OTTO-ELDRED 32, RIDGWAY 26

Oct. 26, 2007

Some of the information for this story is courtesy of the DuBois Courier-Express

RIDGWAY – Travis Bair’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Kurtis Breese with 4:16 left broke a tie game and game helped one-win Otto-Eldred stun Ridgway 32-26 in a very important AML Crossover game at Ridgway Friday night.

The loss seriously jeopardizes Ridgway’s playoff hopes. The Elkers, who could have clinched a District 9 Class A playoff spot with a win, now have to hope that Elk County Catholic loses to Smethport Saturday night and to St. Marys next week and Clarion loses to Brookville next week.

Ridgway (4-5 overall, 4-5 AML South) tied the game on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Joe Renaud to Sam Skraba with 8:18 left in the game but couldn’t prevent the game-winning touchdown drive by Otto-Eldred (2-7, 2-7 AML North), which had lost five straight including a forfeit loss to Cameron County when it didn’t have enough healthy players to play the game.

Bair, Otto’s senior quarterback/defensive end, had a monster night. He was 11-for-18 passing for 167 yards and three touchdowns while running 15 times for 100 yards and a touchdown on offense while also picking off two passes and making five tackles on defense.

Breese, who had seven catches for 103 yards, was on the receiving end of all three Bair touchdown passes including two in the second half.

The duo hooked up for a 15-yard scoring play late in the third quarter that gave Otto-Eldred a 26-19 lead going to the fourth quarter.

The Terrors, who beat Ridgway for the third time in the last four years, led 20-19 at halftime after trailing 13-6 at the end of the first quarter.

Bair’s 18-yard scoring pass to Breese with 50 seconds left in the opening half staked Otto to the lead.

Ridgway got two Nick Dickant scoring runs in the first quarter to build the early lead. Dickant opened the scoring with a 2-yard run midway through the first quarter before Bair responded with an 11-yard scoring run 21 seconds later to cut Ridgway’s lead to 7-6. But Dickant’s 1-yard run late in the quarter extended the Elker lead back to seven points.

Otto took its first lead of the game 58 seconds into the second quarter when Logan Kellogg broke free for a 24-yard scoring run, and Bair found Kellogg for the 2-point conversion pass making it 14-13 Terrors.

Ridgway came right back when Dickant hit Renaud with a 9-yard scoring strike 5:23 before halftime, but the 2-point conversion failed leaving the Elkers with a 19-14 lead.

Dickant led Ridgway going 8-for-11 passing for 111 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions while adding nine carries for 17 yards and two touchdowns. Elliott Pontious had 15 carries for 93 yards and three catches for 29 yards.

OTTO-ELDRED 32, RIDGWAY 26

Score By Quarters

Otto-Eldred 6 14 6 6 – 32

Ridgway 13 6 0 7 – 26

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

R - Nick Dickant 2 run (Alex Bradshaw kick), 5:42.

O - Travis Bair 11 run (kick failed), 5:21.

R - Dickant 1 run (kick failed), :27.

Second Quarter

O - Logan Kellogg 24 run (Bair pass to Kellogg), 11:02.

R - Joe Renaud 9 pass from Dickant (conversion failed), 5:23.

O - Kurtis Breese 18 pass from Bair (conversion failed), :50.

Third Quarter

O - Breese 15 pass from Bair (conversion failed), 4:16.

Fourth Quarter

R - Sam Skraba 8 pass from Joe Renaud (Bradshaw kick), 8:18.

O - Breese 20 pass from Bair (conversion failed), 4:16.

O                     R

First Downs                12                    17

Rushes-Yards              26-160             44-185

Passing Yards                         167                  119

Passes: Comp-Att-Int             11-18-0            9-12-2

Total Yardage                         327                  304

Punts-Average            0-0                   1-23

Fumbles-lost                1-1                   3-2

Penalties-Yards           7-55                 3-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing - Otto-Eldred: Travis Bair 15-100, Logan Kellogg 1-24, Drew Coscia 2-16, Paul Schwab 3-13, Kevin VanCamp 4-8, Team 1-(-1). Ridgway: Elliott Pontious 15-93, Darrek Johnson 11-49, Nick Dickant 9-17, Sam Skraba 2-15, Andy Aiello 2-9, Hudson Rees 2-5, Jake Thompson 1-4,  Nate Eberly 1-(-5), Team 1-(-2).

Passing - Otto-Eldred: Travis Bair 11 of 18, 167 yds., 3 TD’s. Ridgway: Nick Dickant 8 of 11, 111 yds., 1 TD, 2 INT’s. Joe Renaud 1 of 1, 8 yds., 1 TD.

Receiving - Otto-Eldred: Kurtis Breese 7-103, Logan Kellogg 3-55, Brett Howard 1-9. Ridgway: Hudson Rees 2-41, Joe Renaud 2-33, Elliott Pontious 3-29, Sam Skraba 2-16.

Interceptions - Otto-Eldred: Bair (2)