He's back: Tingle leads Ridgewood trio in North-South football clash

MASSILLON — The last time Ridgewood's seniors played a football game, they saw Al-Ohio quarterback Gabe Tingle succumb to a broken leg during a bitter playoff loss to Wheelersburg on their home field.

Three of them got a chance to change their outcome in the Ohio North-South All-Star Classic on Saturday at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium. With Tingle leading the way, that's precisely what happened.

Tingle's touchdown pass to Carroll Bloom-Carroll wide receiver Beau Wisecarver in the fourth quarter broke a scoreless tie and proved to be the difference in a 13-0 win for the South in its annual battle with the North in the Division IV-VII game.

While Tingle, the Division V Offensive Player of the Year as a senior, had been playing baseball for more than a month, this game marked the first time he had taken contact in a football since his fateful injury.

He and classmates Kadin Bradford, who played the entire game at right tackle, and Dalton Patterson, who played every series at slot cornerback, helped lead a South squad whose defense didn't allow a possession in the red zone until the final minute.

"Coming in, just preparing throughout the week was a great time, mostly just making friendships and coming out one last time in high school football," Tingle said. "It's a place where you can have fun and it's not like a job or an everyday thing. It was just a great time to come out and make new friends and win a football game."

Tingle said it took some time to find his timing, as evidenced by a first half that saw him misfire on all but one pass sharing time with West Jefferson's Tyler Buescher. He also ran sparingly and kept his improvisation to a modest level.

Things changed in the second half. He had two timely scrambles on the go-ahead scoring drive in the fourth quarter, including two that netted first downs. Eventually he found the 6-2 Wisecarver on a corner route from just outside the North's 40-yard line.

"At first it's a little psychological," Tingle said. "But as the game went on, it was 0-0, and the competitiveness kicks in. You just have to go win a game so you go start making plays. Then you realize the ankle feels great and I think we're 100 percent, and it's no longer psychological."

Then it became about football.

With the defenses forced to play man coverage due to game rules, deep shots were the norm. He narrowly missed on three long throws to Waverly receiver Will Futhey, who is 6-5, but finally connected with Wisecarver, who made a diving catch in coverage.

Like Tingle, he was the spark on a Bloom-Carroll team that reached back-to-back state semifinals in Division IV.

"I was able to break some runs and get into the flow, enjoy the game and enjoy the process," Tingle said. "I made a some connections with (Wisecarver) throughout the week and that first touchdown rolled on into the rest of the game."

Patterson, like Tingle, was part of three consecutive teams that finished ranked the Associated Press' top 10 in Division V. While many in attendance were caught off-guard by Tingle's creativity and fearless play, he wasn't one of them.

"It didn't surprise me," Patterson said, "I knew he was going to be a little rusty because he hasn't played in forever, but it's Gabe. He's good. Eventually he's going to make the play."

Patterson was a late addition to provide help in the secondary, but he did so at cornerback, rather than his normal safety spot. He was rarely challenged, but he held up in the rare occasions he saw action.

He was urged to take the opportunity to play in the game by his coach, John Slusser, who also coaches Patterson in track. He is set to play basketball for Muskingum later this year, so there was injury risk involved.

"The way I look at injuries is it's like 10 percent chance," Patterson said. "You can get injured walking. It doesn't matter who you are, you can get injured. It's just a matter of timing. It's like Coach Slusser said, he told me to take this opportunity because there is no reason to go through life being scared of getting hurt. If you've got something go chase it."

The 6-4, 235-pound Bradford found himself in unfamiliar territory playing right tackle on offense. He was All-Ohio at defensive end, but the coaches elected to put him on offense.

Despite the change from the norm, he came away happy he chose to play and was thankful to have another game with his former teammates.

"The friendships we built, the players and coaches, it was just fun," Bradford said. "It's the last game, right? Playing offense was different, because I was expecting to play defensive end, but I'm just glad I played. We had I think seven (linemen) and one got hurt, so we had six rotating in. It kept me in the whole game."

His future remains undecided. Five of his former football teammates are playing at Marietta this fall.

"I'm leaning toward work a little and also sports a little," Bradford said. "I'll just have to see. I'm not sure."

He echoed Patterson's sentiments on Tingle returning with a purpose. He has come to expect nothing less as a three-year varsity teammate.

"I think it's great he got to play in this," Bradford said. "From where he was a few weeks ago, a few months ago with the ankle injury, to come back and being able to play in an All-Star game, he had fun. It was enjoyable being able to watch him get back on the field."

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This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Tingle leads Ridgewood trio in North-South football clash