Non-league football: Ridgefield 19, La Center 0

From the first play, the Ridgefield’s strategy was clear: get Hunter Abrams the ball.

The Spudders handed the ball to Abrams on its first 10 plays and continued to feed the junior running back throughout the night as the Spudders shut out La Center 19-0 to give interim coach Chris Abrams his first victory.

Hunter Abrams, the coach’s son, ended the evening with 30 carries for 193 yards. The rest of the Ridgefield rushing offense combined for 40 yards on 14 carries.

“Our line of scrimmage is solid this year,” Hunter Abrams said. “I owe them a lot. Anyone could have run the ball with those guys in front.”

Sophomore quarterback Tanner Roberts only attempted seven total passes, completing two. With Abrams paving the way on the ground, Roberts proved more than capable under center.

The Spudder defense showed a few glimpses of rust from the offseason and working in the new members of the squad, but still completed the shutout, forcing two interceptions and a fumble along the way. La Center quarterback Tom Lambert was under duress and facing pressure all night.

“We’re flying around and the difference between this year and last is if one person doesn’t make a tackle, there’s another guy and another guy there,” Hunter Abrams said.

Although Ridgefield did enough to secure the victory, they were far from perfect. La Center was given two free first downs via penalty on fourth down.

“A lot of guys haven’t seen varsity for a while, and there was some rust,” Hunter Abrams said. “We had a few penalties, but we’ll erase those as the year goes on.

“We’re going to roll through people and I’m excited.”

Ridgefield 19, La Center 0

La Center    0    0    0    0–0

Ridgefield      0    6    6    7–19

Second Quarter

R – Hunter Abrams 32 run (run failed)

Third Quarter

R – Abrams 3 run (run failed)

Fourth Quarter

R – Tanner Roberts 1 run (Ethan Mollet kick)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – La Center, Wyatt Dodson 15-74, Tom Lambert 14-44, Nic Budke 1-4, Collin Namanny 1-(-4), Jayden Schmitz 1-(-5); Ridgefield, Abrams 30-193, Roberts 6-23, Sam Everett 5-9, Elijah Engstrom 1-4, Clayton Madsen 2-4

PASSING – La Center, Lambert 6-18-2-48; Ridgefield, Roberts 2-7-1-27

RECEIVING – La Center, Schmitz 2-26, Budke 1-20, Jeremy Humphry 1-3, Namanny 2-(-1); Ridgefield, Brock Harrison 1-15, Spenser Harmon 1-12.