The Ridley Green Raiders faced off against Fords football on Friday, September 2nd under the lights at A.G Cornog Field. Both teams were trying to get their first win of the season after losing their games in week one. 

Although both teams had some strong possessions in the first quarter, neither side could put points on the board. As the second quarter began, Haverford regained the ball far into Ridley’s half, where senior kicker, Googie Seidman, put the first points up for Haverford with a field goal. However, Ridley did not sit back after Haverford took the lead, as they marched up the field and scored the first touchdown of the game with a pass to senior wide receiver, Paul Jackson. 

Haverford’s next drive ended with a fumble, putting Ridley on Haverford’s 32-yard line. Despite the Fords best efforts on defense, Ridley pushed up the field and finished the drive with a touchdown pass to sophomore tight end, Connor Kelly. The next possession for the Fords started off strong as senior quarterback, Tommy Wright, racked up multiple first downs bringing them to the Ridley 36-yard line. On first down, Wright was pushed out of the pocket with pressure coming from all sides leading to an interception to senior Stephen O’Donovan, bringing the end of the half.

Ridley received the kickoff to start the second half and quickly began building momentum up the field. On first down, Ridley ran a pitch play to senior Kimir Stephenson, and he brought it to the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown run. With the successful PAT attempt, Ridley made the lead 21-3 in the third quarter. 

Despite the momentum against them, Haverford senior, Colin Cassidy, was able to break through the offensive line for a big hit to force a fumble. The Fords took advantage of this shift and began to gain yards with a combination of passes from Wright and runs from senior Jake Snell and sophomore Zeke Bates. To finish off the drive for Haverford, they handed the ball off to Bates, who plowed through the defense to get the first touchdown of the game for the Fords. With Seidman making the PAT, the game was now 21-10 to Ridley. As the third quarter ended, the Fords were still pushing hard to try and make up the deficit in this close game. 

On their first drive in the fourth quarter, Haverford steadily moved the ball up the field, all the way to the Ridley four-yard line, but as Bates reached for the endzone on a run up the middle, the ball came loose and Ridley regained possession. With this newfound energy, Ridley began to move the ball quickly. From their own 22-yard line, Jackson took the ball and maneuvered through the Haverford defense for an incredible 78-yard touchdown run. With only 6 minutes left, things were starting to look bleak for the Fords. 

Even when the odds were looking bad, Haverford was able to put together a solid drive all the way to Ridley’s 27-yard line, but despite their best efforts, they weren’t able to convert on fourth down. As Ridley took possession with only 5 minutes on the clock, they pounded the run game into the Fords to seal their fate as time ran out. 

Although the Fords fell short in the end, there were some positives that they were able to carry over into their week 3 matchup against Springfield on September 9th. The Fords quickly got a touchdown in the first ten minutes, setting up Haverford with a 7-0 lead. The Springfield Cougars fell to the Fords 28-13 and Haverford looks to carry their momentum into a week 4 matchup against Conestoga this Friday. 

The Haverford Sports Media broadcast can be found here.

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