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Ringgold Overcomes Adversity, Wins At Dade County To Open 2024 Season

Sports, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports August 16, 2024 , by

Ringgold overcomes adversity, wins at Dade County to begin 2024 season.

BY JEFF CATE (TEAM FYN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR)

TRENTON, Ga. – A festive atmosphere set the scene for the first game of the 2024 high school football season in The Peach State at Magic Morgan Stadium as the Dade County Wolverines hosted the Ringgold Tigers in a non-region matchup of playoff teams from 2023. The Tigers got their first lesson in overcoming adversity on the year, coming together as a team when key contributors had injuries, and getting a 23-13 victory on Thursday night.

Ringgold got on the board on their first possession of the game and season on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Garett Edgar to Taylor Pierce, giving Ringgold a quick 7-0 lead less than 5 minutes into the game.
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@RinggoldFB w/ the first points of the 2024 season on this TD pass, Tigers lead 7-0; 8:40/1Q @OffTheBenchCHA @redzonescores @curtredzone @TalkRadio1023 @GarrettEdgar7 @CoachACrisp @micahfries @haddonfries @bricelegend49
The Tigers defense stopped Dade County on the Wolverines’ first possession when Zac Strawbridge found a gap in the Dade offensive line and stuffed and 3rd and 2 attempt, giving the Ringgold offense the ball back with a chance to add to their first quarter lead. Haddon Fries’ powerful running and a 20 plus yard Kishaun Taylor catch on 3rd and 16 got the Tigers inside the red zone. The drive stalled but Ringgold got points on a Manuel Saldana field goal to extend the lead to 10-0 with 2:28 remaining in the first quarter, which would be the score at the end of the quarter.
Cole Runion brought in his second interception of the first half for the Tigers, giving Ringgold the football inside the Dade County 30-yard line. Edgar found Taylor down the sideline, who got one foot down inbounds, giving Ringgold a first and goal inside the 5.
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Was it a catch? Indeed! @OffTheBenchCHA @redzonescores @curtredzone @TalkRadio1023 @jlsimsy @GarrettEdgar7 @micahfries @haddonfries @bricelegend49 @ChancePonce8 @CoachACrisp @taylor_kishaun @TaylorPierce07 @Cole_Runion20
Fries looked to have scored on a short touchdown run, but it was wiped off the board because of a penalty. The drive eventually stalled but Saldana added another field goal to push the Tigers’ lead to 13-0 with 8:31 left in the second quarter. The Wolverines would finally get on the board in the final 30 seconds of the first half when senior quarterback Bryson Shrader’s deflected pass was hauled in by Demetrius Walker. The extra point was blocked, giving Ringgold a 13-6 advantage that they would take to the locker room.
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Huge answer from @DadeWolverines w/ 18 seconds left in the 2Q as @BrysonShrader’s pass was deflected & @dwalker3205 brought it in! The PAT was blocked but Dade cuts the @RinggoldFB lead to 13-6! @OffTheBenchCHA @redzonescores @curtredzone @TalkRadio1023 @jlsimsy @Poston_Coach
Here comes that lesson in overcoming adversity for Ringgold. Edgar went down with an injury, forcing freshman Brody Raby to take the reins under the Friday night lights. His defense would lend him a hand when Logan Roberts intercepted a Shrader pass inside the Wolverines’ 30-yard line. The Tigers would take advantage of another Dade County turnover when Saldana connected on his field goal of the game with just under 4 minutes left in the third quarter to give Ringgold a little bit of breathing room, a 16-6 lead. About 2 minutes later, Dade County answered when Shrader scored on a 3-yard keeper to cut the Ringgold lead to single digits, 16-13, with 2:10 left in the quarter. Evan Koger ripped off a 53-yard run to get the Wolverines inside the 5-yard line before Shrader touchdown run.
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@evankoger25’s big run to the 5 set up @DadeWolverines for their 2nd TD of the night… @BrysonShrader runs it in and the Wolverines only trail 16-13; 2:10/3Q! @OffTheBenchCHA @redzonescores @jlsimsy @TalkRadio1023 @Poston_Coach

The thing that cost Dade County all night came back to bite them at the worst time. The Wolverines fumbled inside Ringgold territory near the 40 and the Tigers recovered with just under 7 minutes left in the game. Dade County would turn the ball over 5 times total on the night Soon after, Raby laid it up on a beautiful pass that Taylor hauled in on a 60-yard touchdown to give Ringgold a 23-13 lead with 6:17 remaining.

“We needed to take a shot at that time”, Ringgold head coach Austin Crisp said of the Raby touchdown pass to Taylor. “We call it, Brody does a great job of staying calm in the pocket and completing it”.

The Tigers’ defense put an exclamation point on a great night when Runion intercepted his third pass on the night to put the game away with less than 2 minutes remaining.

Ringgold is 1-0 and hits the road next Friday night to take on Murray County. Dade County looks to rebound when they host Trion.

 

Follow Jeff on “X” at @TheJeffCate

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