ARLINGTON – After winning their first home playoff game on Nov. 4 the Ridgeline Falcons had to go on the road to face the Arlington Eagles. The Eagles steamrolled Ridgeline 35-13 on Nov. 10.
Arlington hit the field running and scored on their first drive. A drive of 52 yards that was capped off by a touchdown pass with seven minutes to go in the first quarter.
Ridgeline got the ball but had a tough time executing on offense, and it led to multiple turnovers in the game. The Falcons were able to start a drive downfield, but Arlington intercepted a pass and got the ball back at their own 10 yard line.
The game went back and forth for a bit, and Arlington would then force another turnover with two minutes to go in the first quarter. Ridgeline Quarterback Landon Garner was chased from the pocket and forced to run. Garner fumbled on the run and Arlington recovered on their own 33.
The Eagles wasted no time in capitalizing on the turnover and scored another touchdown in only two plays.
A 32 yard pass would take them to the Ridgeline 35 yard line, and they would throw a touchdown on the following play putting Arlington up 14-0 after the extra point.
Ridgeline would start the second quarter with the ball on their 27. Staying with the passing game, Garner threw a long pass downfield and Lincoln Duggan would come down with a diving catch inside the Arlington 20 yard line.
They followed that with a run by Kole LeGrant and he went inside the 10 making it first and goal.
Garner connected with Easton Amend on the next play for the first Ridgeline touchdown of the game.
That brought the score to 14-7 Eagles, with 9:48 to go in the first half.
Arlington got the ball back and marched right down the field, capping their 73 yard drive off with a 60 yard touchdown pass. That put the Eagles up 21-7.
The Falcons tried to battle back, and on third and 19, Garner connected for a 20 yard gain to Kole LeGrant.
Facing third and 12, the Falcons would fumble the ball again, although they recovered the ball but it forced them to punt.
As Arlington struggled a bit to move the ball downfield, Ridgeline was called with unnecessary roughness for what appeared to be a standard hit, and it kept the Eagle drive going.
On the following play, Arlington fumbled and Ridgeline recovered with 1:29 left.
Even with a short clock the Falcons didn’t call a timeout or try to work the sidelines initially.
They moved the ball to the Arlington 44 with :17 to go in the half before calling a timeout or working the sidelines.
The second half wasn’t much better for the Falcons as were forced to punt on their first drive, however the Eagles blocked the punt, recovering the ball on the two yard line.
The Eagles scored again with 6:31 left in the third quarter bringing the score to 28-7
They moved the ball well on their second drive of the half, and on third and seven Garner threw another touchdown pass.
They botched the snap on the extra point, and the conversion was unsuccessful.
The score was 28-13 in favor of the Eagles, but Ridgeline would intercept another pass just before the third quarter ended.
On the first play of the fourth quarter Ridgeline gave up another fumble, stopping their drive cold.
Ridgeline would get the ball back with a Brayden Allen interception on their own 22, but they weren’t able to make anything out of the turnover.
Just a few plays later Garner would scramble and fumble the ball again, giving the ball back to the Eagles.
Then on fourth and five with under five minutes to go, Arlington would score another rushing touchdown, bringing the score to 35-13.
Within the last five minutes of the game there were three more turnovers. Both teams exchanged fumbles back and forth, and then Ridgeline ended up throwing another interception as the clock was winding down.
Matthew graduated from West Virginia University-Parkersburg in 2011 with a journalism degree. He's an award-winning photographer and enjoys writing stories about people.
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