Published: October 11, 2008 12:40 am         

Ridge wears down Northern

Miners put away Huskies with 23-0 second half

ACCIDENT — Marcus Stuart’s touchdown late in the third quarter gave Mountain Ridge a bit of breathing room, and the fourth-ranked Miners put up 23 points over the final 17 minutes in pulling away for a 30-0 victory over Northern Friday night.

Ahead 7-0 after the first half, the Miners wore down the Huskies defense with a ball-hogging offense in the second. Mountain Ridge (5-1) outgained Northern (2-4) by a 198-67 margin over the final two periods.

Mountain Ridge finished with distinct advantages in first downs (18-9), rushing yardage (278-76) and total offense (335-150).

Braxton Brodie led the Miners with 17 rushes and 122 yards.

Josh Duckworth ran eight times for 41 yards for Northern. Kyle Gillum had three catches for 55 yards, and also punted five times for a booming 55-yard average.

Big second halves have become a trademark of the Miners this year. But so have slow starts.

In the first half, the Miners had a 45-yard touchdown run nullified by a penalty, and lost a fumble and had an interception inside the Northern 20.

In the second half, the Miners had four possessions and scored on all four: a 14-yard run by Stuart, a 22-yard field goal by Cody Hovatter, and 1-yard runs by Farris and Ryan Delaney.

The only touchdown of the first half was set up by a fumble recovery by Brett Fike, who pounced on a loose ball at the Northern 16. After a nine-yard run by Brodie, Corey Wellings powered his way into the end zone from seven yards out with 9:46 left in the half.

Northern, which had lost to unbeaten Smithsburg by a touchdown and was tied with undefeated Keyser midway through the third quarter earlier this year, gained a first down on its first play of the second half, but was unable to muster much else the rest of the way.

“I thought we were in the ball game just about the whole way. It was only 7-0 at halftime,’’ said Northern coach Phil Carr. “They did a good job defensively, and because of mistakes our offense put our defense in bad spots most of the game.

“Mountain Ridge is big and physical. Defensively, I thought we budged a bit but didn’t break.”

Mountain Ridge went 77 yards on its first possession of the second half. Stuart’s 14-yard run was the biggest gainer of the 10-play series, which included a fourth-down conversion and a big play by Ryan Bailey, who fell on a fumble at the Northern 30 to keep the drive alive.

After three Northern plays and a punt, Mountain Ridge went 68 yards, with the big play Jake Wilson’s one-handed reception of a tipped pass that went for 22 yards. Hovatter’s 22-yard field goal made it 17-0 with 9:13 left.

Farris came up with a big defensive play two plays later with an interception at the Northern 30. Five plays later, one having been a 15-yard pass from Farris to Russell Knieriem, the Miners quarterback scored on a one-yard keeper to make it 24-0 at the 6:32 mark.

Mountain Ridge went 65 yards on 11 plays for the final score, a one-yard run by Delaney, with 46 seconds to go.

Adam Moranduzzo had six solo tackles and 11 assists, and Trevor Tombley five solos and five assists for Northern. Bobby Wingrove had an interception and Dustin Stough recovered a fumble.

Zach Fratz returned a fourth-quarter kickoff 98 yards, from the Northern 1-yard line to the Mountain Ridge 1, but an illegal block in the back moved the Huskies back to the Miners 30.

Mountain Ridge hosts Berkeley Springs and Northern travels to Chestnut Ridge, Pa., on Friday night.