RIPON -- The road to winning the first football playoff game in school history was made smoother Saturday night when Ripon Christian mastered the first basic step.
Holding onto the ball.
The Knights fumbled away the ball on three of their first four possessions, resulting in a scoreless first quarter against Sierra Ridge.
But after that, Ripon Christian was not to be stopped, as sophomore running back Andrew Brown reached the end zone six times in a 60-26 victory.
The Knights (7-4,) advanced to the second round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 6 playoffs where they will meet top-seeded Bradshaw Christian. Sierra Ridge finished 5-5.
"It was jitters or just excitement," said RC coach John Vander Schaaf. "We had a couple bad breaks early, maybe trying to make too much happen at once. But our interior defensive line kept us in the game.
"Sierra Ridge thought they would be able to dive on us, but we have some big boys up front that not too many schools have been able to handle."
Sierra Ridge actually won the possession battle, running 67 plays to the Knights' 45, and outgained its host 371-359.
But while RC overcame its early-game penchant for bobbling the ball, Sierra Ridge never did, finishing with six turnovers.
The result was that Ripon Christian's offense consistently began drives in enemy territory, and was able to score quickly.
Brown carried 22 times for 212 yards, including scoring runs of 53, 3, 17, 6 and 5 yards, and was on the receiving end of a 20-yard scoring pass from junior quarterback Danny Vos.
Vos was efficient in the passing game, completing 10 of 17 passes for 145 and three scores.
The sloppy beginning to the game actually allowed Sierra Ridge to take an early 8-0 lead when freshman running back Karon Scott raced 55 yards for a score early in the second quarter. Scott finished with 106 yards on 23 carries and Sierra Ridge rolled up 335 yards rushing on the Knights.
But Ripon Christian rolled from there, scoring on five straight offensive possessions and getting a 70-yard interception return from James Vander Schaaf to take a 41-8 lead midway through the third quarter.
"The kids were real jazzed to be a part of the first playoff win and they came out and played hard — maybe a little too hard at the beginning when we made a lot of mistakes," said John Vander Schaaf, whose team now faces a difficult test in the Division 6 semifinals.
"We have been thinking about Bradshaw," he said. "We've been game-planning for them for a while."
Bee staff writer Brian VanderBeek can be reached at bvanderbeek@modbee.com or (209) 578-2150. Follow him at twitter.com/modestobeek.
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