Ridgewood (AlWood/Cambridge) took an 8-0 first quarter lead and never looked back enroute to a 56-6 I8FA West Division victory over West Prairie/Southeastern Friday night at Baumann Field.
The Spartans improved to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the division, while the Cyclones fell to 0-3 and 0-1 in league play.
WP/SE drove the ball to near midfield on its initial possession before having to punt away as Ridgewood took over on its own 22.
The Spartans appeared to have taken the lead just three plays later as Hayden McCleary-Larson broke loose for an apparent 73-yard touchdown run. But an unsportsmanlike penalty was called on the Ridgewood sidelines to negate the scoring jaunt.
The Cyclones looked to get on track on their next drive before a fumble at the Spartans’ 24 turned the ball over to end the threat.
Ridgewood quickly capitalized and needed only two plays to hit paydirt as running back Gavin Franks galloped 64 yards for a touchdown with 5:21 left in the first quarter.
McCleary-Larson ran in the twopoint conversion to put the Spartans up 8-0.
Ridgewood was threatening again late in the opening quarter, but Franks fumbled at the WP/SE 17 where it was recovered by the Cyclones’ defense.
WP/SE put together its best drive of the game as the Cyclones marched 83 yards in 12 plays with quarterback Tristan Hester capping the drive with a three-yard touchdown plunge at the 10:02 mark of the second quarter.
Hester was stopped short of the end zone on the two-point attempt to leave the Cyclones down 8-6.
The Spartans responded by covering 49 yards in only three plays as McCleary-Larson broke free for a 42-yard touchdown with 8:18 to go in the first half.
Franks ran in the two-point conversion to up the lead to 16-6.
WP/SE went three-and-out on its next possession before Franks sprinted 36 yards for his second touchdown of the half with 5:36 remaining.
Franks also added the two-point conversion to put Ridgewood up 24-6.
The WP/SE offense continued to struggle and was forced to punt on its next drive where the Spartans struck quickly once again.
Taking over at its own 30, Ridgewood quarterback Carson Hancock hit a wide open Byron Catour who ran into the end zone to complete a 70-yard touchdown reception with only 1:32 left in the half.
Franks converted the two-point attempt to give the Spartans a 32-6 lead at halftime.
“I think there were some positive things.” said WP/SE head coach John McCormick referring to his team’s first half performance. “We had about eight minutes in the second quarter where things kind of got away from us real quick. Some little things we need to clean up and keep learning. We’ve just got to be more consistent.”
Ridgewood needed only three plays to score in the opening minutes of the third quarter as Franks scrambled 56 yards for his third touchdown of the game with 10:09 to go in the quarter.
Franks then threw to Rob Sandberg for the two-point conversion to give the Spartans a 40-6 lead.
Franks would score his fourth touchdown of the night by rambling 34 yards for a score with 6:43 left in the third. McCleary-Larson added the two-point conversion to up the Spartans’ advantage to 48-6 and start the continuous clock.
Ridgewood would add one more score in the game when Sandberg broke loose for an 18-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to account for the final score.
Franks led all rushers by carrying the ball 14 times for 250 yards and four touchdowns.
Hester led the Cyclones with 72 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown.
“This is week three. The learning part needs to start showing up here,” said McCormick. “I thought we had a really good week of practice. Sometimes that translates to the field and sometimes it doesn’t. We’ve still got some work to do.”
WP/SE will look for its first win of the season next Friday night as the Cyclones travel to conference foe Peoria Heights to take on the winless Patriots. Kick off is at 7 p.m.
It is homecoming week for the Patriots.
