MOUNTAIN RIDGE MINER FOOTBALL

   

ACCIDENT — On a chilly evening at Half-Mile High Stadium on Friday, Accident was treated to an instant classic.

No. 3 Mountain Ridge (4-3) was either trailing or tied with Northern for 48 minutes and then some but found a way to stun the Huskies for a 21-20 overtime victory. It was the Miners’ 100th victory since the school opened its doors in 2007.

“Just an unbelievable effort by our kids, unbelievable effort by Northern,” Mountain Ridge head coach Nathan Shipe said. “That was a classic football game, can’t say enough about our kids. We had a lot of kids that weren’t 100%, they played like gladiators tonight.”

The Huskies (3-4) couldn’t have asked for a better start.

“Those are tough ones, I’ve coached a long time, haven’t had many gut-wrenching losses like that,” Northern head coach Phil Carr said. “Our kids played their absolute hearts out. We executed pretty much to a T, except one or two things. I can’t say enough about the effort my guys gave tonight.”

After receiving the opening kickoff, Northern drained the clock and ran 19 plays for 80 yards.

All 19 plays were on the ground, and only one went for more than 10 yards.

The Huskies converted six third downs and a fourth down.

After 10 minutes and 47 seconds, Evan Graham punched it in from the four.

“I think that kinda set the tone a little,” Carr said. “We’re gonna run the football, and we’re gonna be good at it. I think we had a pretty good night. Our offensive line, that’s the best we’ve blocked all year. But that’s a textbook drive when you go 10 minutes off the clock and end up scoring.”

Graham finished with 29 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown.

The Miners offense did not take the field until 1:06 remaining in the first quarter.

Mountain Ridge’s first two drives ended in a punt and an interception by Hunter Livengood.

After Livengood’s pick, Northern took over at the Miners’ 47.

Facing fourth-and-9 at the 30, a pass was too far for the receiver, stalling the drive.

The Huskies took a 7-0 lead into halftime after outgaining Mountain Ridge 119 to 35.

The Miners had four carries for zero yards while Northern had 34 carries for 107.

“I think it impacted the offense, just being cold,” Shipe said of how Northern’s opening drive impacted his offense. “They’re able to grind out a 19-play drive and there’s a minute and change left. It was like we had to restart our offense in the second quarter.”

Mountain Ridge got the ball to start the second half, and a completion from Carter Clites to Eli Sibley went for 23 yards to the Huskies’ 23.

Two plays later, Kyree Griffin took a handoff and broke two tackles.

The ball came out and was recovered in the end zone by a Miner, however, the officials ruled Griffin broke the plane before fumbling, giving him a 24-yard touchdown run.

Tied at 7 late in the third quarter, Landon Yoder intercepted a pass on third down to set Northern up at its own 19.

Four plays later, Ross took a toss 47 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown to give the Huskies a 14-7 lead.

“They made some adjustments, we made some adjustments,” Carr said. “But we answered everything, when they tied the game, we came back and Luke scores.”

Ross finished with 11 carries for 79 yards and a score.

Three plays into the ensuing drive, Clites connected with Levi Clise over the middle for a 55-yard completion.

It set up Griffin’s second touchdown on a wheel route with seven seconds left in the quarter.

The Huskies took over to begin the fourth quarter and drove 54 yards in 16 plays.

Facing fourth down at the 16, Northern missed a field goal.

Mountain Ridge began the ensuing drive with 2:27 left at the 20.

From midfield, Griffin took off down the right sideline for a 40-yard run.

Griffin rushed nine times for 79 yards and a touchdown. 

On the final play of regulation, the Miners lined up for a 22-yard field goal.

The kick sailed wide left, sending the game into overtime.

The Huskies got the ball first in overtime and only needed three plays for Caleb Hinebaugh to score from the three.

However, the extra point missed left, keeping the score 20-14.

“We did a nice job with the line surge and punched it in,” Carr said. “I knew when we missed the extra point, that could be the difference maker.”

The Miners took over and two plays in, an unexpected snap led to a fumble, but the offense recovered for a 15-yard loss.

One play later on third and goal at the 25, Clites lobbed the ball deep to the right side of the end zone.

Clise was wide open for the game-winning touchdown, finishing with two catches for 80 yards.

“I think everyone on the sideline was calling that relay over,” Shipe said. “We knew we had two or three plays that we could choose from. Really the route by Owen McGeady, driving hard, drew the defense to him and opened it up for Levi Clise in the corner of the end zone.“

After missing a chip shot field goal to end regulation, Tyler Cook’s extra point split the upright for the win.

Mountain Ridge outgained Northern 272-264 overall and 237-145 in the second half.

Clites finished 12 of 23 for 195 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Last week in a 56-3 loss to No. 1 Fort Hill, Shipe said he was disappointed with how his team failed to overcome adversity.

This time, the Miners overcame adversity when needed most.

“That was something the coaches worked on a lot in practice,” Shipe said. “Making all the little things matter. From wearing the same thing at practice, doing all these little things together. And then when that didn’t happen, there was an immediate correction at practice. I think that paid off today with being able to shake off some perseverance we faced.”

Mountain Ridge heads to Williamsport (4-3) on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Northern travels to No. 4 Allegany (3-4), who defeated Keyser (3-4) 49-14.