BY STEPHEN LYNCH
Bakersfield High running back Wesley Wilson glanced up at the Griffith Field scoreboard and didn’t like what he saw.
His Drillers were trailing Ridgeview, 17-14, late in the third quarter of the two teams’ non-league game on Friday night.
That’s when Wilson decided it was time for him to kick things into high gear and help get the BHS offense going.
From that point on Wilson was unstoppable, rushing for 143 yards and a touchdown, as the Drillers rallied to beat the Wolf Pack, 24-17.
“We knew that something had to be done (because) it was a close game,” Wilson said. “We were slacking when we first came out. Once we started running the ball, we started seeing more things open. And we just went on from there.”
Wilson ran four times for 1 yard in the first half, and then didn’t carry the ball again until there were 14 minutes remaining in the game.
After Ridgeview (2-2) took its first and only lead of the game on a 55-yard touchdown pass from Justin Hinzo to the speedy Zion Hall with 4:26 left in the third quarter, the Drillers (2-2) answered with a heavy dose of Wilson.
The 6-foot 180-pound senior capped off a nine-play, 62-yard touchdown drive with four consecutive carries for 40 yards, including a 5-yard scamper into the endzone that reclaimed the lead for BHS, 21-17.
Late in the fourth quarter Wilson helped extend the Drillers advantage by breaking free for a 49-yard run that setup a 36-yard field goal by Ryan Bonner.
“We figured out their defense,” Wilson said regarding BHS’ late-game offensive surge. “We figured out that our passing wasn’t working. Most of our runs weren’t working. Once we started diving and pounding the ball on them everything opened up. It was good.”
The Drillers were far from good for most of a first half that ended tied, 7-7.
Ridgeview out-gained BHS 238-116 prior to intermission.
The Drillers got off to a solid start to the game, grabbing a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter on Ricky Easterwood’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Bonner.
Late in the first quarter Ridgeview botched a chance to score its first points of the game, when after driving down to the BHS 4-yard line Fabien Guillen, missed a 26-yard field goal attempt, wide left.
The Wolf Pack completely dominated the second quarter, running 33 offensive plays compared to only seven for the Drillers.
The first of play of second quarter was an Easterwood pass that was intercepted by Anthony Ramirez.
Ridgeview capitalized on the turnover by going on 15-play, 98-yard drive, that ended with Hinzo connecting with Keylijah Lucas for a 21-yard touchdown pass.
Late in the second quarter, the Wolf Pack went on another 15-play drive, marching 67 yards to the BHS 3-yard line. But on third down and goal Hinzo was chased out of the pocket and sacked. Time ran out before Ridgeview could run another play.
“(That defensive stop) was absolutely critical, because if (we) don’t get that, it’s another opportunity for them to either get in the end zone or kick a field goal,” BHS coach Michael Stewart said. “That was huge.”
Ridgeview coach Rich Cornford felt that his team’s multiple missed scoring chances during the first half was the difference in the game.
“We just left so many points on the board there in the first half,” Cornford said. “Against a good team, you can’t do that. I thought our defense battled really well. Did a great job. Offensively, just inconsistency, some turnovers early on there, and missed opportunities. That’s the story of this game.”
Stewart was pleased that his team was able to overcome its early mistakes and win a hard-fought game against a quality opponent.
“It’s a great win,” Stewart said. “You want to get as many wins as you can on the board. So, it’s obviously going to help our confidence to know we won a slugfest against a good team. They played Liberty straight-up. This is a good team we beat tonight. We’re going to have some confidence knowing we played hard down the stretch and we made the plays when we needed to.”
Bakersfield 24, Ridgeview 17
Ridgeview 0 7 10 0-17
Bakersfield 7 0 14 3-24
First quarter
B-C. Bonner 25 pass from Easterwood (R. Bonner kick)
Second quarter
R-Lucas 21 pass from Hinzo (Guillen kick)
Third quarter
B-Ian Jernigan 1 run (R. Bonner kick)
R-Guillen 37 FG
R-Hall 55 pass from Hinzo (Guillen kick)
B-Wilson 5 run (R. Bonner kick)
Fourth quarter
B-R. Bonner 36 FG
Individual statistics
RUSHING-Ridgeview: Amos 24-90, Hinzo 13-37, Zendejas 7-36, Rushing 1-7, Team 1-(-18); Bakersfield: Wilson 16-144, Ian Jernigan 11-86, Bonner 1-11, Easterwood 6-9, Bell 1-(-1), Team 1-(-13).
PASSING-Frontier: Ridgeview: Hinzo 14-35-2-216, Rushing 2-2-0-1, Team 0-2-0-0; Bakersfield: Easterwood 7-14-1-48.
RECEIVING-Ridgeview: Hall 8-119, Alexander-Williams 2-51, Lucas 4-45, Deans 1-2, Rushing 1-0; C. Bonner 3-28, McCray 1-10, Isaac Jernigan 1-7, Wilson 2-3.
W-L: Ridgeview 2-2; Bakersfield 2-2.
JV-Bakersfield 28, Ridgeview 20
Photos by Nick Ellis
