FOOTBALL: Ridge dominates in all three facets to blank Immaculata

SOMERVILLE – The offensive prowess of the Ridge High School football team has been pretty evident throughout the season for a squad now averaging 37 points per game. But Friday night’s dominant victory over Immaculata at Somerville High School was a great example of how key the Red Devils’ play on the other side of the ball, as well as on special teams, has been to their success.

Ridge certainly got it done on offense, tallying 314 yards and four touchdowns, but it was the defense that was the real catalyst, holding the Spartans to just 81 total yards, including just 29 on the ground, grabbing two interceptions, a fumble and returning a blocked punt for a touchdown en route to a 43-0 victory at Brooks Field.

“We just play with great intensity, and we’re just hungry,” said senior Dan Skea, who added a 34-yard interception return for a touchdown to 46 rushing yards and six catches for 86 receiving yards “We’re just hungry for the football. That’s how the coaches tell us to play, and that’s how we play.”

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Ridge’s lone defensive hiccup came on Immaculata first play from scrimmage. After The Red Devils opened the game by driving 65 yards, capped by a four-yard scoring pass from Aidan Murphy to Matt Rusiniak, the Spartans began the ensuing possession with sophomore quarterback Nathan Barnett hitting junior Shahkyle Matthews with a 21-yard pass. It would be the Spartans only play of more than eight yards until the middle of the fourth quarter when Barnett hit Stephen Dwyer with a 10-yard pass, the only other double-digit gainer of the contest for Immaculata, which managed just 37 first-half yards, including eight on the ground.

“They prepared really hard defensively,” said Ridge coach Bill Tracy, whose club improved to 5-1. “And that helps their speed because they recognize things really well. They’re a very smart team. They (the defense) has given us a lot of short field this year, off of turnovers and stops. Everything starts up front, our defensive line plays so tough, and our linebacking corps rallies all over the place, and the secondary has been outstanding.”

“We’re feeling on top of the world,” said Skea, whose team’s lone setback came Week 2 at undefeated Westfield. “Ever since that Westfield loss, we just haven’t looked back. We just pushed all the way through, until now. And we’ve been working for this game, especially. It’s a big game for us and we’re just very happy with the result.”

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Ridge added a touchdown from RJ Milligan on a one-yard run in the second quarter, and three more points on a Nolan Hughes 37-yard field goal as time expired before halftime and led 16-0 at intermission.

After Immaculata went 3-and-out on its first possession of the second half and Ridge turned the ball over on downs on its ensuing drive at the Spartans 34-yard line, Skea continued to demonstrate Ridge’s defensive dominance, picking off a short pass near the left sideline and returning it for a score.

Ridge added a pair of touchdowns on short runs by Reed Handabaka, the second of which cashed in a 19-yard return off an interception by Murphy, and capped the scoring when Christian Moore blocked a punt deep in Immaculata territory, scooped it up and returned it 15 yards for a score.

“The kids are very confident,” Tracy said. “You can cut the intensity with a knife in our pregame session. We felt they were very locked in a ready to go.”

Simeon Pincus can be reached atSPincus@GannettNJ.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SimeonPincusCN