OAKLAND — Southern came to play in the first half, but costly turnovers prevented a potential upset as Mountain Ridge opened the season with a 34-0 road win on Saturday.
“It’s always good to start the season with a win,” Mountain Ridge head coach Nathan Shipe said. “Southern was able to control the football in the first half, we were kind of lucky to go into halftime with a lead. I feel like that needs to be our worst game. We need to continue getting better every week because it was very sloppy.”
Kaden Lissau blocked a punt on Southern’s opening drive, and Brayden Whetzel recovered at the Rams’ 25.
“Thought we were aggressive, thought we were physical,” Southern head coach Dave McLaughlin said. “Thought we played well first half. Did some things, created some problems for them. We got the ball down at the two and run a play that’s worked for us all night. Ball bounces away from us and sometimes you can’t get away from that bug at times.”
Five plays later, Carter Clites found Levi Clise on a three-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring for the Miners.
On Southern’s second drive, the Rams went for it on fourth-and-2 at their own 28.
Jacob Brown escaped a wave of defenders and broke off a 41-yard run to the Mountain Ridge 31.
“We finally started running some things that maybe our line was comfortable with,” McLaughlin said. “I got a sophomore starting center, I got a starting guard that’s three years removed from football and a junior in his second year of football. A little shell-shocked at the beginning, but we settled down.”
The drive stalled on a fumble, but the Ram defense forced a pair of interceptions from Brown and Hayden Williams in the second quarter.
The Miner defense answered by turning both ensuing drives into interceptions by Clise and Noah Kenner.
“The defense did a good job holding their ground,” Shipe said. “A couple times they were put into a difficult situation by turnovers. Southern did a good job being aggressive and kind of forcing the issue. They threatened several times to punch the ball in, but our defense was able to hold strong.”
Clise’s interception set up a nine-play, 91-yard drive highlighted by a 30-yard pass from Clites to Nathan Miller.
With 12 seconds left in the first half, Clites found Kris Washington for a five-yard touchdown pass to push Mountain Ridge’s halftime lead to 13-0.
Williams blocked the extra point for the Rams.
“Our kids were very happy at halftime, it was nice to see that look in their eyes finally,” McLaughlin said. “Realizing it’s halftime, we’re in a ball game.”
The Miners were held to a 144-123 lead in yardage, but Southern’s defense limited them to only nine rushing yards.
“We’re so close tonight getting over a hump,” McLaughlin said. “If we put that in, it’s a 7-7 ball game early in the second quarter. Now, I think our kids start believing more. Not saying we would’ve won the ballgame, not saying Mountain Ridge wouldn’t have scored the points they scored. At that point, it’s a different outlook.”
Clise opened the scoring in the third quarter on an 11-yard direct snap after converting a third down for 40 yards earlier in the drive.
On third-and-25 at the Rams’ 30, Clites set up a screen from Jasper Crissman for another touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.
“Carter getting better at his reads, there were a couple long pass plays that were called back,” Shipe said of what changed to get the offense going. “He was able to see what the defense was giving him and getting the ball to the right spot.”
Clites concluded the scoring late in the fourth on a 10-yard touchdown run.
In the previous four meetings, Mountain Ridge won by a combined margin of 251-13 and scored at least 49 points each time.
“I don’t think the score is indicative of the game,” McLaughlin said. “I’m not taking anything away from Mountain Ridge, they’re a good football team. I’m never pleased with a loss, but there’s a lot more positives than negatives. That’s something to build on.”
Both teams are on the road on Friday at 7 p.m.
The Miners head to Boonsboro (0-1) while the Rams travel to Hancock (0-1).
“They return a lot of really good players,” Shipe said. “They got some big backs. They like to put pressure on you on the edge, run a lot of motion, jet sweep. It’s a very slick and deceptive offense with a lot of motions, fakes and misdirections.”