Ridge View rallies past Union County for road victory

Ridge View scored 10 points in the final three minutes to rally past Union County for a 33-30 victory on Friday.

The Yellow Jackets took a 30-23 lead with just over five minutes remaining when Shi Smith returned a punt 43 yards for a touchdown after Ridge View was pinned deep in its own territory.

But the Blazers converted two third downs — including a third and 10 from their own 34 — on an 11-play drive. Ronald Brown recovered Jalen Smith’s fumble in the end zone for a touchdown to tie the game at 30.

Union County’s drive sputtered after two false starts and a sack, and a short punt gave the Blazers time to drive 33 yards in five plays to set up Nick Lawyer’s game-winning 23-yard field goal, and the Yellow Jackets’ midfield desperation pass was intercepted.

Shi Smith caught nine passes for 104 yards and a touchdown and left the game with an injury before returning in the fourth quarter.

The Blazers scored on their first drive of the third quarter to go up 15-14, but Union County answered with a 12-play drive ending with A.J. Hunter’s 1-yard touchdown run to make it 22-15 in a back-and-forth second half.

Jalen Smith scored for Ridge View on an 8-yard run on the next drive to make it 23-22.

A late second-quarter drive gave Union County the lead at halftime. Shi Smith made two spectacular catches on the final plays of the drive, including an acrobatic one-hander. He hauled in an 11-yarder in double coverage for a touchdown on the next play, making it 14-9.

This story was originally published September 16, 2016 at 11:15 PM with the headline "Ridge View rallies past Union County for road victory."