RINGGOLD, Ga. – It may have taken a while Friday, but Ridgeland’s Panthers finally looked like the region champions they are.
Ridgeland withstood a gritty effort from an injury-plagued Ringgold team but eventually put the Tigers away 21-0 in the Region 7-AAA (A) high school football game at Ringgold. The Panthers won their third consecutive subregion championship in the process.
“We wanted to be in this spot since spring practice,” Ridgeland coach Mark Mariakis said. “We wanted to get back to the championship game, and I’m proud of the kids for the way they handled it.”
Mariakis acknowledged the Tigers had a great game plan, which basically was born from an offense coach Robert Akins and his staff put in Tuesday. The move became a necessity after regular starting quarterback Josh Moore injured his kneecap in practice Monday and looks to be out the rest of the season.
Akins went with a lot of veer-option and midline plays directed by freshman Slade Dale. Ringgold (5-3, 2-2) took possession after the opening kickoff and kept the ball for eight plays before punting the ball out of bounds at the 1, but not finishing drives – not even from a first-and-goal at the 8 in the final two minutes – was the problem.
“I think we moved the ball up and down the field against a pretty good defense,” Akins said. “I’m really proud of our little freshman. He got beat up a little bit, but he learned some great lessons tonight. He made some mistakes, but he’s a great athlete and did a great job with the option.”
One of Dale’s mistakes provided the Panthers’ only points in the first half, and it came from the defense. Zach Clayton jumped a route and returned an interception 63 yards for a touchdown.
“We knew they liked the out routes and the quick hitches,” Mariakis said. “That’s four games in a row the defense has scored a touchdown. They play with a lot of pride over there. After they got down there on us late, they wanted the shutout.”
Ridgeland (7-1, 4-0) pretty much secured it with a drive that started with 3:12 left in the third quarter and ended with Paul Walton’s 13-yard scoring run, which equaled the longest play in the possession, with 8:04 remaining in the game. The march covered 75 yards.
Every Ridgeland play all night was on the ground.
“We only had 14 plays at halftime,” said Mariakis, and one of those was a punt. “We told the defense we needed some three-and-outs and then the offense has got to do something with it.”
Walton led the Panthers with 19 carries for 147 yards. Deonte Marsh added 76 yards on eight carries.