Tough loss for St. Edward at Ridgewood
St. Edward couldn't have started any better against Ridgewood Friday night, but the resilient Rebels demonstrated a better finishing kick in a 31-23 victory in Norridge.
St. Edward bolted from the gate like a team hungry to seize sole possession of first place in a battle between Metro Suburban Conference East Division leaders, thanks to three huge, first-quarter plays from senior running back Dwayne Allen.
Allen raced 80 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and ran 55 yards for another touchdown on his third carry of the game to give the Wave a 14-0 lead after only 2:20 had elapsed.
St. Edward (4-3, 2-1) threatened to make it a 17-0 lead with a 22-yard field goal, but David Madden's attempt was blocked and returned 70 yards for a touchdown by Anthony Giovanelli to halve the lead.
Then Allen struck again. He fielded the ensuing kickoff at his own 10-yard line and sped 90 yards on a middle return for a touchdown with 5:45 left in the first quarter. The senior scored 18 points and gained 225 all-purpose yards in the game's first 6:15.
"They started slow and we started fast," said Allen, who gained 172 of his 240 yards in the first half.
Allen needed 178 yards to break Devontae Elam's career rushing record of 3,095 yards. He accomplished that feat on a 31-yard, second-half carry and finished with 3,157 career yards.
"It's nice because it's something I share with our linemen, but the important thing is we lost the game," Allen said.
Trailing 21-7, the Rebels responded with a pair of tipped passes for touchdowns. Quarterback Chris Jacobsen threw scoring strikes of 23 yards to Max Kalyknuk and 32 yards to Marco Vitale, the second of which knotted the score at 21 with 2:16 still remaining in the first quarter.
Ridgewood (5-2, 3-0) then took the lead with 5.8 seconds left in the opening quarter when running back Alex Rice scored on a 1-yard run one play after Jacobsen connected with Mike Ortiz for a 92-yard pass.
"You're four minutes into a game and these kids could have hung their head and said it's over," Ridgewood coach Chis Zack said. "We talked all week about fighting through and persevering, and they came back with a vengeance, man. They were ready, they were fired up. Homecoming got them fired up."
That's how the score remained until the fourth quarter as both defenses stiffened.
St. Edward had a golden opportunity to tie the game late in the third quarter, but the Green Wave couldn't convert first-and-goal at the Ridgewood 2-yard line into points despite handing the ball to Allen on four consecutive plays.
"We had a play-action pass off that but I have senior linemen, a senior running back, two senior lead blockers," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said. "You get on the 1-yard line, that's where you want to be and you expect your linemen to make plays."
Linebacker Patrick Brown sacked Jacobsen in the end zone for a safety moments later to cut the deficit to 28-23 with 1:10 left in the third quarter.
However, St. Edward's offense was shut out for the final three periods. Their final drive ended at the Ridgewood 23 yard line. With 1.8 seconds left, quarterback Dylan Mlinarnich's short pass under duress was broken up by Seth Krueger.
Rice rushed for 131 yards and Jacobsen threw for 271 and 2 scores.
"They fought back and they just earned it, really, at the line of scrimmage," Rolando said. "We were having a hard time blocking whether it was the passing game or the running game. It was a good game. They just kind of beat us in the long run. We couldn't match their intensity.