RIPON — No surprise that Michael Kamps’ favorite player is Christian McCaffrey.
Ripon Christian’s sophomore running back did his best impression of the Stanford star, slipping tackles and snagging passes to help his team past visiting Waterford Friday, 30-13.
“We call Kamps our ‘Mini Mac,’” said Knights’ coach Trey Ozenbaugh. “He has this uncanny ability to make people miss.”
Kamps, who rushed for a game-high 139 yards on 26 carries, scored three times, twice on the ground and another by air.
He was uncertain how he caught the 34-yard toss from quarterback Mark Ozenbaugh despite good coverage by the Wildcats.
“We both jumped up and somehow the ball landed in my hands,” Kamps said.
More important, Ripon Christian (1-1, 2-3 overall) got a much-needed Southern League win after dropping three in a row.
“I think our offense is maturing,” said coach Ozenbaugh. “Our defense is already there.”
He credits the offensive line for controlling the ground game.
Waterford (1-1, 3-2) scored first, with Jack Ichord grabbing a fumble and going 65 yards untouched to the end zone.
The second quarter belonged to the Knights.
Dominic Darretta returned the ensuing kickoff to midfield. From there, RC went 58 yards on seven plays capped by Kamps’ 5-yard run.
Dillon Zuidervaart then intercepted a pass for the Knights. Moments later, Mark Ozenbaugh, who was falling back, slung the ball to his towering 6-6 tight end Ty Beidleman, who plucked the ball over his defender during the 48-yard pass play to put his team ahead, 14-7.
On its next possession, Ozenbaugh hit Kamps, making it 20-7.
Prior to half time, Waterford was pushed back to its own end zone. The result of RC’s swarming defense was a safety off an intentional grounding penalty.
The Knights took a 22-7 lead into the intermission.
For good measures RC orchestrated a drive to start off the third quarter.
Kamps’ third TD coupled with Andrew Vander Weide catching Ozenbaugh’s two-point conversion pass made it 30-7 for the Knights.
Christian Gomez finally broke loose for the Wildcats, going 77 yards to set up Ichord’s 8-yard scoring strike from quarterback Tye Yates.
RC will travel to Denair next week.