WOODSTOCK — River Ridge took advantage of two South Cobb turnovers in the second half and outlasted the Eagles 20-13 on Friday.
The win was the Knights’ first region win and fourth overall of the season, a one-game improvement from last season.
“We’ve been through a lot of adversity this year, and for them, that record is a tangible thing,” River Ridge coach Tyler Wynn said. “To finish better than we did last year, that’s what we told them at the beginning. We just want to get better every year, every day.”
Though they struggled to sustain drives, as evidenced by their 139 total yards of offense, the Knights stepped up in the third quarter when they took over at South Cobb’s 30-yard line following an Eagle fumble. Senior Chris Long gave the Knights a lead they did not relinquish when he scored on a 6-yard run.
“It says a lot about the character of our kids. It would’ve been easy for us to be done, but they’ve been working hard. They deserved this,” Wynn said.
Long proved to be the star of the night for River Ridge, battling his way for 57 yards on 18 carries. He also gave the Knights some breathing room when he ran a fourth-quarter interception back 15 yards for touchdown.
The Eagles broke through for the game’s first points when wide receiver Brysen Boone took a slant from Aeneas Dennis for 71 yards.
River Ridge responded right away with a 95-yard kickoff return from Chris Bethea. The Knights punched in their lone touchdown of the game when Shakir Johnson rumbled in four plays later.
Dennis combined to run and pass for 160 of the Eagles’ 197 first-half yards, as they built a 13-7 advantage at the break.
“It’s the tale of our season. We’ll come out here and play a great first half, and when we come out of the locker room, we turn from the Incredible Hulk to Bruce Banner,” South Cobb coach Terry Jones a said. “We don’t know how to finish games in the second half. Me being the head coach, that falls on me. That’s something that’s going to eat at me the whole offseason, trying to find a way to get out team to finish.”
The second half was a different story as South Cobb struggled to gain anything on the ground, totaling 7 yards rushing. River Ridge’s defense played a large role in that, sacking or tackling the Eagles behind the line of scrimmage seven times in the last two quarters.