Local Sports

Ritchie holds on for 44-29 win over Webster

ELLENBORO - Unlike the previous week, Ritchie County closed up shop in the final minutes.

Friday night at Chuck Schofield Memorial Stadium, Rebels quarterback Landen Hanlon hooked up with Jenner Keen for touchdown passes of 56 and 73 yards, and Isaiah Poole turned in typical Poole numbers rushing for 128 yards in a 44-29 win over Webster County.

Despite trailing by 20 points in the opening moments of the fourth quarter, the Highlanders answered with one of four touchdowns by running back Ryder Wright and took over near midfield on their next offensive possession when who else but Wright picked off a pass with four-plus minutes still remaining in regulation.

In their most recent game against Liberty, Ritchie rallied for 20 unanswered points to tie the game only to allow a late touchdown in a 36-30 loss.

Against Webster, Ritchie wasn't about to make the same mistake twice. A 15-yard pass interference penalty was the Highlanders' best offense as the Rebels held their ground and got a stop on fourth-and-13 from Ritchie 24.

During that sequence, Webster actually had first down at the 21, but Ritchie sophomore Ashton Byrd sacked Webster quarterback Silas Mustoe for a 3-yard loss. After an incomplete pass, Mustoe called his own number and ran to the outside. As he tried to cut back Aiden Cumpton made the tackle for a mere 1-yard gain.

"We knew we needed a stop, so we were blitzing linebackers," Byrd said

On fourth down, a double dose of Jake Waugaman and Poole chased Mustoe out of the pocket for a 1-yard loss.

The 10th-ranked Rebels improve to 5-3, while Webster County moves to 4-4.

"As the night went on, our guys kind of settled in a little bit," Ritchie County coach Jared Shipe said. "I think there was a little bit of a mental hangover (from last week). You don't want to let a team score and then you think you might slip the next one. Our guys fought really hard. Webster is an extremely physical team. They are going to be in the playoffs and they are going to give somebody a run for their money because they are way better than their record shows.

"So this is a quality win for us tonight."

Not once on Webster's final possession did Wright touch the ball after rushing for 192 yards on 225 carries.

"(Wright) is tremendous - he is super fast," Shipe continued. "He is a great kid as far as an athlete. We knew he was going to be a kid that we had to keep pinned in. We tried our best to get guys in the right position.

"A couple of times, we had some blitzes called. We called them wrong. Or we had kids aligned and they weren't given the right approach to the fundamentals we needed to do, and that kind of burned us a few times. That's just learning, and we will get better at that."

The first three possessions of the game resulted in punts. Ritchie's offense then went to work and scored touchdowns on its next three possessions.

Hanlon connected with Aiden Compton for an 11-yard reception for the first touchdown at the 2:04 mark of the first quarter. After Wright returned the ensuing kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown, the Rebels struck again - this time on Keen's 4-yard TD run 14 seconds into the second quarter.

Byrd, also Ritchie's placekicker, pulled off a rarity on the kickoff - his squib kick ricocheted off a Webster player and Byrd recovered the loose ball.

"I just kick it as hard as I can, hope it bounces off then use my speed," Byrd said.

One play into the series, Hanlon dropped back to pass and found Keen downfield for the catch-and-run resulting in a 56-yard touchdown. As he did twice before, Hanlon completed yet another pass on the two-point conversion, and the Rebels led 24-7.

The score stayed status quo until the final minute of the first half. Mustoe fired a bullet down the middle of the field to Wright for a 22-yard TD. The point after stood as the final points going into halftime with Ritchie leading 24-14.

Keen's contribution wasn't isolated to his 136 yards on three catches. On their initial series of the second half, the Highlanders went three-and-out. On the punt, Keen's 53-yard return plus a late hit penalty left the Rebels with first-and-goal from the 6.

On second down, Hanlon recorded his third touchdown completion - this time a 6-yarder to Hunter McCray. Halon finished the game completing 7-of-11 passes for 175 yards. His third and final TD - the 73-yarder to Keen - occurred less than a minute into the fourth quarter

Keen described his connection with his quarterback.

"We are like bread and butter, peanut butter and jelly," Keen said. "I guess I would consider myself the peanut butter."

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com

Ritchie County 44, Webster County 22

WC (4-4) 7 7 8 7 - 29

RC (5-3) 8 16 14 6 - 44

First Quarter

RC: Aiden Compton 12 pass from Landen Hanlon (Jenner Keen pass from Landon Hanlon), 2:04

WC: Ryder Wright 77 kickoff touchdown (Spencer Baird kick), 1:53

Second Quarter

RC: Jenner Keen 4 run (Jake Waugaman pass from Hanlon), 11:46

RC: Keen 56 pass from Landon Hanlon (Jenner Keen pass from Hanlon), 11:19

WC: Wright 22 pass from Silas Mustoe (Baird kick), 1:06

Third Quarter

RC: Hunter McCray 6 pass from Hanlon (Noah Shoemaker pass from Hanlon), 8:21

WC: Wright 61 run (Braxton Williams pass from Mustoe), 8:04

RC: Hanlon 3 run (run failed), 3:25

Fourth Quarter

RC: Keen 73 pass from Hanlon (pass failed)

WC: Wright 3 run (Baird kick), 6:12

Team Stats

Webster County. First downs: 14. Rushes-yards: 37-206. Passing yards: 68. Total yards: 274. Passing: 4-18-1.

Ritchie County. First downs: 18. Rushes-yards: 44-235. Passing yards: 175. Total yards: 410. Passing: 7-11-2.

Individual Stats

Webster County: Rushing: Ryder Wright 25-192, Silas Mustoe 12-14. Passing: Mustoe 4-18-1, 68 yards. Receiving: Isaiah Cutlip 1-25, Ryder Wright 1-22, Kobe Southern 2-21.

Ritchie County: Rushing: Isaiah Poole 16-128, Landen Hanlon 7-21, Jenner Keen 16-30, Noah Shoemaker 3-25, Ashton Byrd 1-5, Hunter McCray 1-26. Passing: Hanlon 7-11-2, 175 yards. Receiving: Jenner Keen 3-136, Hunter McCray 1-6, Noah Shoemaker 1-10, Aiden Compton 1-11, Quentin Byrd 1-12.

Next game: Braxton County at Ritchie County, 7:30 p.m,. Friday; Calhoun County at Webster County, 7 p.m. Friday