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Score and Photos of Friday night high school football - Oct. 16
RINGGOLD, Ga. - Ridgeland's mind was made up early: Run the football.
The Panthers rushed for 427 yards on the way to a 35-21 Region 7-AAAA win Friday night at Heritage.
"(Running the ball) is what we're all about right now," Ridgeland coach Wesley Tankersley said. "We can throw the ball, too, but our run game was so successful early, why risk an interception or anything like that? Our running backs and our offensive line played great."
The Panthers scored four times on the ground in the first half and went into halftime ahead 28-14.
Markeith Montgomery took Ridgeland's second play from scrimmage 85 yards to the end zone.
Heritage got a 5-yard rushing touchdown of its own from Lavarius Hood, but the visitors answered with a 14-yard scoring run from quarterback Tanner Hill in the first quarter and 4-yarders from Montgomery and Jalyn Shelton in the second.
"You can't simulate speed on the edges in practice, and they have a lot of speed on the edges," said Heritage coach E.K. Slaughter. "We didn't tackle well enough in the first half."
The Generals had chances, but two key turnovers turned into scores for the Panthers. Heritage had a chance to strike on its first possession of the game, but a long pass was picked off in the end zone after bouncing off the receiver falling to the ground.
The Generals also fumbled on a long pass play in their own territory.
"They're a good team and they made the plays," Slaughter said. "It's unfortunate because we're a good team, too, but we didn't make the plays."
Heritage fought back in the second half behind Corbee Wilson, who threw for 294 yards and two touchdowns through the crisp fall air. He connected with Trent Kiniry for 12 yards at the end of the second quarter. In the fourth, he hit Ryan Carter, who made a dive for the 33-yard catch, to bring his team back within a score at 28-21.
"I couldn't be more proud of Corbee Wilson tonight," Slaughter said. "Not just his numbers, but how he led this team on both sides of the ball. We have a resilient bunch of guys, and we still have our goals in front of us."
"We can make the playoffs for the first time in school history, have a winning record and make memories for a lifetime."
Despite the comeback, the Panthers defense held, and Shelton added insurance with 2:56 remaining before an interception sealed the win.
"We were missing one of our best defensive ends, which hurt our pass rush, but the defense was huge," Tankersley said. "Those turnovers were obviously huge."
Shelton led the way with 220 yards on the ground for the Panthers, with Montgomery accumulating 119. Each had two scores.
Contact Idris Garcia at sports@timesfreepress.com