Ponies Trample East Ridge 33-6

After a first half that was filled with missed opportunities, Stillwater took advantage of the final 24 minutes in a big way to beat East Ridge 33-6 at Pony Stadium.

It marked the first time the two schools played each other in football and the first half appeared to foreshadow a close affair.

Stillwater made the move to put Nate Ricci back at quarterback and he took over, scoring two touchdowns on the ground in the third quarter and connected with Charlie Register for a 54-yard score on the first play in the fourth quarter to open up a huge lead for the Ponies.

“At halftime we said we wanted to run the ball against the wind and go to the pass in the fourth,” Ricci said. “That is pretty much how it played out.”

With the Ponies leading 6-0 in the third and the ball on the Raptors 34, Ricci called his own number on an option to the left.

All it took was one hard cut to the middle and he was off to the races, only having to dive into the end zone to beat an East Ridge defender to extend the lead to 12-0.

Stillwater got the ball back late in the third and Ricci wasted little time in extending the lead going into the final quarter.

From the shotgun, he again, took it on his own and cruised through the middle to easily scamper in for a 60-yard touchdown and give Stillwater a 19-0 lead.

“With the way they played us in the first half, we had to open things up,” Ricci said. “We went to the shotgun and spread things out a bit.”

“We needed to do some things better on offense,” LaBore added. “With the way they were playing up front, we had to open some things up. We blocked better, made some passes and got Nate into some space and he is very good in space.”

On the first play in the fourth quarter, Ricci decided it was time to take it to the air.

On a simple seam route, Charlie Register got behind East Ridge’s secondary and Ricci hit him right in stride for a 54-yard touchdown and a 26-6 lead.

That was the end of the night for Ricci, but all too late for Raptors coach Mike Pendino.

“When the first half started, I said, please don’t put Ricci in at quarterback,” Pendino said. “If I had him, I would ride the kid for as long as he can go.”

To make a comeback over more difficult, Ponies running back Nick Anderson took over the final scoring drive of the game, which seemed to take up a majority of the fourth quarter.

He eventually popped in a 16-yard touchdown on a power run play over the right side of the line to walk into the end zone.

“Anytime the defense knows you are going to run the ball and you’re still able to do it, it’s very encouraging,” LaBore said. “It’s probably Nick’s best drive of the season. He is starting to see things better.”

There are two games left in the regular season for both.

Stillwater will travel to Roseville next week and will more than likely have to win there and at home the following week against Hastings to lock down the No. 2 seed in section play behind Mounds View.

“It is still day-by-day for us,” LaBore said. “There is a lot of football still to be played before that.”

With the win the Ponies improve to 4-2 on the season, while East Ridge drops to 1-5 and will take on 0-6 Park on the road.

“We have to finish strong,” Pendino said. “There are six sophomores starting for us at it might be tough at times, but they are going to be great players come the end of the year. We’ll have our turn, too.”

On top of the first meeting being somewhat of a historic event, prior to the game and during halftime, longtime Ponies head coach George Thole was recognized for his 29 seasons as head coach of Stillwater.

He recorded a 285-69-2 record during his tenure and had four state championships, two runner-ups and 17 total state tournament appearances.

Thole received a standing ovation from a packed house for Homecoming.

With Thole in the stands, LaBore said it was imperative for Stillwater to perform well not only for him, but for the Ponies as well.

“George rarely misses a game,” he said. “It’s always nice to have a guy who built this program in the stands supporting your team.

It was important for our team to win this game and it was important to win this game for him so he wouldn’t have to limp out of here like he said he would have if we lost this one.”