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Tarpon Stifles Ridgewood

SPONGERS 21, RAMS 3

Eric Horchy/SUNCOAST

Tailback Josiah Fisk dances away from Ridgewood defenders late in the game during the Spongers' 21-3 district win.

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By Eric Horchy | The Suncoast News

Published: October 25, 2008

Updated: 10/24/2008 11:42 pm

NEW PORT RICHEY - The offense may have needed a couple quarters to heat up, but the Tarpon Springs defense dominated during Friday night's 21-3 Class 4A, District 8 win at Ridgewood.

Tarpon (5-2, 2-1) held the Rams to only 106 yards of total offense and forced four turnovers – three interceptions and one recovered fumble. Ridgewood (3-4, 1-2) was limited to 78 yards rushing on 30 carries.

"We had to win, we're going at it one at a time, but we needed tonight," Tarpon head coach George Kotis said. "(Sterling) Ross, he's an awfully good back. We knew how good he was and we prepared for him like he was the best back we're going to see."

Following a scoreless first quarter and a tradeoff of back-to-back picks at the beginning of the second, the Spongers and quarterback Danny Reyes engineered a 13-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to take the 7-0 lead. Reyes found Bobby Reyes in the back corner of the end zone on a 4-yard fade route to cap the drive.

With the score still 7-0 Tarpon entering the second half, Ridgewood squandered its opening possession when Sponger safety Miles Toli stepped in to pick off Ridgewood's Scott Kujack at the Tarpon 1-yard line.

The Rams had another golden opportunity on their next time with the ball, starting at the Tarpon 32, but had to settle for a 32-yard Josh Gray field goal that cut the deficit to 7-3.

The field-goal drive would also be the last time Ridgewood moved the chains offensively and 12 penalties overall for 90 yards did not help the cause.

Tarpon iced the game in the fourth quarter. With 6:49 left to play, running back Danny Chaisson broke free for a 20-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-one.

A little over two minutes later and following a Darren Wood interception, Reyes found receiver Drew Kier on a middle post for a 36-yard score that made the score 21-3 Tarpon.

Reyes finished the night 18-for-35 with 210 yards passing, two touchdowns and an interception. Kier hauled in six balls for 102 yards and the final score.

SCORING:

Tarpon Springs; 0; 7; 0; 14; - 21
Ridgewood; 0; 0; 3; 0; - 3

TS -Vavlas 4-yard pass from Reyes. PAT kick (Hill) – 2nd Quarter
RW -Gray 32-yard field goal. – 3rd Quarter
TS -Chaisson 20-yard run. PAT kick (Hill) – 4th Quarter
TS -Kier 36-yard pass from Reyes. PAT kick (Hill) – 4th Quarter

TEAM STATS:

---------------TS---------RW
First Downs-----12-----8
Atts./Rushing Yds.-----32-72-----30-78
Comp./Pass Atts./Int.-----18-35-1-----5-14-3
Passing Yds. -----210-----28
Total Offense-----282-----106
Fumbles/Lost-----1-0-----1-1
Punts/Avg.-----5-35.6-----7-29.9
Penalties-----7-45-----12-90

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:

RUSHING
TS – Chaisson (6-31, TD), Fisk (13-41).
RW – Ross (23-79).

PASSING
TS – Reyes (18-35 for 210, 2 TD, INT).
RW – Kujack (5-12 for 28, INT).

RECEIVING
TS – Kier (6-102, TD), Vavlas (7-66, TD), Foster (3-22).
RW – Roles (1-25).

Eric Horchy can be reached at 727-815-1071 or ehorchy@suncoastnews.com

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