Football: Winning halfback option pass has Ridley feeling Young again

CONCORD >> Ridley senior Allen Martin was told at halftime to be ready to make a big play. Not just any old play — the game-winning play.

“They came up to me and said, ‘A-Mart, you’re winning the game for us.’ That’s what I was told,” Martin said Friday night, recalling what coaches and teammates told him in the locker room at Garnet Valley.

The Green Raiders had done this before. Quarterback Cade Stratton takes the snap and flips the ball to running back Malik Young behind the line of scrimmage. Young fakes as if he is going to run, stops and fires a pass to a wide receiver streaking down the sideline.

“I mean, I wasn’t nervous about it,” Young said. “If you look back from last year, I had the same passing play. The coaches this year saw it the day we did that and they believed in me that I could to do it again.”

This would be a defining moment in a young season.

“My boy A-Mart made a beautiful catch and we just rocked with it,” Young said. “The coaches believed in me, the line blocked beautifully and we just completed the play.”

Young connected with Martin for a 36-yard touchdown to allow Ridley to tie the game with 3:29 to go in the fourth quarter. Kyran Baker drilled the extra point to put the Green Raiders ahead to stay.

In an incredible, must-see Central League showdown between two Delco heavyweights, Ridley earned a 28-20 victory. It was the Green Raiders’ first win over the Jaguars since 2012.

Ridley sealed the win with old-school Green Raiders defense. Tough and in-your-face, coach Dave Wood’s crew never relented. They dominated the second half, allowing just 21 yards of offense. Linebacker Ryan Gricco and John Sheldon were stars on defense.

The trickery that catapulted the Green Raiders in front late was nice, but it was the Green Raiders’ ability to control the clock that made the difference. In the second half, Ridley ran 64 offensive plays to Garnet Valley’s 25.

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