Jones propels Laurel to win over Riverside
Laurel (19) vs. Riverside (8)
Written: Sep 24, 2011
By Steve Treu
New Castle News
NORTH SEWICKLEY TOWNSHIP — The legs of Dylan Jones dominated the game, but the head of Brandon Ritchie clinched it.
Jones ran — and ran and ran some more — for 208 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries as Laurel High powered past host Riverside, 19-8, last night in Midwestern Athletic Conference action.
The Spartans sealed their first win of the season when Riverside’s last possession ended in an interception that deflected off of a diving Ritchie and into the arms of Jones, who cherished that pick as much as every other time he touched the ball on the evening.
“The ball bounced off Brandon’s helmet right to me,” said Jones, smiling ear to ear. “We planned it that way.”
That Jones and Ritchie teamed up defensively to finish off Riverside was appropriate as the duo tag-teamed on offense to demolish the Panthers.
Ritchie added to Jones’ huge night with 100 yards on 17 carries, many of them on fake inside handoffs when the junior quarterback instead darted around end for big gainers. He had an 11-yard touchdown run in the third quarter on precisely that kind of play.
All told, the Spartans (1-2 conference, 1-3 overall) piled up 327 rushing yards while limiting Riverside (1-3, 1-3) to just 54 on the ground.
“That’s what we’ve been looking for right there,” Laurel coach Jerry Holzhauser said. “Good running game, good defense. That’s what we want to do.”
Jones was quick to deflect credit off himself and onto his teammates up front.
“We had a good, hard running game,” he said, “but it was the offensive line that really did an amazing job.”
The 6-foot, 185-pound senior then mentioned each of his linemen by name, but it was No. 26 that gave Riverside nightmares last night.
The Panthers kept seeing that number bolt through their defensive front for huge chunks of yardage.
While his first three carries netted just 3 yards, the next 28 runs by Jones were almost all sizable gains. None was bigger than his fourth carry of the game, a 55-yarder for the opening score.
Jones burst through the right side of the line and fought off a pair of would-be tacklers with a stiff-arm before outracing a few helpless Panthers to the end zone.
“Dylan had a good game, he ran hard,” Holzhauser said. “It was a well-played game on both sides, both teams were very physical.”
The breakaway run was dazzling, but it was really Laurel’s second possession of the second quarter that defined the evening.
Starting on their own 23, the Spartans marched 77 yards on 11 plays to go up 12-0 on a short plunge by Jones. The drive featured 10 running attempts that, instead of being the classic three yards and a cloud of dust, was a more assertive five yards and a clump of mud.
A precision 32-yard pass from Ritchie to James Steele was Laurel’s biggest play through the air and set up Jones’ score.
The Panthers produced their points on the next play from scrimmage when Bob Gould hauled in a medium-range pass from Devin Kelosky and split a pair of defenders en route to a 60-yard touchdown. Kelosky hit Evan Hart on the conversion to make it 12-8 at halftime.
Laurel controlled the clock for nearly 10 minutes of the third quarter, including the final scoring drive of 65 yards that involved nothing but runs by Jones and Ritchie ... and all that good blocking in the trenches.
“We fought through some injuries and everyone stepped it up,” Jones said.
Laurel outgained Riverside 408-222, as the Panthers had 168 passing yards.
The Spartans will try to extend their winning ways next week at Freedom, while Riverside travels to Beaver Falls.
LAUREL RIVERSIDE
17 First downs 7
331 Yards Rushing 61
4 Yards Lost 7
327 Net Rushing 54
7 Passes Attempted 9
5 Passes Completed 20
0 Passes Intercepted 1
81 Yards Passing 168
408 Total Yards 222
3-0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0
2-33 Punts-Average 5-28
1-10 Penalties-Yards 3-24
LAUREL 6 6 7 0 — 19
RIVERSIDE 0 8 0 0 — 8
Scoring plays
LAUREL — Dylan Jones, 55-yard run (kick failed).
LAUREL — Jones, 1-yard run (pass failed).
RIVERSIDE — Bob Gould, 60-yard pass from Devin Kelosky (Evan Hart, pass from Kelosky).
LAUREL — Brandon Ritchie, 11-yard run (Joseph Johnson kick).
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