Ridge tops E. Palestine 18-15 for sixth victory

By Jim Flick

MINERAL RIDGE — The Mineral Ridge Rams kept their playoff hopes alive Friday night by defeating East Palestine, 18-15.

Quarterback Jesse Garland threw for 155 yards as Mineral Ridge (6-4, 5-2 Inter Tri-County League Tier One) kept the ball out of the Bulldogs’ potent offense and took advantage of several mistakes by East Palestine (7-3, 4-3).

“These guys have fought hard all year,” said Rams coach Joe Stevens. “They’ve been in tough situation after tough situation, and they don’t get rattled. I believe in these guys and the coaches believe in these guys.”

A key play, Stevens added, was a fourth-quarter reception by junior running Dan Skiba, who snagged a short pass from quarterback Jesse Garland and dodged 48 yards through before he was tackled on the Bulldogs’ 5-yard line. The play set up Mike Keleman’s 26-yard field goal, which provided the Rams with their final margin of victory.

“A great player made a great play,” East Palestine coach Jeff Sharkey said of Skiba.

The Bulldogs took the game’s opening kickoff and drove 65 yards in nine plays. Senior quarterback Shane Peterson scored on a 20-yard run and after Austin Pence kicked an extra point, East Palestine held their only lead at 7-0.

Mineral Ridge evened the score later in the first quarter, when a 3-yard run by Keleman ended a 15-play, 75-yard drive. Keleman also kicked the extra point to tie the score.

The Rams took the lead for good in the second quarter, after Zach Kiger blocked an East Palestine punt. Mineral Ridge took possession on the Bulldogs’ 20-yard line. Kyle Skiba dove into the end zone to end a four-play, 20-yard drive, and again dove into the end zone to convert a two-point conversion that boosted the Rams’ lead to 15-7.

After a scoreless third quarter, Keleman kicked his field goal early in the fourth quarter to give Mineral Ridge an 18-7 lead.

But East Palestine wasn’t finished. The Bulldogs started a drive their own 37-yard line and neared the Mineral Ridge goal line, but seemed to stall after an East Palestine fumble. The Bulldogs recovered the ball, but faced a fourth-down-and-20.

Then Peterson launched his longest pass of the night, a 20-yard pass that Paul Salyers caught and carried into the end zone. Peterson then ran the ball into the end zone to pull East Palestine within three points with plenty of time remaining.

On the ensuing series, the East Palestine defense forced a punt. The Bulldogs’ offense then launched a determined drive which included four first-down conversions.

But East Palestine fumbled the ball away with 1:38 remaining. After Dan Skiba picked up a first down, Garland kneeled on the last two plays of the game as Mineral Ridge ran out the clock.

East Palestine coach Jeff Sharkey blamed “a multitude of errors,” but added he believes his team will still make the playoffs.

In the week before the game, Stevens added, he and the Rams coaching staff didn’t spend much time thinking about the computer rankings that will determine who will make the playoffs. “But now that we’ve won, we’ll watch the scoreboard and try to figure out some things.”