NON-LEAGUE
Ridley 21, Malvern 20
Ahhhh, opening day of high-school football season. For
some it's like Christmas and I am one who considers the start of the season
as Christmas. This year the day also happened to be my birthday, so what a
good way to start the year off. I had plan for months to attend this game
for several different reasons, mainly because I felt this was going to be a
good match up between two Southeastern Pa. powers. And, boy oh boy,
was this a goodie. Just when it appeared that the Friars were going to send
Green Raiders to their first home losing streak, the “Green Mystique” came
back and shocked the Friars.
The Friars came out strong on the game's first possessions
after forcing the mighty Green Raiders to a three-and-out. Their wing-T
offense racked up three first downs before the drive stalled. After a
scoreless first the
Green Raiders looked poised to take a 3-0 lead but their field goal was
blocked by Northwestern commit Connor Mahoney. Blake Gunther
scooped up the loose ball and raced down the Green Raider sideline 87 yards
for the touchdown. Next play from scrimmage the Green Raiders got even with
a swing pass from Matt Davis to Jalen Randolph, and Randolph
showed his speed racing 74 yards.
In the third Paul Finley
gave the Friars the lead with a touchdown run covering four yards. Shawn
Wilson added to the lead in the fourth with a ten-yard touchdown run.
Back came the Green Raiders with touchdown pass from Davis to Smoluk. The
rest of the game belonged to Mike Crowley, who hauled in an 82-yard pass
that allowed him to take it in on a jet sweep for an eight-yard touchdown.
