No. 2 Mtn. Ridge wins classic 16-13 over No. 4 Allegany on Cook's field goal

Sep. 16—FROSTBURG — In a highly competitive defensive slugfest, No. 2 Mountain Ridge held on to a 16-13 win over No. 4 Allegany on Friday at Miners Stadium.

"First off, hats off to Allegany," Mountain Ridge head coach Ryan Patterson said. "They came up here with their mind on getting an upset win. Coach (Bryan) Hansel has a tough team. They're well coached and they played really hard, but fortunately we had a lot of guts. That's what any coach would love to be able to say about his team."

In front of a packed and energetic crowd on both sides, the Miners (3-0) drove down the field and won the game with four seconds left on a 30-yard field goal by Tyler Cook.

"I'd like to leave the field and say a team beat us," Hansel said. "I'm not taking anything away from Mountain Ridge because they were the better team. But we gotta be better, we can't shoot ourselves in the foot over and over."

Miners Stadium was nearly sold out with at least 90% of the seats full on the Miners side. It made for an energetic home field advantage that Patterson said made a difference.

"On that last drive, you could feel that energy running through all our kids," Patterson said. "Our kids did a nice job of staying composed in that moment."

Trailing by six midway through the fourth quarter, an interception by Jacob Salonish gave the Campers (1-2) the ball with a chance to take the lead.

"We made the switch to put Jacob at free safety," Hansel said. "Gives us speed in the backend. Those were discipline plays, they did their responsibility and the play came to us."

Allegany drove 70 yards in 14 plays and converted three third downs and one fourth down. Facing third and goal at the five, Isaiah Fields scored to tie the game at 13 and an extra point away from taking a one-point lead.

Allegany took over seven minutes off the clock.

"I thought we had some seams early in the first half," Hansel said. "I don't think our backs hit holes as fast as they have been. We have some quick backs and need to hit seams."

The extra point was missed. The kick deflected off an Allegany player after Dayton Llewellyn drove his opponent backward and into the path of the ball.

"That's one of the biggest momentum plays in a game," Patterson said. "Fortunately, we were able to get a hand on that kick. You could just see our kids, they came running off the field and they knew we had an opportunity to drive that thing down."

Mountain Ridge took over at the 20 with 3:11 left. Facing fourth and inches at the 45, a keeper by Will Patterson kept the drive alive.

The Miners drove 60 yards in 14 plays to set up a 30-yard field goal on the left hashmark. After missing a 30-yard attempt earlier in the game, Cook split the uprights to give Mountain Ridge the lead with four seconds left.

"He's cool, calm and collected," coach Patterson said. "We had no hesitation on sending him out there. Super proud of that kid. He's about as battle tested as he can get."

On the opening drive of the game, the Miners only needed seven plays to go 79 yards. It included a 38-yard run by Patterson. He scored on a quarterback sneak to give Mountain Ridge an early 7-0 lead.

On the Campers opening drive, Will Bannon made back-to-back stops with a tackle for loss and a sack. The two plays lost 14 yards and forced a punt.

"Will Bannon is one of our leaders on defense," coach Patterson said. "To be able to get those tackles for loss and the sacks, they set the offense back. They become so much more predictable at that time. We love Will."

Most of the game was a defensive slugfest with both teams making key plays. Midway through the first quarter, Allegany faced a fourth and seven on their side of midfield and went for it.

The Miners stuffed the run for a turnover on downs.

"Coach Adam Patterson does such a great job of putting our kids where they need to be," Ryan Patterson said. "We had our moments where we bent, but we bowed our necks when we needed to."

On the ensuing drive, Mountain Ridge drove to the Campers' 13. A bad hold on a 30-yard field goal attempt fell short.

On Allegany's ensuing drive, Brody Williams took a deep shot for Zach Michael. After bobbling the pass, he hauled it in one-handed and took it 51 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7.

"We know he's a mismatch wherever he plays," Hansel said. "We're aware of that, we try and get him the ball as much as possible. He made some huge plays for us."

The Miners responded and drove to the Allegany five. Mountain Ridge had second and goal at the five, but a ineligible man downfield wiped off a wide open touchdown.

Two plays later, Fields intercepted a pass in the end zone. It was the first of two interceptions forced by the Campers' defense.

"I thought we did some really good things defensively," Hansel said. "There were some discipline things that we didn't play our responsibility at times. Gave up too much in the run game, didn't play zone gaps and holes. When you leave a game and the other team got 16, you feel like you should win that game."

Tied at 7 at halftime, both offenses continued to struggle to finish drives. After the first three drives of the second half ended in punts, Mountain Ridge took over.

On the first play of the drive, Patterson took a keeper 45 yards down the right sideline to the Allegany 37.

"He's a great athlete, we expect that kind of stuff out of Will," Ryan Patterson said. "But we can't expect that out of Will all the time. We need to hit our shots in the passing game. We felt we left some points out there with some misses."

After converting a third down, the Miners faced first and goal at the nine. Patterson scored on a keeper to take the lead at 13-7.

A dropped hold on the extra point attempt kept it a six-point game with 1:51 left in the third quarter.

One of the key factors were penalties, especially for the Campers. Allegany committed 10 for 91 yards. Several were in big moments that extended Miners' drives and haulted Camper drives.

"You're talking about second and six turning into first and 20," Hansel said. "It's a killer because your playbook shows. Do you try a chunk play to get second and manageable, or do you run your base plays and get five? Getting behind the sticks against a good football team, you can't do those things."

With the win, Mountain Ridge has won eight straight over Allegany and 18 consecutive games at home.

"We set a plan forward and our kids followed that plan almost to a tee," Ryan Patterson said. "They believe in what we do as coaches. Our coaches work really hard, we work year round at this."

Patterson led Mountain Ridge with 315 yards of total offense. He went 18 for 28 passing for 150 yards and two interceptions. He rushed 18 times for 150 yards and two scores.

"That's what we expect out of Will," Ryan Patterson said. "He's a competitor, he's upset at himself for some of the passes he missed."

For Allegany, Michael finished with three catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. Brett Patterson rushed 12 times for 58 yards.

Williams went 3 for 7 for 114 yards and a score, completing all three passes to Michael. He also ran 15 times for 20 yards.

Allegany heads to Albert Gallatin, Pennsylvania, on Friday at 7 p.m. Mountain Ridge hosts Frederick on Saturday at 6 p.m.

"We have a huge game against Frederick, they're so talented, they're so athletic," Patterson said. "It's gonna be a very big challenge for us, but I like we're battle tested now."

Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @JKendallCTN.