Ridgewood shuts down Malvern, sends Fry out a winner

WEST LAFAYETTE — Tears flowed down the face of Ridgewood senior Carter Fry, who couldn't hide his emotions after his game on Friday night with visiting Malvern.

Many would consider that an odd occurrence, especially seeing his Generals earned a 34-7 victory in the Inter-Valley Conference that was even more dominant than the score suggested.

For Fry, though, it carried even more meaning. It marked his final high school game, the result of being forced to sit the remainder of the season per Ohio High School Athletic Association transfer rules.

Of course, that wasn't the scenario he envisioned. His family moved into the Ridgewood district but owned multiple residences, and the OHSAA's compliance staff denied the transfer in August, determining that Fry was still residing in the River View district. Ridgewood denied it and appealed the ruling, but the OHSAA stood by the decision.

It left Fry with five games to make the most of a difficult situation. His team responded with its most impressive defensive showing of the season — and sent Fry out a winner.

"It really sucks, but this is a great program," Fry said. "It was the best decision I ever made. The guys that I met here and the friends that I made, I'm never going to forget. I love this place, especially since I got to go out on my home field.

"I'm not going to take it for granted," Fry added. "It was the last time playing with my friends, with guys who have my back no matter what. That's what it's all about right there."

Senior defensive end Jonas Paugh said Fry has been a welcome addition who fit seamlessly into the Wood way of life. To a man, he was widely embraced by coaches and teammates alike.

"He loves this place," Paugh said. "He only played half of a season, but it's family for him and he's family to us. He will always be one of us. It meant a lot for us to get a win for him."

Ridgewood led 14-0 at halftime and never let the unbeaten Hornets get their prolific offense started on a night the 6-2, 233-pound Paugh led a ferocious pass rush.

Fry had his say, taking most of the snaps at quarterback with backup Josiah Cahill doing his damage at receiver. Fry ran for a 3-yard touchdown with 5:06 left in the third quarter to make it 27-0 — set up by a Kaleb Schrock fumble recovery on the second-half — then hit five straight passes in a 9-play, 95-yard scoring drive to make it 34-0 with 11:09 left in the fourth.

Aiden Sparger capped that one with a 17-yard run that saw him break outside and outrun the Hornet defense to the corner of the end zone.

Schrock, who caught a team-high seven passes, said Fry has been a great teammate, adding the team wanted to make sure he went out on the right note.

That meant a win.

"He has been great for this team," Schrock said. "He's a leader. He didn't get treated right at River View and came here and just fit in instantly. He is a great kid."

An emphatic bounce back

It was an emphatic bounce-back effort from last week's 38-14 road loss to Beloit West Branch, projected by many to reach the Division IV final four. It was only Ridgewood's second regular season loss the last three seasons.

"Coming off last week, the coaches really emphasized the pass rush," Paugh said. "They really shut us down. We really didn't get to (quarterback Dru DeShields) at all. We had to get it together. The coaches do a great job of preparing us."

It took little time for Ridgewood to put last week in its rearview mirror.

The Generals' onside kick attempt was recovered by Grant Lahmers to start the game, and they immediately mounted a 66-yard scoring drive that saw 210-pound Kaulean Smith carry three times for 23 yards.

His final run, a 7-yarder through the middle, netted the game's first touchdown. The two-point conversion made it 8-0.

The first of five scoreless first-half possessions followed for Malvern, and the Generals got on the board again with 9:32 left before halftime when the slippery Cahill bolted 29 yards through the middle of the Hornet defense for a touchdown. The 45-yard drive required only three plays — all runs from Cahill — and Ridgewood led, 14-0.

Malvern, led by 6-4 quarterback Jared Witherow and speedy receiver Rodney Smith, never crossed the 50-yard line in the first half. That was due largely to the play of the Generals' front seven, led by Paugh and tackle Cam Hershberger, which spent considerable time flushing Witherow from the pocket.

Senior linebacker Quincy Hains and sophomore lineman Cohen Parsons also introduced themselves with hard hits on Witherow coming off the edge.

Unable to get comfortable, Witherow misfired on seven of his first eight passes and finished 5-of-18 for 80 yards. The running game struggled even more, as 51 of its 72 yards came on the final drive of the game after Ridgewood's starters exited.

The Hornets entered having scored no less than 21 points and were coming off a 47-7 win against Tuscarawas Valley in Week 4.

"We played a good game defensively," Ridgewood coach John Slusser said. "It was a weird first half because I felt like we dominated all aspects of it, yet I looked up at the scoreboard and it's only 14-0. We tried to work on some things to get better and did some different things, and we probably could have just ran the ball and won by three or four touchdowns. The point being, we're not going to be able to do that someday and we've got to be able to do other things."

Cahill back in the saddle

Next week, that will start with Cahill taking snaps. He was undefeated as a starter when Gabe Tingle was lost with a injury last year, and he shared time with Fry in the first of the season this year.

Cahill's running ability was in full effect on Friday, as he followed his scoring run in the second quarter with an 11-yard catch-and-run from Fry in the opening minute of the third to make it 21-0.

Fry's touchdown five minutes later, after another Malvern three-and-out, came after Shrock caught a 24-yard pass from Fry down the sideline.

He finished with a team-high 7 catches for 73 yards. With Cahill now at quarterback full time, Shrock's production will be needed even more to get the offense tracked.

Slusser said the win against Malvern was valuable because of the computer points it provided, adding they'll likely finish 9-1 and win the South Division.

Having a critical game after the loss was an effective motivator, Slusser said. Ridgewood ran for 299 yards and had a 423-74 edge in total yards when the starters left.

Smith and Fry combined for 144 yards rushing on 26 carries, while Cahill had 6 carries for 67.

"I'm glad we were at home," Slusser said. "I thought we came with a little bit of a hangover, not really into it like we normally are when we play at home. It was weird night with Carter's last game and us coming off a loss, which we rarely do in the regular season. It was just a different night, but nonetheless a successful one."

sblackbu@gannett.com; Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Ridgewood defense shuts down Malvern, sends Carter Fry out a winner