The River Ridge football team cut a 24-point deficit down to 10 points in the fourth quarter and nearly made it a one-possession game, but Timberline held on to win 30-20 at South Sound Stadium Friday, Oct. 9.
The Hawks took the lead in the first quarter with an improbable conversion on third down and 21, as quarterback Ryzen Nunez rolled to his right and threw an accurate strike to a streaking Xavier Street for a 44-yard touchdown.
After River Ridge botched the extra point, Timberline marched down the field and took the lead with a Cam Vongdara 8-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. It was the first domino in a run of 30 unanswered points for the Blazers, who led 15-6 at halftime following a King Pridgen 7-yard score.
Vongdara threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Luckey Moore in the third quarter and housed a second rushing score to give Timberline a 30-6 advantage with 3:28 left in the third. River Ridge chopped the margin to 18 late in the third as Nunez tallied a 5-yard rushing touchdown.
His 1-yard “tush push” touchdown carry with 1:45 to play in the fourth quarter made it 30-20, but a Nunez two-point conversion pass to Aizaiah Rookwood in the corner of the end zone was ruled incomplete after the initial signal was for a completion.
Two-point conversions were a factor for the Hawks, as on multiple occasions, defensive penalties on extra-point attempts gave the Blazers opportunities to instead go for two and pad the lead.
Timberline recovered the ensuing onside kick after the Nunez touchdown, and Pridgen moved the chains to seal the league victory. Despite the victory and a 5-1 start, head coach James Jones was frustrated with defensive penalties piling up on the Blazers. He said Timberline racked up about 180 defensive penalty yards.
“Offensively, we were fine. We got the ball spread around a little bit. But today, it was more about penalties,” Jones said. “Between personal fouls, pass interferences, jumping offside, it was a hot mess. When you keep giving them first downs, that’s just not a recipe for being as successful as you can be.”
Next up for Timberline (5-1, 2-1 Puget Sound League) is a big one in Lakewood next Friday, Oct. 16 against Lakes (5-1, 3-0 PSL). River Ridge (0-6, 0-3 PSL) will host a red-hot Peninsula (4-2, 3-0 PSL) that night at South Sound Stadium.
