Second half surge sends Ridley to Turkey Bowl win over Interboro

Tagged under: District 1, Gameday Hub, News

Brendan Ricciardi | November 25, 2022

FOLSOM, PA. — It was a relatively quiet first half in the 53rd annual Turkey Bowl between Interboro and Ridley, but Ridley changed that in the second half as they exploded for 40 points en route to a 47-7 victory.

It was a picture perfect day for football at Ridley’s Phil Marion field, with sunny skies and temperatures hovering around 50 degrees for this Thanksgiving affair. Ridley led the series 39-13 all-time heading into this matchup, according to Delco Sports historian Dave Burman.

Interboro had just five days to prepare for this game, as they fell to Monsignor Bonner in the 4A State Playoffs on Saturday at this very same field. The storyline coming into this game was that running back Abu Kamara, who already held the record for most yards in Delaware County history in a single season, was just 197 yards away from becoming the first in Delaware County history to run for 3,000 yards.

As for Ridley, they had a bit more time to prepare, as they were eliminated in the first round of the District 1 6A playoffs by Spring-Ford. Ryan Carroll and the Green Raiders got on the board first when he hit Owen Bosak down the sideline for a 20-yard touchdown.

It looked like we were headed towards a shootout, as Interboro responded right back with Julian Bulovas throwing a picture-perfect pass to Dom Gunter for a 55-yard touchdown right up the middle.

The teams would go scoreless for the rest of the half, largely in part because of how Ridley was able to limit Abu Kamara to just 29 yards on 13 carries.

“We decided that we were going to play just pure man defense and crowd the box, we weren’t gonna let 4 beat us and hit 3,000 yards,” Ridley Head Coach Dave Wood said after the game. “Their QB (Bulovas) and 11 (Gunter) had some good throws and catches, so God bless em.”

On the first drive of the second half, Kamara went down hard and had to leave the game due to an injury to his right foot/ankle. While the severity of the injury is still unknown, Kamara was on crutches.

Kamara ends the season with a Delaware County record 2,838 rushing yards and 38 rushing TD’s. This comes just one year after Ridley’s Tahir “Tubby” Mills set the previous record.

“It’s just playing football, that’s what comes with it, being able to play football with people who I’ve been playing with damn near my whole life and doing it with them is even more fun,” Kamara said of his record-breaking season. “Just having fun, doing what I do, and that’s the outcome.”

Ridley jumped back in front after the second touchdown of the day from Owen Bosak, this time a six-yard score to put Ridley ahead 14-7.

There was a string of two plays that truly told the story of this game, as Ridley forced an Interboro fumble after a bone-crushing hit on Dom Gunter, and they capitalized on the very next play with a 49-yard bomb from Ryan Carrol to Khameen Powell down the sideline.

“Whenever you can, you want to capitalize on turnovers to get momentum and score quickly against a running team like them,” Wood said. “They’re the kind of team that wants to run the ball and chew up the clock to wear you down, and it’s hard for those teams to come back because they don’t score as quickly.”

The loss of Abu Kamara was of course expected to hurt the Interboro offense, but it was the defense that was seeing the worst of his absence in the secondary. 

The momentum was heavily in Ridley’s favor after that sequence with the fourth quarter beginning, and they would again get the ball back after forcing another punt.

Ridley marched methodically down the field before Paul Jackson plunged in for a two-yard touchdown, and that put the metaphorical icing on the cake. Ridley would continue to add on more points, including a defensive touchdown from JP Lynam, and go on to win by a score of 47-7.

Quarterback Ryan Carroll rebounded very nicely after throwing two interceptions in the first half, as he ended the day with 275 yards and four touchdown passes. 

“It was good to see Carroll played really well in the RPO game, he had some big runs,” Wood said. “Everyone will say he’s not really a big runner, but he made runs that we needed and key plays to move the ticks down and open up some of the other guys.”

In addition to Carroll, Senior Owen Bosak hit 1,000 yards rushing on the season in the fourth quarter for the Green Raiders.

For Ridley, they finish the season at 8-4 the year after losing a historically great running back in Tahir Mills and feature a Sophomore starting quarterback in Ryan Carroll. The future looks bright.

“We have Carroll for two more years, he’s only a sophomore,” Wood said. “Khameen Powell is back too. We do have some pieces and we have some other pieces that played a lot of football for us and we have to continue to get better up front.”

For Interboro, they end their season at 10-4 and played in a state playoff game for the first time in program history. They saw their star running back run for the most yards in the history of Delaware County, but for Abu Kamara, it was just about having fun with his friends and helping put the Bucaneers on the map.

“Coming in as a freshman, a lot of people were saying that you can’t get it done at Interboro, Interboro’s not the school, transfer, transfer, transfer,” Kamara said. “But you know, I just stuck to the plan and that showed and we were able to be successful this season.”

Elsewhere around Delaware County Football:

• Marple Newtown erased a 28-7 first half deficit Wednesday evening against Penncrest, with Brian Box leading a comeback with three touchdowns to win it 32-38. Full story from PFN’s own Willie McGonigle: 
• Sun Valley took down Chichester in their annual Thanksgiving morning game by a score of 26-7, and you can find that game recap from PFN’s own Dylan Johnson, who somehow manages to cover the game while also being in the Chichester marching band. Talk about grit.
• Haverford went up 20-0 early on Upper Darby in the 100th installment of their Thanksgiving Day game, and were able to hold off an Upper Darby comeback to win it 20-14.
• Garnet Valley will host Central Bucks West Friday night at Moe DeFrank Stadium for the District 1 6A Championship game. The game is set to kickoff at 7:00, and the winner will take on the winner of St. Joes Prep and Parkland next weekend.
• Monsignor Bonner will take on Crestwood in the 4A State Quarterfinals this Saturday at Northeast High School. A win for the Friars and they will take on the winner of Bishop McDevitt and Manheim Central next weekend. 

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