Sports
Ridgewood, Paramus Talk Turkey On the Gridiron
Ridgewood looking to avenge last year's tough loss to Paramus on Thanksgiving
The 2011 edition of Ridgewood football will be aiming to go out with a victory and a .500 record on Turkey Day. The Maroons host rival Paramus on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. It will also be the last game for the more than 25 seniors on the Maroons football team.
It was not a happy consolation game for Ridgewood last week as the players would clearly rather have been playing in the state playoffs. Unfortunately, a slow start and a tough schedule did them in and they were left with a consolation game.
The Maroons would drop to Morris Hills by a 21-7 verdict, but Ridgewood can send off the seniors with a win on Thanksgiving.
In Paramus, the Maroons will face a Spartans team that will not be happy campers after being knocked out last weekend by Wayne Hills, 48-21, in the Group 3 North 1 state playoffs.
Paramus is 7-3 while Ridgewood is 4-5 and has won 3 out of the last four games.
, at Paramus and the game might just be as high scoring this season. Last year's loss ended domination by Ridgewood in the annual dual. Ridgewood has won three of the last four contests, though the difference in the game has typically been within a touchdown or less.
But if Ridgewood only scores a touchdown like it did in the consolation game, they'll be sitting ducks for Paramus.
For a map of what went right, the Maroons will be looking back at the Passaic game, a 49-0 victory, where senior running back Peter Reuter ran for three touchdowns. In addition sophomore quarterback Jamal Locke added a touchdown pass and a touchdown run against the Indians. Also expect senior halfback Blake Feagles to get into the scoring for the Maroons.
On defense Ridgewood will need to stop the Spartans passing combination of quarterback Mike Bussanich and wide receiver Tyler Garguillo, who connected on two touchdowns in the loss to Wayne Hills. The Ridgewood defense will also have to contain Paramus's top running back, Chris Durante, who notched three touchdowns in the 41-23 state playoff win over Lakeland.
The game will be played at RHS Stadium Field at 10:30 a.m.
