MOUNTAIN RIDGE MINER FOOTBALL

FREDERICK — Mountain Ridge was right there with a more-talented Frederick squad, but mental mistakes and injuries were too much to overcome.

The Miners trimmed their deficit to five points following Eli Sibley’s second touchdown with 7:19 remaining, but they wouldn’t see the ball again as Frederick iced the game behind workhorse back Jordan Bennett.

In the end, three interceptions, two missed field goals — one of which was blocked — and a revolving door of linebackers and defensive linemen doomed the third-ranked Miners to a 28-23 loss to Frederick on Friday night.

“Our kids showed a lot of courage,” Mountain Ridge head coach Nathan Shipe said. “Injuries happened, plugging guys in trying to make it work. But, you can’t make the mistakes we made against a team that’s more talented than you.“When you turn it over three times. Penalty kills a drive. One of those turnovers immediately turns into a touchdown. You aren’t going to beat a team as talented as Frederick.”

The loss was the first of the season for Mountain Ridge (3-1) and the program’s first to a team besides Fort Hill in 38 games.

That streak includes a 27-6 rout of Frederick (2-2) in a monsoon at Miners Stadium last year, a game in which Mountain Ridge used mistake-free football to neutralize the Cadets’ advantages in speed and strength.

Mountain Ridge looked down for the count Friday after Frederick drove 80 yards on six plays late in the third quarter with Bennett — who finished with 205 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries and gashed the Miners for 127 yards after halftime.

After a nine-yard quarterback keeper for a score by Miles Robinson capped the series, Mountain Ridge trailed 28-17 with 1:49 left in the third quarter.

The Miners then missed a 36-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter.

However, Kyree Griffin intercepted a Frederick pass to give the Miners the ball right back, and Mountain Ridge drove 54 yards on seven plays — the final a three-yard run by Sibley out of the Wildcat — to get within five points.

Mountain Ridge had two timeouts but couldn’t get Frederick off the field over the final seven-plus minutes.

The Miners had no answer for Bennett, who iced the game by converting a 4th-and-5 on the Mountain Ridge 19 to allow Frederick to run out the clock.

“He’s been a man for us all season,” Frederick head coach Pat Cadden said of Bennett, who has multiple Division 1 offers. “He’s a battering ram. It’s nice to have to kill the clock and have a guy of Bennett’s size to just pound.”

Frederick rushed for 318 yards on 39 carries, and Robinson added 117 yards on 11 carries in addition to Bennett’s huge night.

It didn’t help that Mountain Ridge lost both of its inside linebackers, Kaiden Lissau and Brody VanMeter, to injury during the course of the game. VanMeter had a sack during the first half.

Defensive lineman Jay Crawford and receiver/defensive back Owen McGeady also were removed with injuries and never returned. Their status will be determined next week.

Mountain Ridge looked like it would enter halftime with a lead following a 27-yard field goal by Tyler Cook that made it 10-7 with 2:25 left in the half.

Frederick answered with a long kick return to near midfield, and three plays and 55 yards later Bennett scampered 29 yards for a touchdown with 1:28 left in the half to make it 14-10 Cadets.

Robinson completed a 27-yard touchdown pass to Darius Eubank for the game’s first score with 6:03 remaining in the first quarter, and Mountain Ridge tied it 7-7 with an Eli Rafferty one-yard score with 10:50 left in the second period.

Sophomore Carter Clites, filling in for starting quarterback Cobe Penick, had his first underclassman jitters of the season, throwing two high passes that were intercepted before halftime.

A third with 6:34 left in the third quarter was returned 32 yards by Eubank for a touchdown to make it 21-10 Frederick. It was Eubank’s second interception, and Cory Martin had the other.

Clites settled in after halftime, completing 19 of 32 passes for 252 yards for the game.

“In the first half, he had some jitters. He sailed the football,” Shipe said. “The offensive line only gave up one sack, but I think it was in his head, the clock to get rid of the football was quicker than it has been the first three games.”

Sibley, who leads the area in receiving touchdowns, didn’t have a catch in the first half, but he had five for 146 yards after halftime. The big target was lethal over the middle of the field for receptions of 52 and 57 yards.

The former went for a touchdown with 4:39 remaining in the third quarter to get the Miners within 21-17.

“We made the decision as coaches, we have to give the ball to Eli Sibley,” Shipe said. “That put us back in position to give us a chance to win.”

Mountain Ridge had prime field position to open the second half after a return by Sibley to near midfield and a late hit out of bounds penalty gave the team the ball at Frederick’s 37.

However, Cook’s field goal was blocked. An assignment was missed by a player filling in for an injured Miner, Shipe said.

While Mountain Ridge moved the ball well through the air and Frederick did so on the ground, both sides struggled in the other phase.

The Miners ran for just 55 yards on 23 carries, led by Griffin’s 39 yards. Mountain Ridge targeted Griffin in the screen game as an extension of their run game, and he made six receptions for 45 yards.

McGeady had seven grabs for 49 yards before his injury.

The Cadets’ QB Miles Robinson completed 9 of 17 passes for only 47 yards and threw an interception.

Frederick had one lost fumble, a botched hand-off in the second quarter that was recovered by the Miners’ Daniel Swindle.

Frederick was penalized seven times for 60 yards, but a punch by a Cadet player on Griffin in the red zone was missed.

Despite the road letdown, Mountain Ridge will aim for a more complete performance that it’ll need to overcome second-ranked Frankfort (4-0) on Friday.

The Miners’ area-best 28-game home winning streak will also be on the line.

“Clean the slate,” Shipe said. “The objective this week is to get healthy physically and mentally.”