Preseason reports have stated that the Silverdale Seahawks graduated some 86 percent of their offensive production from a year ago, but you couldn’t tell it Friday night.
Scoring on five of their first six possessions, the Seahawks bolted to a 35-7 halftime lead that turned into a 42-27 victory over the East Ridge Pioneers in the season-opening game for both teams.
Silverdale scored on its first possession of the second half to go up 42-7, allowing the Mercy Rule to be used where the clock runs continuously as long as the lead is at least 30 points.
The Seahawks have a good senior class, but they also have a bunch of kids with very litter varsity experience, so the remainder of the game allowed those guys to get in.
Silverdale wasn’t nearly as effective on offense in the final half, but the lead was big enough that it really didn’t matter.
Silverdale coach Mike Connor was hoping that his backups would play a little better, but he was overall pleased with the overall effort of his team.
“I wish we could have played better in the second half, but our first team guys did their job to get the big lead,” he said shortly after the final horn had sounded.
“I’m proud of how we came out, but we weren’t able to maintain our intensity. We had a lot of extracurricular activities this week, so we had to overcome those distractions, but our goal was to come out and play hard for four quarters.
“Now we have to get ready for a tough road game next week at Franklin Road Academy, but give East Ridge credit as they kept fighting. But we just hope to keep this train rolling,” Connor added.
East Ridge coach Chad Barger liked what he saw in the second half, but not so much in the opening 24 minutes.
“We couldn’t seem to get out of our own way as we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot in the first half, but we didn’t quit and did some good things in the second half,” he began.
“We have some kids who can play and we have a chance to surprise some folks, but we just have to be more focused early. And we’ve got to clean up the mistakes we made tonight,” Barger nodded.
The Seahawks took the opening kickoff and marched 77 yards in 11 plays to take the lead with 9:07 left in the opening stanza when sophomore Caleb Greco scored on run from the 3.
He then booted the first of five straight extra points and the lead was 7-0 before the crowd got settled into their seats.
East Ridge then drove down to the Seahawk 7, but were stopped on downs when Jermaine Blackstock’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
Brett Rogers completed passes of 13 and four yards to Jackson Hattaway before picking up a bobbled snap on the next play and racing 75 yards for Silverdale’s second TD.
It was 14-0 when the first quarter ended.
Rogers tossed a 25-yard pass to Turner Junkins for Silverdale’s third touchdown with 10:31 left in the second before Jalen Ellis got East Ridge on the board with a 31-yard run at the 6:41 mark.
Rogers made it 28-7 with a 38-yard scamper on the drive following the East Ridge touchdown while a five-yard run by Caden Bancroft with 1:25 before intermission extended the lead to 35-7 at the break.
Rogers then tossed an 11-yard pass to Cameron Bowen to open the second half with just 2:31 elapsed and that was the end of the night for Rogers as subs played the rest of the way.
Cadion Harris had a big second half for East Ridge with three pass receptions for 128 yards and TDs covering 57 and 33 yards. He finished with four catches for 163 yards.
Ellis scored the final touchdown for East Ridge on a six-yard run with 3:37 to play before Silverdale was able to run the clock out.
East Ridge finished with 168 yards rushing and 171 yards passing for a total of 339 while Silverdale had 169 yards on the ground and another 207 through the air for 376 total yards.
Marquell Sails led the East Ridge rushing game with 76 yards on 13 carries while Ellis added 58 yards on 12 attempts.
Harris had 163 yards on four receptions to lead the East Ridge receivers.
Rogers had 112 yards on just three carries to lead the Seahawk running backs while Landon Deitch had 20 yards on six carries late.
Bowen led the Seahawk receivers with 75 yards on six grabs while Junkins had 46 yards on two catches and Hattaway 25 yards on three.
East Ridge will be at home next Friday to host Stone Memorial while Silverdale goes to Middle Tennessee to face Franklin Road Academy.
EAST RIDGE 0 7 6 14 -- 27
SILVERDALE 14 21 7 0 -- 42
Sil – Caleb Greco 3 run (Greco kick), 9:07 left in first;
Sil – Brett Rogers 75 run (Greco kick), 3:42 left in first;
Sil – Turner Junkins 25 pass from Rogers (Greco kick), 10:31 left in second;
ER – Jalen Ellis 31 run (Justin Ellis kick), 6:41 left in second;
Sil – Rogers 38 run (Greco kick), 5:38 left in second;
Sil – Caden Bancroft 5 run (Greco kick), 1:25 left in second;
Sil – Cameron Bowen 11 pass from Rogers (Greco kick), 9:29 left in third;
ER – Cadion Harris 57 pass from Jermaine Blackstock (kick failed), 0:00 left in third;
ER – Harris 33 pass from Blackstock (Marquell Sails run), 8:54 left in fourth;
ER – Ellis 6 run (T.J. Holmes run), 3:37 left in fourth.
TEAM STATS:
EAST RIDGE SILVERDALE
12 First Downs 17
38-168 Rushes-Yards 23-169
171 Passing Yards 207
339 Total Yards 376
6-10-0 Passes (Comp-Att-Int) 17-30-1
11-89 Penalties-Yards 4-35
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 3-0
4-25.0 Punts-Avg. 3-19.0
INDIVIDUAL STATS:
RUSHING: Marquell Sails 13 for 76 yards; Jalen Ellis 12 for 58 (East Ridge); Brett Rogers 3 for 112 yards; Landon Deitch 6 for 20 (Silverdale).
RECEIVING: Cadion Harris 4 for 163 yards; Peyton Livingston 1 for 11 (East Ridge); Cameron Bowen 6 for 75 yards; Turner Junkins 2 for 46; Jackson Hattaway 3 for 25 (Silverdale).
PASSING: Jermaine Blackstock 6 of 10 for 171 yards (East Ridge) Brett Rogers 14 of 23 for 191 yards.
RECORDS: East Ridge 0-1; Silverdale 1-0.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)