South Ridge Falls In Semifinals

October 18th, 2015

Tyler Peterson-NSO

The South Ridge Panthers fell to the Silver Bay Mariners in the Section 5 9-man semifinals, losing 35-26, despite Zach Johnson throwing for 357 yards and tossing four touchdowns.

Silver Bay got out to an early 6-0 lead behind a Michael Fischer 20 yard run. The Panthers responded in the 2nd quarter, with Reid Clark catching a 17 yard pass from Zach Johnson, knotting it up at 6-6. South Ridge would gain the 14-6 advantage after Johnson connected with Nick Carlson on a 86 yard touchdown. Johnson also converted the two point attempt. Silver Bay made it 14-14 on a 60 yard run from Nathan Bauck. Fischer converted the two points to tie the game. South Ridge took a 20-14 lead into the half when Johnson connected with Clark for the second time in the game, this time on a short 4 yard pass.

South Ridge increased their lead in the 3rd quarter when Jake Carlson snagged a 22 yard pass from Johnson, making it 26-14. Silver Bay came storming back in the 4th quarter, scoring 21 unanswered. It starter with a 10 yard run by Fischer, cutting the Panthers lead to 26-21. Fischer then caught a 26 yard pass from Tanner Ketola, making it 29-26 after Ketola converted the two point attempt. Bauck put the nail in the coffin, scampering 87 yards to secure the 35-26 victory for the Mariners.

South Ridge ended the year with a 7-3 record, while the Mariners advance to the Section 5 9-man finals with an 9-1 record. They will play the Floodwood Polar Bears on October 23rd with a 8:00pm kickoff in Esko.

Tyler Peterson can be contacted at tpeterson@northlandsportsonline.com