Ridge Football Scores Seven Touchdowns in Win Over Cranford

Information and photos from Terry Boudreau

The undefeated Ridge High School football team continued a successful 2013 season with a win over Cranford at home — on senior night — on Friday evening. The Red Devils now stand 7-0 and are the Watchung Division Mid-State 38 Division Champions for the second straight year. 

After falling behind 7-0 in the first quarter, Ridge came to life and scored seven touchdowns, accumulating 470 yards of offense in the 49-28 win. 

Ridge got its scoring from Liam Derkasch (2), Nick Franzese (2), Matt Soulas (2), and Conor Hughes.

"A win is a win," said Matt Soulas, one of the seniors.  "We gave up 28 points, we should have done better than that."

"Cranford has a great offense, a hard offense to stop," said Nick Franzese, another senior. "But we contained them well and our offense picked up the defense when we needed it. I think we were able to balance it pretty well."

"That Cranford group is awesome on offense and when they run the option, it is a nightmare," said Ridge Head Coach Bill Tracy. "It feels like they are playing with 13 people. It is brutal, but we knew all week that it was coming." 

Tracy added that, "The kids got stops when they had to, including the huge stop near the goal line, that was a very big play in the game. Offensively we were pretty sharp ourselves and I think special teams played very well.  It is a good win."

The Red Devils travel next week for an away game at 7 p.m. on Friday at Hunterdon Central High School.

Linda Sadlouskos contributed information to this story.