The Bridgewater-Raritan High School football fell for the first time this season when it was defeated by rival Ridge High School, 33-14, on Friday, September 26, at Lee Field in Basking Ridge.
Junior Evan Woodring started at quarterback for the Panthers, who were without senior Declan Kurdyla due to injury he sustained in last week’s 35-7 victory over Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Bridgewater. That triumph vaulted the Panthers to a 4-0 start heading into Ridge, which Bridgewater-Raritan was seeking to defeat for the first time since winning twice against the Red Devils in the 2015 season.
Ridge forced a turnover on downs at midfield to halt the Panthers’ opening drive before opening the scoring on a nine-play, 59-yard scoring drive capped off by junior Stephen Coffey’s 12-yard touchdown run with 5:19 left in the first quarter. With his team down 7-0, Woodring hurled a 77-yard touchdown pass to senior Mikey Bratus before senior Joe Squicciarini’s extra point knotted the score, 7-7, with 4:21 left in the first quarter. Both teams then traded stops, but with 10:10 left in the second quarter, Ridge retook a 14-7 lead on a 25-yard touchdown run by senior Lenny Paolillo. The Red Devils then forced another three and out before doubling their advantage to 21-7 on an 11-yard touchdown run by junior C.J. Griffith with 5:35 left in the first half.
After Bridgewater-Raritan was aided by a pass interference penalty against the Red Devils, senior Denzel Amoafo barreled his way into the end zone on a 25-yard touchdown run, which cut Ridge’s lead to 21-14 with 2:17 left in the first half. With the Red Devils set to receive the second half kickoff, senior Nick Plennig made a first-down catch on third down and 11 before snatching a 28-yard catch up the middle to the Panthers’ 29-yard line. Facing fourth down and 10 yards after a timeout with 1:10 left in the first half, Ridge senior Toby Nicholson made the most critical first-down catch of the night of 11 yards along the Panthers’ sideline to extend Ridge’s drive.
Paolillo then gave Ridge a two-score lead, 27-14, on the next play courtesy of an 11-yard touchdown run with 0:58 left in the first half. Ridge ultimately took this 13-point lead into the locker room before converting on another fourth-down play at midfield to open up the second half.
Junior Greg Brown then rounded out the game’s scoring with a 39-yard touchdown reception from senior quarterback Sawyer Paul with 8:44 left in the third quarter. Neither team scored the rest of the night, but Ridge ultimately closed out its 33-14 victory on its home field.
Next up for Bridgewater-Raritan (4-1) is its Homecoming game against Elizabeth High School (2-3), which will be contested at 6 p.m. on Friday, October 3, at John Basilone Memorial Field in Bridgewater. The Minutemen will try to snap their now two-game skid they have been on since defeating Westfield High School, 36-29, in overtime on September 12 at Williams Field in Elizabeth.
Westfield (2-3) will make the drive over from Union County on Friday, October 17, to Bridgewater-Raritan High School for Senior Night game.