This article was originally published in The Columbian on Sunday, Sept. 11, 1983.
Seven overtimes!
That’s how long it took Toledo to slip past Ridgefield 33-27 in Friday’s record-setting non-league football game. The seven overtimes is a state record, snapping the previous record of six held by Olympia and Battle Ground.
“It was a long one. Kind of unbelievable,” Ridgefield coach Chris Thompson said.
The game finished a few minutes before midnight.
The first two overtimes started on the 25-yard line; the final five at the 10-yard line. Ridgefield had first possession in every overtime period.
Toledo finally ended the game when quarterback K.C. Johnson connected with Larry Kiser for a 4-yard touchdown pass after Ridgefield had failed to score on its seventh possession.
Neither team scored in regulation or the first “Kansas Plan” overtime. Ridgefield finally got on the scoreboard in the second overtime when quarterback Keith Klein hit Paul Baher with a 9-yard TD pass. Freshman Paul Waggoner kicked the extra point.
Toledo came back to tie when Johnson scored on a quarterback keeper from a yard out.
Pat Wingerter’s 2-yard run and Waggoner’s kick gave Ridgefield a 14-7 lead in the third OT. Johnson’s 5-yard pass to Jim Jones again tied the game. Neither scored in the fourth OT.
A 10-yard Klein-to-Baher pass helped Ridgefield to a 21-14 lead in the fifth OT, but again Johnson responded with an 8-yard scoring pass to Tim Jittu.
In the sixth OT, Klein and Baher clicked again for another TD aerial. The PAT kick failed. Toledo tied the game on Rod Minium’s 1-yard scoring run, but the Spudders blocked the PAT kick.
“The kick was blocked by the defensive line,” Thompson said. “Baher and Scott Farley were playing inside and each had a piece of the ball.”
Ridgefield failed to score in the seventh overtime. After a short gain by Wingerter, a quarterback sack, incomplete pass and short gain on a pass left the Spudders shy of the end zone. That set the stage for Johnson’s game-winning TD pass on the third play from scrimmage.
Thompson said the Spudders had opportunities to win in regulation time. Ridgefield twice lost fumbles inside Toledo’s 15-yard line.
Linebackers Todd Otos and Robert Hyatt and tackles John Leslie and Scott Farley were defensive standouts for the Spudders. Offensively, Klein completed 13- of 30 passes for 86 yards, including the three TD strikes to Baher.
