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River Ridge Knights hungry for long postseason

 
Defensive back Alex Kostogiannes, 16, has made a name for himself with seven interceptions, among the best in the state.
Defensive back Alex Kostogiannes, 16, has made a name for himself with seven interceptions, among the best in the state.
Published Nov. 11, 2015

NEW PORT RICHEY — Five measly seconds from a perfect regular season.

That's how close River Ridge got to what would have been a school first, only to give up a touchdown to Sunlake in the regular-season finale. While the 14-13 defeat is not the ideal note on which to enter the postseason, these Royal Knights appear intent on rendering it a footnote.

"We wanted to go 10-0 and it hurts to lose, but it's only going to fire us up," said junior defensive back Alex Kosto­giannes, whose Knights host Lecanto (7-3) in the Class 5A quarterfinals.

With seven interceptions, Kosto­giannes is among the state leaders and part of a defensive group that has the Knights built to improve upon last year's breakthrough result. River Ridge won its district for the first time in school history and backed that up with a first playoff victory in 2014.

The ride ended the next week in a 26-3 defeat to Lakewood. But the return of running back Chris Schwarz, the senior workhorse who went for nearly 2,000 yards in the regular season, coupled with the improved defense have the Knights expecting a longer stay.

"Defense wins games," said junior safety Jake Berg. "I love Chris — he's a beast. But you gotta go out and get the stops, get the ball back to the offense and let Chris do his thing."

No more stark example comes than from the victory that clinched the district crown for the Knights, a 27-14 win over Zephyrhills. In its nine other games, the Bulldogs offered a staggering 47 points per contest, cresting with 50 against Pasco in last week's 9-Mile War.

But Zephyrhills became victims of a "spill" that Oct. 16 evening. That's the term River Ridge uses to describe its defensive philosophy.

"We ask our front seven to form a wall," coach Ryan Benjamin said. "And spill the play to the outside where the backs are to finish the play."

With just 8.5 points allowed per game the spills have been overflowing. While the system being adhered to is key, Benjamin credits his players' smarts to making it work. River Ridge's unweighted grade-point average for the first quarter was 3.31.

"Everyone has to make the right reads, and you have to do your part," Berg said. "The front seven spills it, and the safeties are there to get that TFL (tackle for loss). I love it."

He would. Berg has racked up a team-high 100 tackles with 16 tackles for loss. Pat Cook, a senior member of the front part of the "wall" tops the club in TFLs with 17.5

Cook, MLB/TE Brandon Lempfert (85 tackles), Schwarz, Anthony Spinelli (13 TFL), two-way lineman Sean White and kicker Tyler Grimes all made the West roster for the inaugural Pasco County All-Star Game to be held Dec. 10 at Sunlake.

The selected senior Knights would rather not participate in that one — since it coincides with the week of the state championship at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

It's why Benjamin was far from down and out after the Sunlake loss. He didn't want a stroll-through contest in the final week of the regular season.

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"We scheduled Sunlake because we wanted a quality opponent going into the playoffs," he said. "The goal was not to go 10-0, it was to win the district championship. As much as (the loss) stings, I let them hurt Friday, because they're competitors and they want to win every game. But when we woke up Saturday we were thinking about Lecanto."

The Panthers are an unfamiliar playoff opponent — to anyone — and have only played in one postseason game back in 1999. Quarterback Travis McGee throws for 164 yards a game while the Panthers run it for an average of 140 led by three different threats.

River Ridge played very few teams who were real threats through the air, but still, Kostogiannes made a name for himself, maybe to the point where people can actually pronounce it.

"It's Kosta-john-iss. It's really not that hard when you try," he said.

He and the defense will have to do more preparation than ever for an unknown foe, but that's an area the Knights appear to have covered.

"The key to Alex's interceptions, the key to all our secondary's success is their intelligence," Benjamin said. "They're great athletes but they're very intelligent. They study film, they really learn the opponent. They really go to great lengths to know a lot about the individuals they're going to face."