Mountain Ridge clinches third consecutive berth in 1A state title game

Nov. 25—FROSTBURG — No. 2 seed Mountain Ridge clinched its third consecutive berth in the Class 1A state title game with a 40-14 win over No. 3 seed Perryville on Friday.

"They came up here and challenged us," Mountain Ridge head coach Ryan Patterson said. "They came up here and talked a lot pregame. They thought they had the better team. Our kids were up for the challenge. We proved it to them what it's about to come to this stadium. There's a reason why we've won 25 straight home games on this home turf."

The Miners (11-1) quickly took control and never looked back. The Panthers (9-3) had some moments offensively, but they also made several costly mistakes.

"The guys came out, played hard," Perryville head coach Sean Sandora said. "Mountain Ridge is a very good team, they fire off the ball well."

On Mountain Ridge's first offensive play, the Miners fumbled and Perryville recovered at the Mountain Ridge 46.

The Miners defense forced a three-and-out, finished off with a sack by Dayton Llewellyn.

Sacks were a common theme for the Mountain Ridge defense in the first half. The Miners recorded four with Dayton Llewellyn, Trey Llewellyn, Will Bannon and Eli Sibley each getting to the quarterback.

"Kids being relentless towards the ball," coach Patterson said of what led to the number of sacks. "They kept the rush lanes unlike last week. We set the edge and got a good push up inside."

Three of the sacks came on third down which factored into Perryville going 1 for 8 on third down in the first half.

After committing a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, the Miners benefited from a pair of Panthers' penalties. A facemask put the ball at the 22, and two plays later, Garrett Michaels scored untouched from 15 yards out for the game's opening score.

After a short punt, the Miners took over at the Panthers' 44. On third-and-goal at the 1, Michaels scored his second touchdown of the opening quarter.

"Coach Sefa (Pua'auli) he dials it up," coach Patterson said. "I thought he had a great game plan. We knew where we wanted to attack and we got after it. Once we got that momentum going, the points started racking up for us."

After another three-and-out by Perryville's offense, Mountain Ridge took over at the Panthers' 46.

A keeper by Will Patterson picked up 28 to the 18. Four plays later, Austin Frost scored from six yards out to give the Miners a 20-0 lead after one quarter. The extra point was missed.

Mountain Ridge's defense stepped up, forcing six consecutive three-and-outs to open the game.

"Our defense was the key to the game tonight," coach Patterson said. "Coach Adam (Patterson) put together a great game plan. They had a lot of weapons, and they took away those weapons."

After picking up three first downs midway through the second quarter, Frost took a toss 11 yards away and scored his second touchdown of the first half.

It took until the 2:55 mark in the second quarter for Perryville to pick up a first down. It came on a third-and-one when Ethen Gunter took a handoff for five yards.

"Not executing, not making plays really hurt us in the first half," Sandora said. "We can't beat a very good team like Mountain Ridge if we beat ourselves."

The Panthers failed to capitalize as the next three plays featured back-to-back incompletions and a sack by Sibley.

On the first play of the Miners' ensuing drive, Patterson went deep to Andrew Ketterman. He reached up and made a tough catch before taking it 44 yards to the house.

"That's a huge play, I don't know if that was the nail in the coffin for them yet," coach Patterson said. "But any thought of a comeback really started to leave their brains at that point."

Mountain Ridge led 33-0 at halftime, combining for 14 first downs while allowing one.

Penalties were another costly factor for Perryville who committed nine for 65 yards in the first half. The Miners got two first downs by penalty.

While the Panthers struggled offensively, Perryville got several nice returns out of Jayden Byard. He had a pair of returns in the first quarter that combined for 46 yards.

"He's an athlete, he's explosive," Sandora said. "We kind of pinch down in the kickoff game so he's able to get to the outside."

After only gaining two yards of total offense in the first half, Perryville found some rhythm in the third quarter.

The Panthers picked up five first downs including a 32-yard completion from Ty Patchell to Byard.

"Our quarterback stepped up and started making throws," Sandora said.

After a sack by Bannon, Perryville went for it on fourth and 16. The pass was behind the receiver and fell incomplete for the turnover on downs.

Up 33-0 after three quarters, Mountain Ridge inserted several backups. Cobe Penick, who played cornerback for most of the game, entered at quarterback.

Three plays into his first drive, he took a keeper 54 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 40-0.

"Super athlete, we moved him up and he starts at corner," coach Patterson said. "He's such a good athlete that we move him to the number one receiver for these teams."

Perryville scored a pair of late touchdowns in the final three minutes. The first came on a 46-yard completion from Patchell to Byard. He took it away from the defender and scored for the Panthers first points of the game.

"That shows the resolve of this team," Sandora said. "We could've just quit at halftime down 33-0. We decided to keep fighting and keep pressing."

Perryville recovered a fumble on the Miners ensuing drive that set up a wide open touchdown from Patchell to Josiah Rose from 35 yards away.

For Mountain Ridge, Frost and Michaels each scored a pair of touchdowns. Frost had 88 yards on 11 runs while Michaels recorded 28 yards on seven carries.

"Tough guys, you get every ounce out of them," coach Patterson said.

Will Patterson went 8 for 12 for 113 yards and a touchdown passing. He added nine runs for 52 yards.

Ketterman led the Miners with five catches for 78 yards and a touchdown.

Gunter led Perryville with 17 runs for 72 yards.

"He's an awesome kid, he's the hardest worker in the program," Sandora said.

Byard led all receivers with six catches for 97 yards and a score.

Perryville's season comes to an end. The Panthers reached the semifinals for the second time in three seasons.

Mountain Ridge advances to the Class 1A state title game next week. The Miners will meet No. 1 seed Fort Hill for the third consecutive season in Annapolis on Saturday at noon.

"it means everything, so we're super excited," coach Patterson said. "There's a lot of doubters about this team, they'll be a lot of doubters about this team next week. And for good reason, Fort Hill's one of the top teams in the state. We're gonna put our best plan together and try and meet that challenge."

Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Email him with scores and story suggestions at jkendall@times-news.com.