Loss eliminates Fenton from playoff hunt

When Fenton plays Ridgewood, it expects a real battle. That stayed true to form when the two teams faced off in Metro Suburban Conference action on Friday in Norridge.

The Rebels jumped out to an early lead and the Bison fought back to make it a competitive game. Fenton's comeback, however, fell a little short as it lost 23-16 on senior day at Ridgewood.

"The kids played hard," said Fenton coach Mark Farrell. "We made some mistakes and they didn't any big mistakes."

The Rebels (5-3, 3-2) are a running team, but on their first possession they threw the ball on the first two plays, which caught the Bison defense a bit off guard. On the third play though, fullback Mike Arcaro burst up the middle for a 53-yard touchdown run with 7:37 to play in the first quarter.

Ridgewood added another score with 8.5 seconds left in the opening quarter when quarterback Mario Kutylowski hit Edgar Lopez for a 28-yard touchdown pass. After running in the 2-point conversation, it was 15-0 just like that. Kutylowski and Lopez also connected on a 34-yard play for a score near the end of the third quarter.

Arcaro finished with 82 yards on 7 carries, while halfback Nick Brindise slashed his way for 106 yards on 18 carries.

"We came out and I think we surprised them," said Ridgewood coach Christopher Zack, whose team can clinch a playoff win with a win at Riverside-Brookfield next week. "We threw the ball on the first couple of plays which was huge. We saw some gaps where we could get the ball and our running backs were able to get the job done."

The Bison (3-5, 2-3) got on the board with a safety with 36.4 seconds left before halftime. They should have also had a touchdown earlier, but it got called back because of a costly penalty by a player who wasn't near the scoring play.

Fenton quarterback Ricky Prignano completed some gutsy passes with the Rebels defense in hot pursuit in the second half. On the first drive of the fourth quarter, Prignano completed a 13-yard pass to Tommy Garza down to Ridgewood's 13-yard line. Three plays later, Prigano scored from the 1-yard line on a quarterback surge behind the offensive line.

After Bison defensive back Sean O'Connell came up with a fumble recovery a couple of series later, Prignano made clutch passes to wide receivers Eric Justiniano and Vince Esposito and halfback Tyrell McGee. The senior then finished the drive with another 1-yard quarterback keeper for a score.

Ridgewood was able to the clock going behind the running of Arcaro and Brindise who was especially hard to bring down.

"We didn't tackle well in open spaces," Farrell said.