By james art By Marcos Tsegaye on West Valley Prep
The Battle of the Ridgebacks in Desert Valley 6A went into overtime on October 25th.
Shadow Ridge had a chance to extend overtime against Mountain Ridge on Friday with a 23-yard field goal, but fell short, handing the Stallions their eighth loss of the season on homecoming night, 24-21.
Mountain Ridge (3-5, 2-1) coach Andy Johnson was proud of his team’s effort tonight.
“We just kept fighting back,” Johnson said. “Things didn’t always go our way, but we kept fighting for each other.”
Early in the first quarter, Shadow Ridge (0-8, 0-2) fumbled a punt return and it was recovered by Mountain Ridge senior cornerback Kody Halpine. He returned it all the way to the end zone to give the Mountain Lions the lead.
Shadow Ridge responded with a touchdown with three seconds left in the quarter. On third-and-15, Shadow Ridge quarterback Talon Edwards found junior wide receiver Michael Cruz for a 28-yard touchdown. Edwards finished the game with 105 passing yards and two touchdowns.
Edwards said it took him a while to get into a rhythm because freshman quarterback Christian Normandin missed the game with a collarbone injury.
In the third quarter, Mountain Lions junior quarterback Lucas Baughman found senior running back Vince Norfolk wide open for an 8-yard touchdown pass. Baughman finished the game with 141 yards passing and one touchdown.
Less than four minutes later, the Stallions answered again when Edwards scored on a 22-yard touchdown run with 3:51 to go in the third. The score was tied at 14 after three quarters.
With just under eight minutes left in regulation, the Stallions put the ball back on the ground after Edwards was sacked. Senior linebacker Brody Hastings returned the punt at the Shadow Ridge 5-yard line.
On the next play, Norfolk scored his second touchdown of the game from five yards out.
Norfolk said he wasn’t feeling too good going into the game, but was just looking to make the most of every opportunity he had with the ball in his hands. He finished the game with 122 all-purpose yards.
Shadow Ridge senior running back Max Cauley scored on a one-yard rushing touchdown less than two minutes later. It was set up by senior running back Xavier Armenta, who went 67 yards two plays ago.
Both teams failed to score until the end of the quarter and the game went into overtime, tied at 21. In overtime, both teams were given possession of the ball from the opponent’s 10-yard line.
Shadow Ridge’s defense held strong and limited Mountain Ridge until a field goal by senior kicker Brody Reiner made it 24-21.
On the next possession, the Mountain Ridge defense completely shut down Shadow Ridge as they missed the tying shot. Friday was Shadow Ridge’s first overtime game of the season.
Shadow Ridge coach Michael Zdebski applauded his team’s competitiveness tonight and in recent weeks, when their last two games were lost by an average of four points.
“They work hard every day and are a joy to be around,” Zdebski said. “I told them, ‘at some point something has to happen as long as you keep at what you do.’
Edwards said the offense has gained an understanding of what they need to do. He said the Stallions are close to getting their first win of the season.
“We’re as close as you can get,” Edwards said.
Shadow Ridge will host Boulder Creek (3-5, 3-0) next Friday at 7 p.m
Mountain Ridge will host 5A playoff contender Goldwater (6-2, 3-0) next Friday at 7 p.m.
Marcos Tsegaye is a Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Shadow Ridge High School for AZPreps365.com