PROCTORVILLE, Ohio — A road trip of nearly three and a half hours proved to be merely circumstantial for Ridgewood, the Zanesville Times Recorder reported, as the ninth-seeded Generals routed No. 8 seed Fairland 49-6 in a Division V, Region 19 first-round playoff game.
Ridgewood (7-4) scored 28 unanswered points in a dominant first half and outgained the Dragons 203-56 before halftime, according to the Times Recorder. Logan Israel’s 2-yard touchdown run with 9:48 left in the first quarter set the tone for the afternoon near the state’s southern tip on the Ohio River.
Maverick Lockard’s 49-yard catch-and-run down the sideline from Wyatt Marlatt netted a second-quarter touchdown, while Bryce Tolliver had a 4-yard scoring run and Israel added an 18-yarder — both of those scores came off Dragon interceptions, the Times Recorder reported.
It got no better for Fairland in the second half. Tolliver had runs of 27 and 13 yards on the opening drive of the third quarter to set up Braden Stoffer’s 1-yard plunge with 9:24 left in the period, according to the Times Recorder.
Ridgewood made it 42-0 one possession later when Lockard broke multiple tackles on a 56-yard punt return for a touchdown with 4:58 left in the third quarter, forcing the running clock, the Times Recorder reported.
Israel finished with 11 carries for 104 yards, and Marlatt was 5-of-9 passing for 115 yards with a touchdown, according to the Times Recorder. Jadon Smoulder connected on all seven of his extra points.
The Generals won in all three phases, and that is what made the long trip look easy. The offense produced rushing scores from Israel, Tolliver and Stoffer and a long touchdown pass to Lockard; the defense turned two interceptions into short-field touchdowns before halftime; and the special teams finished the job with Lockard’s punt-return score and Smoulder’s perfect night on extra points. When a No. 9 seed wins the turnover battle, the rushing battle and the return game on the road, the 49-6 margin follows from the details.
Ridgewood has made a habit of exactly this kind of trip. The Generals have a long history of making long playoff road trips, the Times Recorder noted, and Friday’s win was their ninth straight year with a playoff victory — a streak that says as much about the program’s November consistency as about any single game.
The win marked the ninth straight year with a playoff victory for Ridgewood, the Times Recorder reported. What happens next is another long trip: the Generals face another three-hour road trip in the quarterfinals, this time to top-seeded Ironton (9-1).
Photo: Ken Lund, CC BY-SA