St. Mary’s Ryken High School running back Garrett Williams III looks to get outside of several Severn School defenders in last Saturday’s game at Archbishop Spalding in Anne Arundel County. Ryken prevailed 42-28 in that contest in the season opener for both squads.
St. Mary’s Ryken High School wide receiver and kick returner Jonathan Campbell heads into the open field in the first half of last Saturday’s game against the Severn School at Archbishop Spalding, eventually won by Campbell and the Knights 42-28.
St. Mary’s Ryken High School receiver Davon Trowell attempts to elude a Severn School tackler after catching a pass from Nicholas Reisinger in the first half of last Saturday’s game at Archbishop Spalding. Trowell and the Knights prevailed 42-28 in that contest in the season opener for both teams.
St. Mary’s Ryken High School running back Garrett Williams III looks to get outside of several Severn School defenders in last Saturday’s game at Archbishop Spalding in Anne Arundel County. Ryken prevailed 42-28 in that contest in the season opener for both squads.
TED BLACK/Southern Maryland News
St. Mary’s Ryken High School wide receiver and kick returner Jonathan Campbell heads into the open field in the first half of last Saturday’s game against the Severn School at Archbishop Spalding, eventually won by Campbell and the Knights 42-28.
TED BLACK/Southern Maryland News
St. Mary’s Ryken High School receiver Davon Trowell attempts to elude a Severn School tackler after catching a pass from Nicholas Reisinger in the first half of last Saturday’s game at Archbishop Spalding. Trowell and the Knights prevailed 42-28 in that contest in the season opener for both teams.
In a contest that was not nearly as close as the final score indicated, the St. Mary’s Ryken High School football team opened its current season with a 42-28 victory over the Severn School at Archbishop Spalding in Anne Arundel County on Saturday afternoon in the Cavalier Kickoff Classic despite committing five turnovers.
St. Mary’s Ryken (1-0), ranked 19th in the Maryland State Media Preseason Football rankings, actually could not have asked for a better start to the game despite playing without junior running back Malachai Milburn, who was expected to get the lion’s share of the carries. In his absence, Garrett Williams III performed admirably and keyed a balanced attack led by quarterback Nicholas Reisinger.
“For the most part I thought we were able to execute our offense today,” Ryken coach Gary Wynn said. “We were minus our returning starting running back, but Garrett did a nice job filling in for him. Nick made some really good throws and our receivers did a nice job running routes. We just have to do a better job holding onto the ball. Five turnovers is not acceptable and that usually gets you beat.”
On the Knights’ opening possession, Reisinger completed six of seven passes for 38 yards and connected with Jonathan Campbell on a seven-yard scoring strike in the back, right corner of the end zone and Campbell also added the extra point for a 7-0 lead. The Knights’ opening drive covered 60 yards and spanned 12 plays and devoured over half of the first quarter.
Ryken doubled its advantage on its first possession of the second quarter when the Knights marched 94 yards in 10 plays.
Williams carried four times for 33 yards and also caught a screen pass from Reisinger then finished the drive with two runs, the last from six yards out for a touchdown that gave the Knights a 14-0 lead.
Severn (0-1) responded with its best drive of the game, going 80 yards in 10 plays and running back Charlie Runco scored from four yards out to trim the Knights’ lead to 14-7 with 3:55 left in the first half. But Ryken immediately countered by going 60 yards in 10 plays and took a 20-7 lead into the locker room at the intermission when Reisinger connected with Christian Washington in the right, front corner of the end zone on a six-yard strike.
Ryken then appeared on the verge of blowing the game open when Reisinger connected with Davon Trowell on a 68-yard scoring strike on the Knights’ first offensive play of the third quarter for a 28-7 lead.
But each time Ryken seemed poised to topple the Admirals, the Knights committed a costly turnover. In fact, Ryken led by 21 points on three separate occasions, the last at 42-21 on a 40-yard toss from Reisinger to Washington with 4:55 remaining.
“It was good to come in here and get a win,” Wynn said. “But we still have some things to clean up. I didn’t think penalties hurt us, but we have to limit the turnovers. Five turnovers is not going to get it done most games.”
