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Mustangs gallop past visiting Ringgold, 43-13

By Kevin Harrison for The 4 min read
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Jim Downey | Herald-Standard

Laurel Highlands’ Garrey Gardner (76) covers a fumbled snap as Ringgold’s Jacob Duncan (17) and Jacob Meyer (66) fight for control of the loose ball in the second quarter of Friday’s Big Eight Conference game at Mustang Stadium.

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Laurel Highlands' Ronnie Romesburg fights through a block as Ringgold running back James Minnie looks for room to run during the second quarter of Friday's Big East Conference game at Mustang Stadium.

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Ringgold wide receiver Michael Vasquez (10) positions himself to block for running back James Minnie (3) runs around the left end in the first quarter of Friday's Big East Conference game at Mustang Stadium.

Laurel Highlands put up 28 points in the second quarter Friday night to run away from visiting Ringgold for the Mustangs’ first win of the year — and first for head coach Rich Kolesar — 43-13 in Big Eight Conference play.

“It’s been a long time coming, but it feels good to finally get the that first win,” Kolesar said. “Ringgold is a tough football team. They’re getting better and they made us fight early. We were able to capitalize on some mistakes. We’re getting better.”

The Rams, coming off their first win of the year last week, got up on the Mustangs early when Jacob Duncan connected with Braydon Fine on an 18-yard touchdown pass. Clayton Rosensteel’s extra-point was no good because of a low snap. The drive was set up when Ringgold intercepted Laurel Highlands’ on the first play of the drive.

The Mustangs defense got them going in the first quarter when Rodney Gallagher intercepted a Duncan pass and returned it 27 yards for the score Zach Layton’s extra-point gave LH a 7-6 lead.

Everything fell apart for the Rams in the second quarter. They started their next drive at their 20 and drove to the LH 30 where they fumbled and Ronnie Romesburg recovered for the Mustangs.

The Rams defense held, forcing the Mustangs to punt. The ball was downed at the Ringgold 27, but a penalty against the Rams moved the ball back to their 14. Ringgold fumbled on the next play and Laurel Highlands recovered at the Rams’ 11. ShiNeil Thomas needed two carries to get into the end zone. Layton’s extra-point gave the Mustangs a 14-6 lead.

Laurel Highlands forced Ringgold to punt on its next possession with the Mustangs taking over at the Rams’ 42. Quarterback Tyler Christopher ripped off a 33-yard run to the Ringgold 9 and Thomas finished the drive with his second score of the night. Layton’s kick made it 21-6.

Ringgold fumbled the ensuing kickoff with the Mustangs recovering at the one. Christopher plunged in for the score increasing the Mustangs lead to 28-6.

“We had a complete and utter collapse in the second quarter,” Ringgold’s Darwin Manges said. “We were driving the ball and fumbled. Then we fumbled a snap, and then the blunders happened on kickoffs. I’m at a loss for words. We should have been tied with them at worst. We dropped a sure pick six, and we dropped another interception. Nothing went right for us in the second quarter.”

The Mustangs kicked off after their score and Ringgold fumbled again with LH recovering at the Rams’ 25. Three plays later Gallagher scored on a 14-yard run giving the Mustangs a 35-6 lead at the half.

“Our special teams played hard tonight. They saw the ball, and went and attacked it,” Kolesar said.

The Mustangs put the mercy rule into affect on the second play of the third quarter when Gallagher scored his third touchdown of the night on an 80-yard sprint to make the score 43-6. that run gave Gallagher 102-yards on three carries. The Rams stayed with their game plan and managed to punch in one more score in the fourth quarter on a 2-yard run from James Minnie who rushed for 180-yards on 22 carries for Ringgold.

Kolesar obviously happy with the win says it’s a step in the right direction. “We’re trying to build a good program here,” he said. “We want to build a championship program.

Big Eight Conference

Ringgold              6-0-0-7 — 13

Laurel Highlands 7-28-7-0 — 43

First Quarter

Rin: Braydon Fine 18 pass from Jacob Duncan (kick failed), 9:24

LH: Rodney Gallagher 27 interception retrun (Zach Layton kick) 4:53

Second Quarter

LH: ShiNeil Thomas 3 run (Zach Layton kick) 5:24

LH: ShiNeil Thomas 9 run (Zach Layton kick) 2:33

LH: Tyler Christopher 1 run (Zach Layton kick) 2:17

LH: Rodney Gallagher 14 run (Layton kick) 1:26

Third Quarter

LH: Rodney Gallagher 80 run (Zach Layton kick) 11:14

Fourth Quarter

Rin: James Minnie 2 run (Clayton Rosensteel kick) 6:55

Records: Ringgold (0-4, 1-6), Laurel Highlands (1-3, 1-6).

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