River Ridge emerges from playoff pack

Five-way Tie: Line paves way to Marques Ford’s four TDs in mini playoff wins

GAIL WOOD; The Olympian | • Published November 04, 2009

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LACEY - While struggling through a 2-7 season, River Ridge coach Steve Schultz prodded his team's sinking morale with constant reminders not to give up and to stick together.

On Tuesday, River Ridge’s no-quit grit paid off with three hard-fought victories in a five-team Kansas tie-breaker playoff to advance to Saturday’s crossover playoff game at Mark Morris.

River Ridge beat Centralia, 7-6, took a 14-6 victory over Elma and finally advanced with a 6-0 win over Aberdeen.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Schultz said. “It’s been a tough season. We stuck together. We didn’t point fingers and we didn’t give up. These guys hung together all season.”

River Ridge, Elma, Aberdeen, Centralia and Hoquiam finished with identical records, forcing mini playoffs to decide the fourth and final seed from the 2A Evergreen Conference.

“We started the season out slow, but the coaches kept our heads up,” River Ridge running back P. Wee Sanders said. “They kept us believing.”

Marques Ford, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound senior running back, scored all four of River Ridge’s touchdowns.

Against Elma, Ford scored on a 6-yard run, but the point-after kick was blocked leaving the score 6-6 and forcing another round with the Eagles. On its two-point conversion, Elma quarterback Tony Collin rolled left and lofted a pass into the end zone, just missing his receiver.

“We’ve gone 6-for-6 on that play over the last couple of years,” Elma coach Jim Hill said. “We didn’t execute. We didn’t make the plays to win.”

River Ridge got the ball first against Elma and scored on Adam Walker’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Ford to eliminate the Eagles.

“Our offensive line did the job,” said Schultz. “I watched them push the other lines. We basically ran two plays. The offensive line scored all those touchdowns.”

Against River Ridge, Centralia took a 6-0 lead on Zack Baldwin’s 5-yard run and missed the two-point conversion. Ford then scored on a 5-yard run and Tobias Williams kicked the game-winning point after touchdown.

Centralia defeated Hoquiam, 7-6, on Baldwin’s 1-yard run and Ryan Murphy’s extra-point kick. Hoquiam missed on its two-point conversion. Aberdeen then defeated Hoquiam, 7-0, after losing to the Grizzlies 27-21 earlier in the season.

Elma opened the mini playoffs with a 6-3 loss to Aberdeen, which lost to the Eagles 14-7 earlier in the season.

It was the second time in three years River Ridge played in a Kansas tie-breaker and the first time since 2004 the Hawks advanced to the a crossover playoff game.

gwood@theolympian.com