Ridge View holds off Fairfield Central to stay unbeaten
Jaylen Smith threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Tre’ High, and Ridge View held on to defeat Fairfield Central 22-20 on Friday at Spirit Communications Park.
Trailing 12-7 in the fourth, Ridge View scored on back-to-back possessions. Smith hit High on a 15-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-12. After a Latheron Rogers-Anderson interception, Ridge View scored again as Smith hit High on fourth-and-15 for a 25-yard scoring pass in helping the Blazers move to 4-0.
Fairfield made it interesting at the end. Rod Edmonds scored on a 2-yard run, and Stanley McManus hit Tykidrest Gibson on a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 22-20 with 1:04 left. But the Griffins were penalized on the onside kick and the Blazers ran the clock out.
TURNING POINT
After Ridge View fumbled inside the Fairfield Central 10-yard line, the Blazers forced a three-and-out on the next possession and got it back on the Griffins’ 28. The Blazers scored a few plays later to take a 14-12 lead.
KEY PERFORMERS
Cam Butler: The Colorado State commit led Ridge View with six catches for 70 yards.
Jaylen Smith: The Ridge View quarterback threw for 164 yards and rushed for 77.
Stanley McManus: The Fairfield quarterback threw for 114 yards and rushed for 67.
KEY NUMBERS
1: Friday’s game was the first of three football games to be held at Spirit Communications Park, home of Columbia Fireflies baseball team The next one is A.C. Flora vs. Chapin on Oct. 7.
3: Number of Ridge View victories by less than seven points
THEY SAID IT
“That is the benefit of having senior football players. When it is time to make a play, we are going to make a play.” – Ridge View coach Perry Parks
“Our kids fought to the end. We just came up a little short .” – Fairfield Central coach Demetrius Davis
“They got on us at halftime so the offense had to put it on our backs. The defense played real good so we had to put some points on the board.” – Ridge View receiver Tre’ High
HOW THEY SCORED
1st Quarter
RV – Rogers-Anderson 2 run (Lawyer kick), 7:28
3rd Quarter
FC – McManus 1 run (kick failed), 9:55
FC – Jackson 45 pass from McManus (pass failed), 4:41
4th Quarter
RV – High 15 pass from Smith (Lawyer kick), 9:30
RV – High 25 pass from Smith (Rogers-Anderson), 5:42
FC – Edmonds 2 run (McManus pass to Gibson), 1:04
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: FC: McManus 19-67, Suber-Oneal 13-38, Jackson 1-6, Ruff 3-5, R. Edmonds 8-57 RV: Smith 13-77, Rogers-Anderson 6-18, Brown 7-12
Passing: FC: McManus 8-13-1 114. RV: Smith 15-30-1 164.
Receiving: FC: Goins 2-15, J. Edmonds 1-2, Ross 3-43, Jackson 2-59. RV: C. Napper 2-29, High 4-59, Butler 6-70, McCrae 1-6. W. Napper 2-8.
This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 11:59 PM with the headline "Ridge View holds off Fairfield Central to stay unbeaten."