Ruff does it all in Fairfield Union's win over Warren

LANCASTER — Have yourself a night, Owen Ruff.

The Fairfield Union junior running back was no match for the Warren Warriors defense on Friday night. Ruff ran the ball 19 times for 201 yards and scored four touchdowns, and then capped the night with an 86-yard kickoff return touchdown as his Falcons ran all over the Warriors for a 42-3 victory in their home opener.

“It’s surreal,” said Ruff, who was also a perfect 7-for-7 on extra points as well. “I feel amazing and I’ve never done anything like this before in a game. I’m just blessed.”

Ruff got the Falcons (2-1) on the board first on Friday, when he took a handoff, muscled his way through a few arm tackles and scampered 26 yards to the end zone. It capped a 72-yard drive on the game’s opening possession to give the home team an early 7-0 lead.

After the Falcons and Warriors traded punts a few times to end the first quarter, Ruff started the second quarter with a bang. On the second play of the quarter, Ruff again broke through some tackles and outran the Warrior defense 38 yards for a touchdown to give the Falcons a 14-0 lead. Then to hit the trifecta in the first half, Ruff took a pitch toward the right sideline, found an opening, and outran the Warriors down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown and a 21-0 Falcons lead that would last until halftime.

“He’s a great kid and a very unselfish guy,” Fairfield Union coach Andy Clark said of Ruff. “He’s super fun to watch and a good athlete. He’s a guy we knew coming in when I got the job that we have to get him the ball and get him the ball in situations where he can be Owen, and he did that tonight.”

Fairfield Union added to the lead midway through the third quarter when Chase Pennell took a delayed handoff up the middle and shifted his way through the defense and into the end zone for a 20-yard score to make it a 28-0 lead. Pennell only carried the ball three times but made a big impact in the second half with 77 yards on those carries.

Ruff came back with a vengeance on what would be the Falcons’ last possession of the game, capping a 70-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown run right up the middle for his fourth score to boost the Falcons to a 35-0 lead.

“It feels amazing,” Ruff said of the team’s performance. “We worked really hard and played fast and I just feel blessed with everything in this game.”

And for all the flashy plays that made the offense stand out, Fairfield Union’s defense put in a solid performance that Clark was pleased with. The Falcons held the Warriors to just 231 total yards of offense, with only 55 of those yards coming on the ground, while also forcing six punts and two turnovers.

The defense also held strong when faced with a third-and-goal situation from the one-yard line midway through the second quarter, with Kyle Wolfe sacking Warren quarterback Jacob Sealy all the way back to the nine. Then on fourth-and-goal, Isaiah Saleh intercepted Sealy’s pass in the end zone to keep the shutout alive.

“Kids played well from start to finish,” Clark said. “Attitude was great from start to finish, the effort was great from start to finish. We can still get better, a lot of things to clean up that need to be cleaned up when we get to league play. Just really pleased with tonight’s effort.”

Warren did not break into the scoring column until kicking a 30-yard field goal with 5:53 left to play in the game, cutting the Falcon lead to 35-3. On the ensuing kickoff, the Warriors kicked the ball to Ruff, who made one cut through the kick coverage team and sped 86 yards for the touchdown for his fifth score.

“I was just running down the field and saw this huge hole in the corner of my eye, made a cut, and then just got past the guy for a touchdown,” Ruff said.

Week 3: See which Fairfield County high school football teams won Friday

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Ruff rushes for four TDs, returns kickoff for another score to lead the way for Falcons