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Football: River Ridge 24, Lecanto 6

 
Published Nov. 14, 2015

NEW PORT RICHEY — As his team kneeled down near the east end zone along with a seemingly endless stream of purple-clad students that joined from the stands, River Ridge coach Ryan Benjamin had one simple statement Friday night:

"On to Round 2."

Riding senior running back Chris Schwarz's 232-yard, three-touchdown performance, the host Royal Knights dispatched Lecanto 24-6 to move on to a Class 5A region semifinal for the second straight season.

River Ridge (10-1) travels to undefeated Nature Coast next.

"This time, we're definitely more excited," said Schwarz, who surpassed the 2,000-yard mark in the victory.

"We really feel we have the ability to take this all the way … and we're just hungry."

Schwarz was practically unstoppable from the onset, scoring his first TD — a 30-yarder — to cap the 10-play, 60-yard opening possession.

After a 28-yard field goal by senior Tyler Grimes gave the Royal Knights a 10-point advantage at halftime, Schwarz gashed the Panthers' (7-4) defense again late in the third quarter for a 31-yard score.

He concluded his night in the fourth quarter by finding the end zone on his 32nd and final carry from 8 yards out.

"We came out with the same mentality that we always have," Schwarz said. "We were just pounding the ball, pounding the ball and, eventually, they get tired of hitting."

Defensively, the Royal Knights were on-point as well, sacking Lecanto quarterback Travis McGee five times — three of which came from senior defensive lineman Sean White. Junior safety Jake Berg also intercepted McGee in the first quarter.

The Panthers were held off the scoreboard until the final play of the game when McGee broke away from multiple defenders in the backfield to throw a 10-yard strike to Jeremiah Lucas in the corner of the end zone as time expired.

But it didn't dampen the postgame celebration.

"Our kids prepared very hard this week for this," Benjamin said. "They wanted it bad. I'm just proud of their efforts."