Bears Bend, Don't Break

Ridgewood High senior tailback Sterling Ross lived up to the pre-game hype Friday night at the Central High's Bears' Den.
Ross, the 6-foot, 185-pound transfer from Mitchell, came in averaging almost 11 yards a carry.
Despite the Rams graduating 28 seniors, including 22 starters from last year's 9-2 team, Ross' performance ignited the New Port Richey team to two wins in its first two games.
Against Central, Ross did not hurt his statistics rushing for a career-high 32 times for 270 yards and scoring twice (10, 3 yards) while collecting his sixth and seventh touchdowns of the season.
Despite the Central defense yielding 401 yards of total offense - including 335 of the ground - the Bears' defense responded with three interceptions off Rams' starting quarterback Jimmy Mattos and countered with three first-half touchdown runs to upset the Rams (2-1 overall, 0-1 4A-8), 21-13.
Central (2-2 overall, 1-0 4A-8) earned its second straight win as Anthony Hamrick, Nick Rosario and Artie Gartner each swiped a pass off Mattos.
Offensively, Central fullback Alex Rice (24 yards), quarterback Dallas Waugh (5 yards) and Austin Forte (9 yards) each scored a rushing touchdown for the Bears.
Rice finished with 63 yards on three carries but a crucial block in the back penalty in the second quarter wiped out a potential 80-yard touchdown gallop.
"I'll take the win," shrugged the 17-year-old Rice. "The win was big. We'll head back to work tomorrow and try to clean up some of our mistakes. Ross was alright. He took advantage of us making an assignment mistake here and there or us missing a tackle."
"It's real nice to get the first (district) win," smiled Central Head Coach Cliff Lohrey, who improved to 3-1 lifetime against Ridgewood. "This was not an upset. We came in expecting to win. It's not like Ridgewood is the Soviets and we're Team USA. The kids were battling hard every play."

Forte power

While Ross accounted for 76 percent of the Rams' offense Friday night, the Bears countered behind Forte, who came in as the Bears' leading rusher (67 attempts, 393 yards) and top scorer (five TDs).
Forte, a senior tailback, rushed 28 times for 131 yards and completed a key fourth-down pass out of punt formation that helped the Bears snap a 7-all tie midway through the second quarter.
Three plays following Forte's 31-yard pass to Hamrick, Waugh scored his second touchdown of the season on a keeper.
How big was the fourth-down pass?
"Coach Lohrey saw something and the call came in (to run the play)," recalled the 17-year-old Forte. "The play was huge; it was a tremendous momentum shifter."
And the win?
"It's huge," added Forte. "It puts us right where we want to be. Tonight's game really brought us all together."
Seven plays later, the Bears burned the Rams on another special team's assignment. Gartner returned Mattos' 32-yard punt 47 yards to the Ram 23. Gartner's return set up Forte's touchdown with 1:20 left. Rosario tacked on the third of his three point-after boots, 21-7.
"It was a tough game," described the 17-year-old Gartner. "We dedicated this game to a fallen classmate. We played for her tonight. There was a lot of emotion in the locker room."
What about the Bears' special team's plays?
"It's (the fake punt) something we work on every day in practice," said Lohrey. "We work special teams as hard as anybody. The pass play was a significant play."
Both teams missed golden opportunities score prior to the intermission.
Rosario pushed a 27-yard field wide right with nine seconds left while Ross scampered 25 yards into open territory before slipping down to the turf on a cut without a defender in sight.

Central 21, Ridgewood 13
Qtr. Scoring     1   2   3   4
Ridgewood   7   0   0   6 --13
Cenral      7  14   0   0 --21

Individual Scoring:
RW - Ross 10 run (Gray kick)
CEN - Rice 24 run (Rosario kick)
CEN - Waugh 5 run (Rosario kick)
CEN - Forte 9 run (Rosario kick)
RW - Ross 3 run (Gray kick blocked)
 
    RW CEN
First Downs   18   15
Atts./Rushing Yds.  38-335   43-220
Comp./Pass Atts./Int.  6-17-3 5-13-0
Passing Yds.   66 74
Total Offense   55-401   56-294
Fumbles/Lost   0-0   0-0
Return Yards   3-24   3-71
Punts/Avg.   1-32.0   2-31.5
Penalties   7-50   7-46