East Ridge was known in recent years for its potent passing attack, led by prolific gunslinger Tanner Zolnosky, who’s now at Western Illinois.
But in Thursday’s 28-14 victory in its season opener at rival Park in Cottage Grove, the Raptors stuck almost exclusively to the ground. East Ridge ran 56 times for 193 yards in the win.
Was that a sign of things to come?
“I don’t 100 percent know if I see it like that, but I like it,” said East Ridge fullback Jacob Merchlewitz, who had nine totes himself and ran in a touchdown. “That’s just how I grew up playing football, and it’s the fun side of football, I think. I don’t know if we’ll continue to do it. It’s working. We’ve got to make sure we continue to keep working on every aspect.”
But East Ridge coach Dan Fritze hinted after the game that game plan Thursday had more to do with the torrential downpours than anything else. The kickoff was delayed 90 minutes by Thursday’s storms, and the rain didn’t let up for seemingly the entire contest.
“That was our plan going in,” Fritze said. “We just made a commitment that … we’re going to run the ball, and get up front and control the ball. That first half, it felt like we had the ball the whole half. Anytime a team can do that, you should do it.”
Park safety Zack Carr, left, breaks up a pass intended for East Ridge player Kyle Frendt during the first half of the at Park High School in Cottage Grove Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)
And East Ridge certainly has in the past. The Raptors’ run to the state title game in 2015 was powered by a dominant rushing attack. That team featured a premier offensive line, an elusive quarterback and a star running back.
Frankly, East Ridge’s offensive game plan varies year to year depending on its personnel. But even last year, the at times pass-happy Raptors found a near 50-50 balance in the playoffs, which they rode to another state tournament appearance and near-quarterfinal upset of Lakeville South.
That’s the type of approach Fritze hopes to establish again this season.
“We want to be a balanced team that can do both,” Fritze said. “In a perfect world, we’d literally be perfectly down the line, 50-50. It depends on the game.”
And conditions. So while East Ridge ran so much Thursday — quarterback Cedric Tomes ran in a pair of scores in his first varsity start — Fritze expects there will be a night this season in which the junior indeed airs it out.
“I think we could open it up a lot more when we don’t get these conditions each week,” Tomes said, “so that’ll be nice.”
But that wasn’t required Thursday. Particularly not when East Ridge’s defense was playing so well. Park’s lone score through three quarters came on defense, when Park junior linebacker Aidan Boche returned an interception 66 yards to the house in the second quarter to put the Wolfpack on the board.
The Wolfpack found more success offensively through the air in the second half, but a number of drives were thwarted by interceptions — two of which came from East Ridge defensive back James Martin.
Tomes said the defense was the “MVP” on Thursday.
“We scored, but they kind of won it for us,” he said, “especially in the second half.”
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