What We Saw: Ridge View 41, West Florence 16

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>FLORENCE |</strong> Ridge View has a quarterback with a big arm and what appears to be an even bigger future.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Against West Florence on Friday, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='840548' first='Tre' last='Howard']</strong> had fewer chances to throw than he might have liked. But what he was able to do was join a somewhat unusual but highly effective rushing attack that allowed the Blazers to leave the Magic City with a 41-16 Region V-5A win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I think I can run the ball. I'd rather throw it, but when I need to, I can run,” Howard said after rushing for 87 yards and a score to go along with 109 passing and a touchdown. “I showed that there.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Howard's 61-yard touchdown scamper with 9:51 left in the first half wasn't his first long run of the year. He had 74 yards on the ground against Spring Valley earlier this month, had two runs north of 20 yards already this season and entered Friday with 168 total rushing yards.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Unlike any of the others, though, he showed that he could transform into an edge threat in a split second. The touchdown run, which was supposed to be a pass, broke down in front of him. Howard saw daylight up the right side of the field, eluded two would-be West Florence tacklers and raced to the end zone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was by far the longest rush of his career and nearly doubled his freshman season total.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But he wasn't the only Blazer who made sure the cold temperatures didn't prevent a team that averages better than 30 points a game from doing its thing.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Starting tailback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1149057' first='Spencer' last='Bobian']</strong> had 108 yards by halftime and finished with 205 and a touchdown. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1283827' first='Aidan' last='Keeffe']</strong> reached the end zone with less than a minute to go in the first quarter, did it again in the fourth and ended with 48 yards and those two scores with 11 carries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And senior <strong>Brad Wilson</strong> got into the mix, too, rushing on a four-yard carry in the second quarter before taking over for good late in the game to finish with 48 yards</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 388 rushing yards - not to mention the five rushing touchdowns - for the Blazers was by far a season high. They entered the game averaging 144 per game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Now, with that different look on film, it could pay dividends for opposing teams the rest of the way.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We've got a lot of weapons. We're just trying to get our playmakers the ball, and tonight that was our running backs,” Howard said. “Aidan, Spencer, Brad, they toted the ball well tonight. … It's hard to stop us. We've got a lot of people who can play - and a lot of people who can make plays.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>OTHER RIDGE VIEW NOTABLES</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267280' first='Jordyn' last='Best']</strong> DB | The junior corner picked off a pass and broke up two more.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='233146' first='Jordon' last='Gidron']</strong> WR | Gidron has been active in recent weeks since suffering an injury that sidelined him. He reclassified as a senior and verbally committed to South Carolina. On Friday, he made his return while still working himself up to game speed. In limited reps, he caught a three-yard pass early in the game and was targeted twice more.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1078102' first='Darius' last='Carter']</strong> WR | The sophomore hauled in three passes, including a 30-yard, second-half touchdown from Howard.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1537475' first='D'Juan' last='Franklin']</strong> DB | The junior added Ridge View's second interception of the game in the third quarter. Four plays later, the Blazers scored on the aforementioned passing play to start pulling away for good.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>WEST FLORENCE STANDOUTS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sarah Cashin</strong> K | Cahin, who has handled PATs for the Knights for the last two years, connected on her first career field goal late in the first half. She hit that one from 23 yards out. Prior to that field goal, she'd connected on 56 of her first 61 career extra points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Zion Hill</strong> RB | The junior had 12 carries for 50 yards.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1013062' first='Keshawn' last='Johnson']</strong> QB/P | In addition to 131 passing yards, 61 rushing yards and two ground touchdowns, Johnson was also highly effective early in the game with his foot. He pinned the Blazers at their own 6-yard line twice in the opening half.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1165145' first='Clayton' last='Folse'] DB | Folse was responsible for Ridge View's lone turnover of the night when he picked off a pass on fourth-down in the second half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->