Carolina Gridiron Game of the Week - Week 7 Postgame Wrap-Up

The lights shined bright and the air was crisp as the Porter Ridge Pirates took on the Marvin Ridge Mavericks in a matchup of 5-0 teams.  Both teams sought to use this week’s game as a springboard to the conference lead.  But, only one team emerged victorious, and tonight it was the Pirates as they defeated the Mavericks 27-3 in Southern Carolina 3A/4A action.

The Pirates won the toss, elected to receive, and then proceeded to move the ball down the field against the Maverick defense.  But, Porter Ridge was unable to capitalize on this ball movement as they fumbled the ball away in the red zone.

Marvin Ridge took over deep in their own territory and drove down the field, resulting in Tyler Cochran kicking a 41 yard field goal with under a minute left in the first quarter.  At the end of the first period, the score stood at 3-0 in favor of the visitors.

But, the Porter Ridge offense is one that can strike at any time as they have used big plays to get themselves in control of games all season long.  And the Pirates lived up to this in this week’s game as well.  After a drive that resulted in a 3 yard touchdown run by Chris Duffy, the Pirates came back on their next drive with a 55 yard touchdown run by Najee Davis.

Marvin Ridge looked to take advantage of a Porter Ridge mistake late in the first half, falling on a muffed punt, but an official blew his whistle early, resulting in a replay of the down.  At halftime, the scoreboard read 14-3 on favor of the Pirates.

Marvin Ridge received the second half kickoff, but was unable to move the ball effectively.  After receiving the punt, Porter Ridge quarterback Lee McNeill was intercepted by Maverick defensive back Luke Stennitt giving the Mavericks possession again.  But, it was a short lived possession as the Pirates were able to intercept Maverick quarterback Tyler Chadwick a few minutes later.

The Pirates then went back to the air, with the key play being a 40 yard reception by Jordan Oakley to get down to the Marvin Ridge 3 yard line.  The Pirates went back to Najee Davis again from the Wildcat formation, resulting in a score and extending the Porter Ridge lead to 21-3 in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter played much like the third quarter, with Marvin Ridge fighting for a score and Porter Ridge doing just enough to stop them.  The Mavericks drove down inside the 5 yard line, but were unable to convert on a 4^th and goal, giving the ball back to Porter Ridge.  The Pirates added another score with under three minutes left on a run by Chris Duffy making the final score 27-3.

After the game, Porter Ridge coach Blair Hardin spoke about his team’s effort.  “It was a great environment tonight… a good hard nosed football game.”  When asked about what made the Pirate offense move against Marvin Ridge, Hardin stated “we tried to establish things up front.  We work all week on execution and play as fast as we can.  I’m real pleased with our kids tonight.  It’s only going to get tougher from here.”

On his team’s performance, Mavericks coach Scott Chadwick: “We need to take advantage of opportunities and not give up the big play.  We couldn’t finish drives or get any breaks, but we’ll fight another day.  If there’s one thing about this conference, you’ve got to put the week behind you and move on.”

Porter Ridge faces off against Parkwood next week while Marvin Ridge hosts Sun Valley in conference action.

Check back with Carolina Gridiron for information on future games of the week.