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Football: River Ridge 29, Tarpon Springs 28

 
River Ridge’s Chris Wezesa, left, sacks Tarpon Springs quarterback Brandon Casler.
River Ridge’s Chris Wezesa, left, sacks Tarpon Springs quarterback Brandon Casler.
Published Nov. 15, 2014

PORT RICHEY — Tarpon Springs knew exactly what River Ridge's game plan was going to be heading into Friday's Class 5A region quarterfinal game.

Still, stopping Royal Knights' running back Chris Schawrz is tough to do.

Schwarz, who entered the game as the state's third-leading rusher with 2,138 yards, got the ball on nearly every play. He kept churning out yards, finishing with 398 yards on 55 carries and four touchdowns in a 29-28 victory.

It was the first playoff win for River Ridge, which was making its first postseason appearance since 1998. Better still, the Royal Knights did it by erasing a 28-point first half deficit.

"Normally, I'm not at a loss for words, but I'm kind of speechless right now," River Ridge coach Ryan Benjamin said. "These kids just have heart. They didn't believe for one second they were out of it."

On the game's opening possession, Tarpon Springs' Brandon Casler threw a 19 yard touchdown pass to Daniel Davis for a 7-0 lead. In the second quarter, River Ridge eventually got its running game going and drove down to the Spongers' 1 yard line.

A bad exchange on a handoff resulted in a fumble. Tarpon Springs' Keivonte Warren picked it up and raced 98 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

Casler threw two more touchdown passes to Davis to make it 28-0. In the final two minutes, River Ridge scored on a run by Schwarz to cut it to 28-6 at the half.

Conventional wisdom suggests a team that relies strictly on a ground game cannot come back from a large margin. Still, River Ridge stuck to its game plan.

Schwarz continued to get a steady diet of handoffs and grinded out yardage. He also found the end zone, scoring three touchdowns, the last coming in the fourth quarter that cut it to 28-26 after a two-point conversion failed.

The Royal Knights' defense came up with an interception in the final three minutes of regulation. River Ridge drove into field-goal range and Tyler Grimes hit a 30-yard field with 36 seconds left to give the Royal Knights their first lead, 29-28.

"Chris Schwarz is just an animal," Benjamin said. "He runs so hard and does so much for us."

River Ridge made the lead stick by stopping the Spongers.

Tarpon Springs lost some momentum in the third quarter when running back Michael Ford was taken off the field on a stretcher with an apparent head injury.

The Spongers had a chance to score in the fourth but missed on an incomplete pass on fourth down inside River Ridge's 14-yard line.