’t look at records,” Puglio said. “We have to get better every day, and I have to get this team to have that mentality of physical brand of football.”
Up next for Ridgway is a home game with the 0-4 Brockway Rovers. The Elkers are halfway through a four-week stretch against opponents with a combined 0-16 record, but Heindl says maintaining focus and intensity is crucial as the team prepares for the home stretch.
“The kids understand there’s no margin for error against any team on our schedule,” Heindl noted. “Anything can happen in (District 9) on any given night. So with Brockway coming to town, our kids will be ready to come to work Monday to start preparing.”
AT JOHNSONBURG
BY QUARTERS
Bradford 0 0 0 0—0
Ridgway 13 29 6 7—55
TEAM STATISTICS
First Downs: Bradford: 5, Ridgway: 20; Rushes/Yards Rushing: Bradford: 15-22, Ridgway: 42-205; Yards Passing: Bradford: 66, Ridgway 199; Comp-Att-Int: Bradford: 8-24-1, Ridgway: 9-12-0; Penalties: Bradford: 10-70, Ridgway: 7-65; Fumbles-Lost: Bradford: 5-4, Ridgway: 0-0; Total Yards: Bradford: 88, Ridgway: 404 Offensive Plays: Bradford: 48, Ridgway: 53
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Passing: Bradford: Caleb Nuzzo 7-21-65-0-1, Lucas Laktash 1-3-1-0-0; Ridgway: Paul Gresco 8-11-184-3-0, Ben Briggs 1-1-15-0-0
Rushing: Bradford: Austen Davis 3-20, Derek Sunafrank 4-8, Caleb Nuzzo 3-4, Dalton Dixon 1 (-4), Troy Adkins 2 (-1), Lucas Laktash 2 (-5); Ridgway: Gabe Watts 4-38-1, Paul Gresco 2-16, Jake Wickett 5-31-1, Tyler Watts 4-8, Josh Sorg 4-46-1, Dominic Cherry 5-48, Camron Marciniak 7-22-1, Ben Briggs 9 (-4)
Receiving: Bradford: Jonah Rowry 2-5, Dalton Dixon 2-5, Nate Girdlestone 1-16, Austen Davis 2-39, Kaleb Schenfield 1-1; Ridgway: Gabe Watts 3-85-1, Austin Green 4-76-2, Josh Sorg 1-24, Michael Gresco 1-15
Scoring summary
First quarter
Ridgway: Gabe Watts, 51-yard pass from Paul Gresco (Gresco PAT), 11:39
Ridgway: Austin Green, 20-yard pass from Gresco (PAT failed), 7:20
Second quarter
Ridgway: Green, 33-yard pass from Gresco (2-pt conversion pass), 8:18
Ridgway: Watts, 20-yard run (Gresco PAT), 6:11
Ridgway: Jake Wickett, 14-yard run (Gresco PAT), 3:18
Ridgway: Josh Sorg, 1-yard run (Dominic Allegretto PAT), 0:00
Third quarter
Ridgway: Ben Briggs, 6-yard run (PAT failed), 0:17
Fourth quarter
Ridgway: Camron Marciniak, 1-yard run (Allegretto PAT), 5:16
