Sep 13, 2009 3 min read

It was a game that featured a season’s worth of wacky plays, but Ringgold made a few more positive plays than Albert Gallatin and left York Run with a 31-28 win over the Colonials Friday night in non-conference football. The first quarter alone featured a first-and-goal from the 4-yard line for Ringgold that ended with a fourth-down interception by AG’s Patrick Kopas and a blocked AG punt that Ringgold’s Neal Rands recovered for a touchdown.

The second quarter offered a very rare partially blocked punt that didn’t cross the line of scrimmage and was recovered and advanced 25 yards by Kopas for an AG first down (and led to a Colonial touchdown), pass interference and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against AG on the same play (that led to a Ringgold score) and a mad dash toward the end zone as time was expiring that ended with a fumble into the end zone that was recovered for another touchdown by Ringgold’s Alfon Cook.

Ringgold suffered turnovers on its first three possessions of the third quarter, which helped the Colonials assume a 28-24 lead heading to the final quarter. Quad Law intercepted a pass to set up Ringgold’s winning touchdown and AG’s last possession ended with a Cook interception after the Colonials had marched to the Rams’ 29-yard line.

“These kids never quit,” AG coach Bill Elias said. “They really tried hard and left it all on the field tonight. We played well, but we made too many mistakes to expect to win. You can’t have as many penalties as we did (11 for 115 yards) and expect to win and you can’t miss as many tackles as we missed and expect to win.”

Cody Peebles passed for 149 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score for the Colonials, who saw running backs Grayling Sanders (47 yards on 15 carries) and Tanner Jesso (21 on 8) bottled up by the Ringgold defense. Peebles last pass was intercepted, as he tried to hit Jarret Dotson in the end zone for what would have been the game-winning score.

“I don’t regret making that call at all,” Elias said, “because I have a good quarterback and one of the best receivers in there. I only wish it would have come out differently. Ringgold is a really good football team and our kids played with them until the very end. All of the mistakes we made are correctable, so I’m encouraged by how we’re playing.”

Niko McPherson caught two scoring passes for Ringgold and Bob Bracken ran 14 times for 132 yards. Former Laurel Highlands quarterback Matt Humbert, a Rams assistant coach, filled in for absent Ringgold head coach Lloyd Price.

“It was sloppy, no doubt about it,” Humbert said. “But it’s a win. We’re such a young team that I’m proud of the way we kept coming back after AG took the lead on us. It’s good to know that when we’re down, these kids will keep battling. I didn’t think we had this one wrapped up until we got that interception at the end.”

Ringgold (1-1) hosts Southmoreland in non-conference play next Friday, while AG (1-1) hosts Greensburg Salem in a Keystone Conference opener.