Ridgewood v Portsmouth

[Raycharles]

Any Portsmouth fans looking to get to West L early I know there will be a tailgate on the west end of the stadium. Will be grilling and have music and cornhole (or bags if you will) and Portsmouth fans are more than welcome to come over and make some small talk! I won’t promise how good the food will be

No one will beat me and Amici’s in cornhole!!!

I really figured with all of Ray Charles knowledge of Ridgewood and Portsmouth that he was a coach and would be game planning/preparing on Saturday rather than playing cornhole... My mistake! I will be tailgating out by the Ag building more than likely behind the basketball courts. Best place to set up IMO although there is more room in the field beside the stadium. Maybe I will swing over to check out your set up although I haven't lost in cornhole since tailgating before the home opener vs. Bellaire a few years back.

Well then it’s obvious you’ve been playing at the JV level. Come on over if you’re feeling froggy and wanna play with the big boys.

[MrFirstTake]

Seen an interview with coach slusser he said that we haven’t seen a back like the Parker kid since these kids have been in school except for maybe the kid from jfk

[RaceEagle]

Seen an interview with coach slusser he said that we haven’t seen a back like the Parker kid since these kids have been in school except for maybe the kid from jfk

Numbers don't lie. I think the Parker kid poses a real threat. Obviously there are some RW fans that are somewhat delusional and think the Generals are invincible, but if I had to guess I would say coach Slusser and his staff are taking the threat of the Parker kid very serious. Coach Slusser does a pretty good job keeping outside influences from affecting his kids.

[PTrojan59]

As good as Parker is, he can’t and won’t win this game by himself. Ridgewood defense is too good for that. The line will have to block well and Roe will have to make plays with his arm, he is very capable of doing so. Portsmouth will need to be more disciplined against Ridgewood than they were against Ironton, no turnovers or costly penalties. Trojans will need to play defense against Ridgewood like they did against Fairland, but better. The main thing will be tackling, wrap up wrap up wrap up, I can’t preach it enough. They’ll need to get some penitration in the Ridgewood backfield as well, something I didn’t see much of against Ironton. Winning this game on the road in the cold will definitely a tall task, but not impossible. Bought our tickets at the school today, now we just wait for the long car ride Saturday afternoon. I’m excited, obviously want to walk away with a win, but playoff football is fun and I’m glad to see this group of Portsmouth players get the chance at Week 11. Go Trojans!

[14U]

Haven’t seen Portsmouth play this year but do know it was all Parker last year and this year Portsmouth has a passing game to go with him. Ironton is huge up front on both sides the ball and backs all 3 over 6’0 230 so can’t go by that game. Portsmouth will be fine if they mix it up and shorten the game, need drives. Portsmouth seems like the smallest team they have had on the lines but heart is where it’s at!! Good Luck.

[Amicis_Addict]

Make no mistake, the generals know they are playing the best team they’ve played all year on Saturday and are preparing for a fight. It’s no longer about who has played who and all about playing who you have in front of you. It’s win or go home and the generals are well aware. Slusser does a fantastic job of keeping the players away from the “talk” and focusing on the task at hand. The generals are not looking ahead to week 12 and will be fully prepared to leave it all on the line in week 11.

[Beergogglebluez]

I’m sure Ridgewood is good but no disrespect but I can’t imagine a defense stronger and better then what the Trojans seen in ironton. Parker still got over 100 yards. Turnovers killed the Trojans. 3 plays and out and back on defense. If the Trojans mix it up and don’t turn it over it will be a good ball game. Like pt59 said no matter what happens I’ll be there and super proud of the Trojans. Back to back playoffs after 11 years of nothing is amazing.

[BuckeyeBlood]

Anyone have any recommendations for any food sold at concessions at Ridgewood?

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

Parker will be Parker, he will get his. It will be on the shoulders of Roe, if the young man can move the ball and convert 3rd downs Trojans will be there in the 4th quarter.

What scares me the most about RW is the QB, the videos I see the kid can throw 40 yards off the run. Rare talent, we have speed in the defensive backfield but idk if we can defend that successfully. If we can not stop but slow the passing attack by the Generals, I’ll take Portsmouth in this game, because I don’t think they can stop Parker and Roe, but that’s a big if.

[Beergogglebluez]

Parker will be Parker, he will get his. It will be on the shoulders of Roe, if the young man can move the ball and convert 3rd downs Trojans will be there in the 4th quarter.

What scares me the most about RW is the QB, the videos I see the kid can throw 40 yards off the run. Rare talent, we have speed in the defensive backfield but idk if we can defend that successfully. If we can not stop but slow the passing attack by the Generals, I’ll take Portsmouth in this game, because I don’t think they can stop Parker and Roe, but that’s a big if.

I was looking at the ironton stats today. Trojans were 3-10 on 3rd down. 2-4 on 4th. HAVE to convert on 3rd down. We moved the ball but stalled out on short yard conversions. 3 picks don’t help as well. 1 being a pick 6. If Rowe is on this game will be closer than people think.

[hegotgame]

After watching highlights of Parker and watching the ironton/Portsmouth game on a FB page, there is no doubt that the Parker kid is the best back the wood has faced this year and possibly in awhile. Indian Valley had a kid last year rush for over 2,000 that was a stud and wood was able to shut him down but not sure he had the speed Parker has. Parker definitely has an impressive skill set, he can cut and change direction without slowing down. The JFK back mentioned in a previous post was Tony Elzy from warren jfk who played college ball at NC. Parker does remind me of him a bit. Will be a fun night and a great atmosphere in Ridgewood Stadium Saturday night. Portsmouth fans that make the trip will not be disappointed! Wood travelled to SEO land 6 years in a row, excited to finally welcome an SEO team to west Lafayette!

[portsmouth_98]

Parker will be Parker, he will get his. It will be on the shoulders of Roe, if the young man can move the ball and convert 3rd downs Trojans will be there in the 4th quarter.

What scares me the most about RW is the QB, the videos I see the kid can throw 40 yards off the run. Rare talent, we have speed in the defensive backfield but idk if we can defend that successfully. If we can not stop but slow the passing attack by the Generals, I’ll take Portsmouth in this game, because I don’t think they can stop Parker and Roe, but that’s a big if.

I was looking at the ironton stats today. Trojans were 3-10 on 3rd down. 2-4 on 4th. HAVE to convert on 3rd down. We moved the ball but stalled out on short yard conversions. 3 picks don’t help as well. 1 being a pick 6. If Rowe is on this game will be closer than people think.

Being a sophomore it was likely Roe was going to have a game like that eventually. Ironton forced us into hard situations and we compounded problems with turnovers. It sucks to ask so much of a soph qb but that's the position we are in. Hopefully our kids and coaches learned from last week and got the jitters out. We are on house money now, win and anything can happen. Be the first Trojans to see week 12 since 2002.

[PTrojan59]

Play calling will be really important for the Trojans in this one. Need smart play calls in order for Roe to be successful. Don’t run that same screen play if it’s shut down the first 5 times. Call some pass plays that get the ball out of his hands quick, or some designed QB roll outs. That being said, let Parker be Parker. I know they don’t want teams to key on him and our offense go stagnant, but this kid can literally make a play at any given time. I’d like to see Parker get the ball in space, some sweeps would be ideal. Smart play calling will go a long way in sustaining drives and keeping the Ridgewood offense off the field.

[Tjhtygeverve]

Go Trojans! You got this. RepSeo!

[ohbuckeye2]

Good luck Trojans....

[DaWoodSoldier]

Parker will be Parker, he will get his. It will be on the shoulders of Roe, if the young man can move the ball and convert 3rd downs Trojans will be there in the 4th quarter.

What scares me the most about RW is the QB, the videos I see the kid can throw 40 yards off the run. Rare talent, we have speed in the defensive backfield but idk if we can defend that successfully. If we can not stop but slow the passing attack by the Generals, I’ll take Portsmouth in this game, because I don’t think they can stop Parker and Roe, but that’s a big if.

I was looking at the ironton stats today. Trojans were 3-10 on 3rd down. 2-4 on 4th. HAVE to convert on 3rd down. We moved the ball but stalled out on short yard conversions. 3 picks don’t help as well. 1 being a pick 6. If Rowe is on this game will be closer than people think.

Being a sophomore it was likely Roe was going to have a game like that eventually. Ironton forced us into hard situations and we compounded problems with turnovers. It sucks to ask so much of a soph qb but that's the position we are in. Hopefully our kids and coaches learned from last week and got the jitters out. We are on house money now, win and anything can happen. Be the first Trojans to see week 12 since 2002.

Wood QB is a sophomore. He wont be asked to do a whole lot....

[Tripaces]

Things that Impressed me about Parker was , he never seems to take a hit very shifty , he’s thighs are huge and the kid never lays down it was 27-0 when he made a 41 yard TD run breaking the ankles of Irontons DB who is a senior and multi year starter . I would run him all night bc he’s gonna break a couple and he’s your best chance at winning , remember 4 yards a carry is a win for the offense

[Raycharles]

Tingle: 2018 (through 12 games)
Rush 192-871 yards TD’s 10
Passing 136-221 61.5% 2,224 yards 21 TD’s INT???

Tingle: 2019
Rushing 83-729 yards TD’s 15
Passing 99-141 70.1% 2,052 yards 22 TD’s INT 2

[14U]

Seen an interview with coach slusser he said that we haven’t seen a back like the Parker kid since these kids have been in school except for maybe the kid from jfk

From not being for either team looking in:
Last year it was Parker and teams shadow him and couldn’t stop him until the Middletown game week 11. I think coach figured out coming into this year better have a passing game and find one, just enough to keep defenses honest. Only think Portsmouth is missing this year is a big line like last year on both sides of the ball. Everybody made it to the second season week 11 for a reason. I would like to see a great game Saturday.

[mattash]

Trojans travel to face undefeated Generals
By Paul Bogggs

PORTSMOUTH — Simply put, the Trojans are back on their horse, back in the state playoffs, and back on the road again.

You can even call it Portsmouth’s senior trip.
But, the aim indeed is to be one week better, just like Portsmouth was one game better this past regular season.

The 8-2 Trojans, making their 11th all-time OHSAA state playoff appearance, travel three hours to Ridgewood High School on Saturday — for a Division V, Region 19 quarterfinal with the host, and undefeated, Generals.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday night at Ridgewood High School, which is located in West Lafayette.

For the Generals, this is their 14th all-time playoff berth, as Portsmouth is 8-10 all-time while Ridgewood is 6-13.
But while the second-seeded Generals are regular playoff participants, the seventh-seeded Trojans experienced a full decade’s worth of postseason drought — as 2007 was the most recent campaign prior to last year.

Bruce Kalb — completing his second season as Portsmouth head coach — consistently has praised the senior class for not only accepting the mantle passed on by last year’s group, but by leading by example and thus preparing themselves for this year’s trip.

“We’re excited. Here we set 8-2, second year in a row we get to take the trip to play in week 11, and happy with where we’re at. We look forward to a battle on Saturday night. It would be easy to complain about traveling a long distance to play a playoff game on a Saturday night on a natural (grass) surface. My message to the team was at this point, we’ve been there and we’ve done that,” said Kalb, in an interview on Tuesday. “Last year, first trip in 11 years, it would be easy to say we were happy to just be there. This year, I asked this senior class to be one game better than last year in the regular season. Then the experience and everything we’ve done from that (playoff) game at (Middletown) Madison last year with this senior class has prepared us for this Saturday at Ridgewood.

We have the experience of what it’s like to travel a long distance to play a game. This year, three of our road games and two of which were an hour or more were on grass (Gallia Academy and Fairland). We know some of the intangibles, some of those things you can’t control, at least we have a familiarity with them.”

One thing the Trojans are familiar with is scoring via the big play, spearheaded by the school’s all-time rushing leader in senior Talyn Parker.

In the regular season, Parker rushed for a dozen yards (1,488) shy of exactly 1,500 on 150 carries, amassing 25 touchdowns and a 9.92 yards per carry average.

Against Ironton a week ago, Parker posted 108 yards on 18 carries — and scored on a 42-yard dash to give Portsmouth it’s only points of the night in a 48-7 defeat.
But Ironton indeed has a stalwart defensive line, as do the Generals, as Kalb quickly pointed out Ridgewood’s strength.

Zach Prater (6-1, 290, jr.) and Bryce Prater (6-3, 280, jr.) are twin brothers — as Zach has 35 tackles, including eight for loss and five sacks, while Bryce has 23 tackles, including 11 for loss and four-and-a-half sacks.
The ends are Kaden Smith (5-11, 205, sr.) and J.J. Durr (5-11, 215, jr.), combining for 62 tackles, 22 of which were for loss with 11 sacks.

Portsmouth’s offensive line will need to get the Prater twins blocked so Parker can find running lanes, while sophomore quarterback Drew Roe makes his first postseason start — having completed 92 passes on 161 attempts with 1,371 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Of his six interceptions on the season, he threw three last week, as Ironton — like Gallia Academy in the Trojans’ only other loss this season — made Portsmouth pay.

“They have a couple of defensive tackles that pop out on film and very aggressive defensive ends,” said Kalb.
Offensively, while Parker is the reigning Division V Southeast District Offensive Player of the Year, Ridgewood quarterback Gabe Tingle — a 5-foot 11-inch 180-pound sophomore — slung the ball around for 2,052 yards and 22 TDs with only two interceptions.
He completed 70-percent of his passes on 99 out of 141 attempts, and also rushed for 726 yards on 83 carries with 15 trips to paydirt.

Tingle was a frontrunner for East District Division V Offensive Player of the Year, as the Generals — which steamrolled through the Inter-Valley Conference — played in nine games with a running clock with six of those 10 tilts featuring the starters not playing a down in the second half.

“The quarterback runs the show. He makes their offense go. He can run the ball well, he can throw the ball well. It’s somebody who we have to account for on every snap,” said Kalb. “If you put too much pressure on him, he is going to burn you with his legs. If you try to box him in, he is going to hit somebody on a screen pass or throw it downfield for a big gain. We have to make sure we know where he is at all times. We have to at least slow him down, if we can’t stop him.”

Kalb said the Generals are schematically similar to the Trojans — a spread-based offense that the coach said “reminds me of a lot of Waverly, a little bit of Wheelersburg in years past”.

“They are very quarterback-centered. This is a kid who can throw it on a rope from hash-mark to numbers, but he can also throw it deep and drop it in the bucket to a receiver running down the sideline. He definitely can make the offense go with his legs too,” he said. “And he’s definitely a competitor. They’ve got him for a couple of more years after this. He is a sophomore, but they are a young team that already has a lot of experience.”
The top receiver is Kolten Smith — a 5-10 170-pound senior who has 37 receptions for 778 yards and seven touchdowns with a 21.2 yards per catch average.
Perhaps Portsmouth’s best defense will be its offense — should it show some of what it did in the second half against Ironton and demonstrate tighter offensive formations with Parker picking up yards.


But Kalb said simply “we’re going to do what got us here”.

“We’re going to get in and out of what we feel is going to give us the most success,” he said. “To give us the running lanes Talyn Parker needs, to give us the reads and time that Drew Roe needs to throw, to get our receivers open…you go with what got you here and you don’t reinvent the wheel with a few days of practice in week 11. We need to force their defense to honor us and make them defend us sideline-to-sideline.”
The Trojans can also ill-afford costly penalties plus turnovers.

“Ridgewood is going to be good, and whenever we have opportunities to score and take advantage, we HAVE to capitalize. In our two losses, we didn’t do that. In our wins, especially our bigger wins, they have been crucial to our success,” said Kalb. “We know what we have to do to make sure we win this game on Saturday night.”
And, should the Trojans do just that, they indeed will be one week better than the 11 of a year ago.