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Ridgewood to rely on Wing-T
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By JOHN BASSETTI
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
WEST LAFAYETTE — This is another chapter in the Division V dichotomy.
Again, it’s slightly rural vs. city, aw shucks and dang vs. preppy and diversity.
Ridgewood, a school in a community of about 1,200 people located 7 miles east of Coshocton, believes it’s out of its class against Ursuline in Friday’s state semifinal.
Whether you spell it wing-T or winged-T, the formation made famous by University of Delaware coach Harold “Tubby” Raymond may be the equalizer.
Ridgewood, which has been in the playoffs the past seven years, may feel out of place when the Generals step on the field with the Irish.
“We are tiny, tiny and out-sized in every game,” said John Slusser, who may be down-playing his team’s status. “We are extremely tiny.”
Although two of Ursuline’s wins were by a combined score of 76-14, the Irish struggled against a very-urban Cuyahoga Heights last week before winning, 47-28.
“We have one player over 200 who starts on defense and, on offense, probably two guys over 200,” Slusser said of a snapshot of his players.
Those assessments amuse Ursuline’s Dan Reardon, who said, “Everyone thinks we have this huge, mammoth line and we don’t.”
Despite its string of appearances, Ridgewood’s only playoff win before this season was in 2004. Now, the Generals have won three straight to bump its all-time record to 4-6.
“We’re real excited because it’s the first time we’ve reached the state semifinals,” Slusser said. “Obviously, when you get here, you run into some teams like this and Ursuline is a good team.”
The size of the schools’ squads intrigues Slusser, a 1988 Ridgewood graduate.
“I’m sure they’ll dress 60 or 70 kids and we’ll dress 40,” said Slusser, who included small-school powerhouse Coldwater in the description.
“There aren’t many teams like that in Div. V — Ursuline and Coldwater being among those few. The rest, like us, play kids both ways and most have 40 on their team. Everybody we’ve played so far has, basically, the same scenario. I know it’s going to be a little different this week.”
However, Ridgewood’s use of the wing-T — the popular misdirection offense that can be hard to stop — could cause problems for the defending state champ.
Fullback Jake Conrad (5-foot-10, 185-pound senior) is Ridgewood’s all-time leading rusher and scorer who, this year, had 1,600 yards in the regular season and 29 touchdowns.
Others in the backfield are quarterback Kevin Davis (5-10, 153, junior ) and senior running backs Colt Landis (6-0, 175) and James Wiggins (5-11, 166).
Out of the wing-T formation, the Generals rely on the jet-sweep to the perimeter with the wingback going in motion, then getting the pitch behind the quarterback.
“We’re very reliant on that play,” Slusser said of backs such as Landis, Wiggins and Nick Bellik (5-7, 153), who alternate.
Otherwise, Conrad will run inside or position himself elsewhere to open lanes in other places.
Expect the Generals to grind it out on the ground, but not to throw much.
“We don’t throw very often,” Slusser said, “about once a game,” he added, seriously. “Occasionally, we’ll go to the spread look. We’re a very basic offensive football team. We don’t do a whole lot.”
He described his quarterback’s role.
“He [Davis] is like the Maytag repairman — he doesn’t do a whole lot unless there’s an emergency.”
The Generals’ leading tackler is linebacker Jake Zeigler, a 5-11, 185 sophomore.
“We don’t have superstar defensive kids, but we have a lot of good ones,” said Slusser, who is 49-8 in five years at Ridgewood’s helm.
He tried to paint Ridgewood with a realistic brush.
“Problem is, we don’t get a lot of super athletes here so we can’t be too complex. We get what we get. Our kids play hard and will do what you tell them, but we don’t get too many guys who can run around and throw it and catch it and make moves in the open field.”
Ridgewood played two area schools under Slusser’s regime: a Tony Elzy-powered Warren JFK in the first round of playoffs four years ago — a 42-24 JFK win — and South Range three years ago. South Range won 24-9.
The coach summed up Friday’s game.
“They’re a pretty good Div. V football team. I would say they have a lot of Div. I athletes and you don’t see much of that in Div. V. We’re going to be out-sized and probably see more athleticism, but our kids will battle. We’re playing well right now, so we’ll see if we can continue on.”
bassetti@vindy.com
SEE ALSO: Rebuilt Irish line triggers offense.