Ridgeway rushes Bulldogs to come-from-behind win over Loggers
WHITEFISH — The Whitefish Bulldogs overcame a heavy dose of Libby running back and Montana Grizzlies commit Cy Stevenson to beat the Loggers 48-39 Friday in Western A action.
Fynn Ridgeway led the charge for Whitefish with five touchdowns on the ground and 156 rushing yards of his own. Ridgeway also dazzled through the air going 21 of 27 for 320 yards and connecting with Clayton Godsey for a pair of touchdown passes.
In total Ridgeway had seven total scores and accumulated over 450 yards of total offense.
“All the trust in the world, since day one, since he’s been growing as a freshman for moments like this, he showed his true colors tonight on the field and as a person, couldn’t be more proud of him and all of our guys,” Whitefish coach Brett Bollweg said.
Despite the huge numbers from Ridgeway the Bulldogs were not without their challenges as Libby rushed out to a 20-14 halftime lead.
The Loggers run game dominated early with Libby’s first and only passing play of the half resulting in a touchdown pass from quarterback Trevor Collins to Cy Williams for 30 yards. Other than that, the Loggers ground game set the tempo with touchdown runs of 60 yards by Stevenson and a 14 yard run by Jae Deshazer who was effective on the ground with 82 yards and two scores.
Ridgeway softened the blow of the Loggers' run game by hitting Godsey for a touchdown with 3:07 to go in the first when the Bulldogs quarterback rolled to his left and fired a dart for the score. Ridgeway would find paydirt again with 1:46 to go in the half after a Libby fumble set the Bulldogs up at the Loggers 24 allowing Whitefish to score in two plays – both Ridgeway draws up the middle.
From there the race began with the teams combining to score eight touchdowns in the second half.
Libby’s run game continued to roll, with the Loggers driving 77 yards, all rushing, to score and Deshazer capping things off with a 15 yard touchdown run to make it 26-14 Libby.
The Bulldogs responded quickly, with Ridgeway leading a quick drive and needing just over a minute to score. He found Mason Kelch for back-to-back first down completions and on the following play he dropped back, surveyed the field and hit Godsey for his second touchdown of the day.
The Bulldogs defense got a stop and Ridgeway went back to work marching 55 yards over 7 plays for a score highlighted by multiple big runs by the Whitefish quarterback who capped it off with a one yard touchdown on the ground to take the lead 27-26.
Libby retaliated with Stevenson breaking away from the Bulldogs defense for a 49-yard rushing touchdown to make it 32-27.
After a Libby squib kick set Whitefish up with good field possession, the Bulldogs needed only 1:33 of game time to find the end zone after Ridgeway connected with Morgan Kyle on a 40 yard completion to move the ball to the Libby 10.
Ridgeway took the following snap, danced to his left, juked the outside defender and dashed to the end zone to make it 35-32 after he converted the two point conversion on a QB sneak.
Once again Libby bounced back quick with Stevenson out running the Bulldogs defense again on the drive’s first play for an 81 yard touchdown run giving the Loggers a 39-35 lead.
Stevenson finished the day with a whopping 337 rushing yards on 18 carries.
“He’s a special kid, super impressive, he’s a dynamic football player. It's going to be exciting to watch him on Saturdays,” Bollweg said.
Before another minute could come off the clock Whitefish took control of the scoreboard once again when Ridgeway took the second play of the drive for a 63 yard touchdown run. He took a quarterback draw, broke one tackle in the secondary, and sped past the Loggers defense for what would be the game’s deciding score.
From there the Whitefish defense strung together multiple stops down the stretch and Ridgeway tacked on some insurance with a one yard touchdown run with 2:08 to play to seal the deal for the Bulldogs. Despite allowing 38 points on the day, the Bulldogs defense came up big when it mattered most by holding the Loggers offense scoreless over the remaining 8:42 of the fourth quarter.
“Resilience, toughness, effort, ability to be coached, and respond in a really cool way tonight,” Bolllweg said of the defense.
Libby 14 6 6 13 - 39
Whitefish 7 7 13 21 - 48
L — Cy Williams 30 pass from Trevor Collins (PAT good) 6:48-1Q
W — Clayton Godsey 25 pass from Fynn Ridgeway (Ryder Barinowski PAT good) 3:07-1Q
L — Cy Stevenson 60 run (PAT good) 2:08-1Q
L — Jace Deshazer 14 run (PAT no good) 3:25-2Q
W — Ridgeway 9 run (Barinowski PAT good) 1:46-2Q
L — Deshazer 15 run (PAT no good) 8:37-3Q
W — Godsey 30 pass from Ridgeway (Two point no good) 7:22-3Q
W — Ridgeway 1 run (Barinowski PAT good) 1:50-3Q
L — Stevenson 49 run (Two point no good)
W — Ridgeway 10 run (Barinowski PAT good) 9:02-4Q
L — Stevenson 81 run (PAT Good) 8:42-4Q
W — Ridgeway 63 run (Two point good - Ridgeway run) 7:45-4Q
W — Ridgeway 1 run (Barinowski PAT good) 2:08-4Q
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Libby Stevenson 18-337, Deshazer 17-82. Whitefish — Ridgeway 17-156, Ty Schwaiger 12-64.
PASSING: Libby — stats unavailable. Whitefish — Ridgeway 21-27-0 for 320 yards.
RECEIVING — Libby — stats unavailable. Whitefish — Mason Kelch 6-90, Dane Hunt 6-79, Godsey 2-55, Morgan Kyle 1-40, Barinowski 4-36, Schwaiger 1-14, Jesse Burrough 1-6.