HS Football: Second Half Lifts Wood-Ridge Past Weehawken, 34-20

WEEHAWKEN, NJ - The Wood-Ridge Blue Devils moved to 2-0 with a 34-20 win over the Indians in a NJIC Patriot League game on Friday night at Weehawken Stadium.  After a low-scoring first half, both teams combined for 48 points in a back- and-forth second half of football.

After Weehawken started the game off with a failed onside kick, Wood-Ridge marched down the field through four carries by Za’Ki McGhee, bringing the Blue Devils to Weehawken’s 32-yard line.  After a five yard rush by quarterback Chris Rios,  McGhee would cap off the drive with a 27-yard rushing score.  Wood-Ridge would fail on the two-point conversion, leaving the score at 6-0.

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Despite a three-and-out on their first drive of the game, Weehawken took some momentum back with a punt that left the Blue Devils on their own one yard line.  After two stops for no gain by the Weehawken defense, Wood-Ridge looked to be in a tough spot, until Jayden Punt came up huge with a 13-yard gain on third down off a pass from Rios.  After a couple more first downs, penalties and a stop on fourth by the Weehawken defense ended the Blue Devils drive, giving the ball to the Indians on their own 30-yard line.

After stopping Weehawken to begin the second quarter, Wood-Ridge would again drive deep into Indians territory, only to fail on another fourth down attempt, giving the ball back to Weehawken on their own 20-yard line.

Once again, Wood-Ridge would drive down to field, this time all the way to the Indians two-yard line, only to come up short with a failed fourth down conversion.  Weehawken would run the ball one time, then take a knee to close the half.

After what was a stagnant first half on offense, Weehawken started the third quarter out strong with a series of rushing attempts that was capped off by a 22-yard run from Christian Ramirez for a touchdown, tying the score at 6-6.  Weehawken kicker Angel Hernandez would go on to miss the extra point.

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After each team traded punts,  Wood-Ridge took the ball down the field through big gains by Rios and then McGhee, capping off the drive with a QB sneak by Rios for a touchdown.   Wood-Ridge would make the extra point this time around, which kicker Matthew Macchia converted, making the score 13-6.

Weehawken would muff the ball on the kickoff attempt, with Wood-Ridge recovering, giving the Blue Devils the ball on the Indians 36 in the waning moments of the third quarter.

After starting the fourth with a stuffed run for no gain, Wood-Ridge would pick up the first down first down on a seven yard reception by Michael Prato.  Rios would then carry them to the end zone after that, running the ball for 20 yards on four attempts on a drive that ended in another QB sneak for the score.  Macchia would convert the extra point, making the score 20-6.

After a couple of big gains by the Weehawken offense were brought back due to penalties, the Indians persevere, running a flea flicker that led to Manny De La Hoz linking up Resendo Holdredge for a 20-yard gain on what would’ve otherwise been a pass interference on Wood-Ridge.  Ramirez would run the ball in again for his second score of the day, this time from six yards out.  Weehawken would go for a two-point conversion, to no avail, leaving the score at 20-12 with 7:34 remaining.

Weehawken would go for another onside kick, which was recovered by Wood-Ridge, giving the Blue Devils the ball at their own 47 yard line.  Wood-Ridge would immediately get into the red-zone off a huge 42-yard run by Rios.  After another run by Rios for three yards, McGhee would score his second touchdown of the game with a three yard run of his own.  Macchia’s extra point would bring the score to 27-12 with 5:44 remaining in the game.

Weehawken wouldn’t go down without a fight, as a big gain by Donavan Alves on the kickoff gave the offense a great starting field position on their own 47-yard line.  Christian Ramirez would then drive the Indians offense through a series of passes, with runs by De La Hoz and Ramirez himself mixed in between, finishing off the drive with a 24 yard pass to Holdrege for the touchdown.  Ramirez would also convert a two-point attempt, making the score 27-20 with just over three minutes remaining.

Weehawken’s comeback attempt would end here, as two runs by Rios combined for 54 yards and another touchdown for Wood-Ridge.  Macchia’s extra point would make it 34-20 with just over two minutes left in the contest.  Weehawken last ditch effort fell short, with Ramirez,completion to Holdrege falling short of the goal-line as time expired.

Despite the victory, Wood-Ridge head coach Joe Cutrona wanted more out of his Blue Devils.

“We had too many penalties, we kept them in the game, they were able to run the ball on us,”  Cutrona said. “I’m proud that we got the victory, I’m proud that the guys fought and got that win, but we got a lot of work to do.”

When asked about the keys to their win over Weehawken, Cutrona gave much praise to the quarterback.

“Chris Rios ran the heck out of the ball," Cutrona said. "He did a great job of reading the defenders, kept it when he had to keep it and gave it when he had to give it, he ran us to victory today.”

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