Ridley Holds Off Conestoga Comeback, Wins 21-14

Tagged under: District 1, Gameday Hub, News

Jack Susanin | October 24, 2020

The players warmup before the game.

BERWYN- The Central League is back, and the Ridley Green Raiders and the Conestoga Pioneers were eager to start the season. These two programs were eager to ignite their rivalry. Expectations were high for this one and it did not disappoint.

THE GAME

It was clear that this one was going to be a defensive battle from the start. New Conestoga Defensive Coordinator Mark Fischer was eager to bring pressure and showed that immediately with senior linebacker Fred Mucklow getting a sack on the first play from scrimmage.  The only scoring opportunity of the first quarter came from Conestoga after junior Ryan Mackey caught a pass for 31 yards however the Pioneers were forced to try a field goal from senior DJ Penske which was unsuccessful.

The second quarter started off with a methodical Green Raider drive that ended in a two-yard touchdown run by quarterback John Heller.  Conestoga got the ball back and did not have it for long as Conestoga quarterback Michael Costigan was picked off by Tahir Mills of Ridley who ran it back for a pick six.  I said on Twitter that this was one of the greatest pick sixes I have ever seen, and I will continue to stand by that. Mills got way off the ground, snagged the ball with one hand, landed, somehow kept his balance, and walked into the end zone. This made it 14-0. Ridley had one more drive with good field position in the second quarter, however another sack from Mucklow pushed Ridley out of field goal range. Stoga put together a nice drive after a great throw by Costigan to junior Peter Detwiler put Stoga in Ridley territory. They got the ball all the way down to the 7-yard line for a third down and short, however Costigan was sacked making it fourth and 9 from the 12. The Pioneers went for it and Costigan was looking for Detwiler in the end zone, but they just couldn’t connect.  Ridley took over on downs but gave the ball back quickly to Conestoga after a fumble recovery by senior Nico Arbes with 27 seconds left, however it proved to be too late as Stoga’s offense just couldn’t get anything going. So, the teams went into the locker room with Ridley holding a 14-0 lead, but the Pioneers were looking dangerous.

The second half started the same way the first did, a defensive battle causing three and outs for both teams.  Ridley finally started to show a little life after a few drives, getting into the red zone and they did not mess around there as Anthony Laber hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Heller making it 21-0. Conestoga started to get some momentum on their last drive of the third quarter, but a couple of penalties ended the hope of getting any points. The third quarter ended 21-0 but Conestoga remained confident.

The fourth quarter started with little offense as Ridley went three and out followed by a Michael Costigan interception on a fourth down that basically served as a punt.  Ridley was forced to punt from their own end zone on the next drive, giving Conestoga great field position. The first three plays of the Pioneers drive did not go to plan for them, but on fourth and long Peter Detwiler hauled in a pass for a first down.  On the next play, senior Patrick Nichols caught a touchdown from Costigan to make it 21-7 after DJ Penske bounced back from his earlier field goal miss to drill the extra point.  There were 8 minutes left at this point. Conestoga shocked everyone on the kickoff and went for the onside kick and recovered. Coach Matt Diamond told me after the game that he noticed that Ridley did not have their hands team out for the kickoff so they went for a bunch onside kick that would catch Ridley off guard.  On the first play of the drive, Costigan threw a deep ball to junior Patrick Reilly for a touchdown that made it 21-14. Coach Diamond decided not to go with an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff as Penske booted it to the end zone for a touchback. The Conestoga defense got it to third down, but John Heller stayed composed after pressure by Fred Mucklow and senior John DeFruscio and threw a deep ball and completed it for a first down. However, Conestoga senior defensive back Max Austin stuck with the play and stripped the ball and recovered it. Ridley again forced Conestoga to a third down and long, but Michael Costigan found senior receiver Albert Marshall for a big gain all the way to Ridley’s 17-yard line. Costigan was looking for Marshall again in the end zone on the next play, however there was some miscommunication between Costigan and Marshall and the ball was picked off by Stephen O’Donovan of Ridley. Ridley went three and out and then and punted back to Conestoga. Michael Costigan was sacked on third down leaving the Pioneers with fourth down and a long way to go. On fourth down Costigan was looking for Patrick Reilly however the ball went off his hands and into the hands of Ridley’s Owen Bosak for an interception to seal the game with Ridley winning 21-14.

Final Thoughts

Both teams showed some positive signs at the end of the game. Coach Matt Diamond said that the one issue that needs to be fixed is the red zone offense, specifically at the beginning of the game he said “We didn’t capitalize early on and that led to us having to play catch up throughout the game.” Diamond was also very complimentary of his receivers and in particular Peter Detwiler who he said played “A heck of a game.” He did say that having a big fourth quarter “will be used as momentum heading into next week.” Ridley has their home opener next Friday against Upper Darby while Conestoga goes on the road to face powerhouse Garnet Valley.

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