Bulldogs chomp Tigers in Aberdeen to remain perfect

ABERDEEN — Ririe High School has not been what one might call a perennial football power. Before the 2024 season, the Bulldogs had finished with a winning record just twice in the previous 15 seasons.

Last Year, Ririe won seven games and earned a state tournament berth. But the Bulldogs were aware that they were not taken seriously as contenders before the season. After earning a decisive 20-8 win over the Aberdeen Tigers (2-2), one of those state blue bloods, on the road Friday night, the discussion in the post-game huddle was that the state would have to acknowledge the undefeated Bulldogs (5-0).

Head coach Josh Huntsman said this was precisely the type of win his team needed to establish their reputation as a top team in the 3A division.

“This team’s different,” he said. “This team’s been together since they were sixth-graders. … These guys have been together for a long, long time, and they have confidence in each other — they like each other, they have a lot of fun with each other. That’s the biggest thing is, they’re playing for each other.”

Senior running back Kolter Lewis, one of the most effective ball-carriers in the state, averaging around 140 yards per game, called Friday’s win “huge.”

“Ririe, historically, not very good at football,” he said. “Last year, we had a decent season, but I think we’ve gotten better this year — we’ve beaten good teams, but to come beat Aberdeen, I feel like that kind of lets the state know that we’re here and we’re ready to go.”

With two teams that rely almost entirely on their run games and stout defense, it was no surprise that the ball changed hands just twice in the first quarter of the game. But on their second possession, which lasted six minutes, Ririe drove 72 yards on 12 plays — 11 runs — finishing in the endzone on a six-yard touchdown run from senior Garrett Van Noy.

The Tigers, who went three and out with their first possession, did it again when they got the ball for a second time, with 10 minutes left in the first half.

Plagued by high snaps, upsetting the timing of the Tigers’ read-option offense, Aberdeen had its own offensive issues. Add in some very aggressive Ririe defense and Aberdeen had just one yard of offense on their first two possession — with a snap going over quarterback Lupe Ortiz’s head for a loss of 14 on their second third down of the night.

Given a short field following the big loss, the Bulldogs went just 29 yards on their second possession, finishing with a Lewis five-yard scoring run.

The Aberdeen defense turned one of the state’s top rushers into a bulk-carry runner. Lewis finished the game with 79 yards on 22 carries, but added two catches for 18 yards — 16 of which coming on a third-quarter touchdown pass from senior quarterback Breylon Moon.

Van Noy added 65 yards and a score on his 11 carries.

“I thought we played a great football game tonight. That’s a really, really good football team over there,” Huntsman said of the Tigers.

Defensively, Ririe’s main focus was on Ortiz. The senior quarterback came into the game averaging 76 rush yards per game, leading the Tigers.

Including the 14 yards he was credit with losing when he dove onto the bad snap, and five more he lost on a sack in the second half, Ortiz finished the night with 80 rushing yards on 13 carries. Most of that, though, came on a 50-yard draw early in the third quarter.

“We tried to be in his eye space all the time,” Huntsman said of Ririe’s defensive gameplan against Ortiz. “We didn’t want him to get away from us — we let him go the one time.”

The head coach credited junior linebacker Bryce Barber with spying Ortiz and keeping him hemmed in most of the night, and junior defensive back Camden Stosich with running him down on the big gainer to prevent it from being a 62-yard touchdown.

Aberdeen, however, finished in the endzone one play later, when junior Jeremy Partida went the last 12 yards for the score.

After the big win, Huntsman told his team to celebrate for the night, but to come back ready to work Saturday.

Lewis put the victory into perspective, saying that while it was huge, there is another huge opponent up next.

“We can celebrate this win for now, but we’ve got Firth next week and we haven’t beaten them these past three years. We’ve got to lock in this week,” he said.

While Ririe has not beaten the Cougars during Lewis’ time with the team, the losing streak actually goes considerably longer. The Bulldogs have not gotten a win over Firth (1-4) since 2017.

The conference rivals will play at Firth Friday night, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.

Aberdeen will look to return to the win column when they play the North Fremont Huskies (4-0) in Ashton.