Football: No stopping Clemens as Springfield tops Ridley in triple OT

RIDLEY TWP. – Deep in the recesses of the Springfield playbook is the contingency play. Consider it the, “in case of emergency, break glass” call.

Behind the glass: Somewhat reluctant running back Pat Clemens.

So Saturday night, with Springfield facing fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line in triple overtime against Ridley – needing to score before the Green Raiders got their shot, and already stopped twice from the one – the Springfield coaching staff broke out its claw hammer to set off the alarm.

Clemens obliged with a touchdown run, his first carry of a varsity career that began as a freshman, then the Springfield defense held after Ridley had scored to deny a two-point try and walk out a 17-16 winner in a Central League tilt that was scoreless through regulation.

To hear Clemens discus his mentality on the inside handoff, the Springfield coaching staff chose wisely.

“They know that I would give anything for this team,” Clemens said. “I would live or die for this team. So it’s just one yard. I’d give anything I’ve got. I’m not going to go down. I’d go through anybody. … I think it was more just, I need this for myself, I need this for the community, just get in there. I know everybody’s counting on me for just that one yard.”

On a night that summed to a barren wasteland of offense, it’s no surprise that the last laugh went to the defense. Ridley’s Hassan Chandler scored on third-and-goal in the third OT to get Ridley within a point. Coach Dave Wood dialed up a pitch to Elijah Yakpasuo on the PAT, but the Cougars (3-0, 2-0 Central) strung it out, Jack Spence pushing Yakpasuo out of bounds a yard from the goal line.

The game belonged to the defenses. The teams combined for 23 first downs and 12 punts. Each side barely nudged over 100 yards of net offense (Ridley 142, Springfield 111) thanks to an abundance of flags.

Springfield stifled the option offense of Ridley (0-3, 0-2) to 184 yards on 39 carries. Clemens was a constant disruptor, and linemen Jeff Biancaniello and Colin Shane burst into the backfield incessantly to set the edges and bottle up ball-carriers.

“We know whenever our offense isn’t doing good, we’ve got to step up,” Biancaniello said. “I think we’ve been playing good. I credit all of the d-line and Pat, everyone played great tonight.”

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Springfield linebacker Patrick Clemens, celebrating in a game last year, came up with the winning touchdown in triple-overtime of a 17-16 win over Ridley Saturday.