By Mike Maddock Photos by Mike Maddock

Spring Valley’s Brandon Johnson (9) had 203 rushing yards against Ridge View.

Ridge View players and coaches had more to deal with than Spring Valley in the week leading up to the game on October 21. Two players and a coach lost family members, and one Blazer was still in the hospital due to an injury he suffered during the game with Richland Northeast.

Life and region play have been tough on Ridge View. After suffering losses to Dutch Fork and Richland Northeast, and without their leading tackler, Brent Patrick, the Blazers faced a hot Spring Valley team. Their normally stingy defense which was giving up only 211 yards total offense gave up 203 yards rushing to Spring Valley’s Brandon Johnson and lost 32 to 17. The Blazers now have to deal with an angry Irmo team that just suffered its first loss of the season.

Ridge View cheerleaders do push–ups after every score. Head coach Raymond Jennings says, “Last week was a really tough week for our program. We’re simply going to have to focus on the positives and continue to get our kids ready to play on Friday. Irmo is a very tough and physical team. This is not a week to hang our heads or look to other things.”

While Ridge View is trying to salvage a season that started with such promise, head coach Jimmy Noonan and his Spring Valley Vikings find themselves back in the heat of the playoff race after losing the region opener to Irmo. Their only problem is possibly overlooking a struggling Lower Richland squad in anticipation of the November 4 showdown with Richland Northeast.

Noonan says, “During weeks such as this, we will give our players no breathing room and will address every fine detail. A mature team will not have a let–down. Our leadership has come a long way and we'll turn to these guys time and time again this week.”

Coach Jennings and the Blazers will look to turn the season back around at Irmo Friday, October 28, while Coach Noonan and the Vikings look to keep things rolling at Lower Richland.