Late Ridge Comeback Falls Short Against Rival Immaculata

Certainly, the chances were there for the Ridge football team.

In a 21-14 loss against the Immaculata Friday night, there were chances, even in the final seconds of the game, for the Ridge Red Devils (0-1) in front of an unofficial crowd of 3,500 at Lee Field and on live high definition TV, hosted by MSG Varsity.

With 1:53 left in the game, and the Red Devils trailing by seven points, a Anthony Milito-led defense forced a turnover on downs giving Ridge one last chance. The Red Devils fell short, however, reaching as far as the Spartans' 30-yard line, along with the aid of an inadvertant whistle.

Still, it wasn't enough.

The pass from senior quarterback Jeff Helmes fell incomplete in the end zone, and the party was on for Immaculata, which had aveneged a heart-breaking 25-21 loss to the Red Devils last year.

"That's been in my mind, in all of our minds since that game last year," said Spartans' running back Ishmil Mack, who notched all three touchdowns for Immaculata. "We knew it was going to be a physical game—Ridge is a physical team. It was a great game and we can't expect to be perfect on the first game of the year, but we were good."

With a little more than five minutes remaining and Immaculata looking to go in for a two-score lead, Ralph D'Agostino fumbled deep in Ridge territory, forced by Mike Singer, and recovered by Milito, who seemed to be able to do everything on this night. The Red Devils offense, however, would falter shortly after, going four-and-out.

After a scoreless third quarter, it didn't take long for Mack and the Spartans to take the lead for good. On the first play of the final quarter, Mack rushed in from two yards out, his third score of the game, and Immaculata never looked back, taking the 21-14 lead.

Mack also scored from two yards out early in the second quarter to tie the game at 7, and then sprung free for a 42-yard touchdown later in that second quarter, putting Immaculata up 14-7.

Milito responded rather emphatically, however. On a play from the 7-yard line, the tough senior captain started left, before cutting right, and fought off seemlingly every Spartan defender to draw Ridge even with 37 seconds remaining in the half.

Milito opened the scoring when he tranced in from 8 yards out, barely seven minutes into the game. The run capped a short 47-yard drive for the Red Devils.

Brad Heshmaty gave Ridge outstanding field position for that drive after intercepting Antonio Natale's first pass of the night and bringing it back to the Spartans' 47-yard line.

Late in the third quarter, with Ridge driving all the way to Immaculata's goal line, the Spartans stood up Milito on fourth-and short, even forcing a fumble as Dallas Whitaker scooped up the loose ball and returned it to the 20-yard line.

Mack led the way for the Spartans with 19 carries for 143 yards and all three touchdowns. As a team, Immaculata racked up 286 yards of rushing.

Ridge will look to move to .500 on a short week coming up, hosting Montgomery, another rival, Thursday night at Lee Field at 7 p.m.