The Ripon Indians rebounded from back-to-back losses, putting together an impressive performance both offensively and defensively in a 37-20 victory over Hughson in Trans Valley League play Wednesday night at Wes Stouffer Field.
“We were lights out in every facet of the game tonight,” Indians coach Louis Rivera said. “We got a jolt offensively in bringing up our freshman (Ana Shriver), and the defense made big plays to keep us in the game and help us pull away.”
After putting up just six points in the previous two matchups, it was the defense that got Ripon (1-1, 9-7) going Wednesday night. After its own drive stalled inside the 1-yard line, senior linebacker Kimberly Lira pulled the flag of Hughson (0-2, 8-7) quarterback Leah Hobby in the end zone for a safety, putting the Indians up 2-0.
Shriver and her teammates were slow to start throughout much of the first half, and after two stalled drives turned into Hughson touchdowns, the Indians found themselves down 14-2 with six minutes left in the first half.
That’s when everything changed for this young Indians squad.
Shriver led Ripon on a seven-play, 65-yard drive that culminated in a 16-yard touchdown strike to Elena Vandernakker. The touchdown pass was the first of five on the night for Shriver, to go along with 217 yards passing and 47 yards on the ground.
“Ana gives us something that we haven’t had,” Rivera said. “The quickness she moves with puts defenses in tough spots, and I told our receivers going into tonight she’s going to put the ball on your hands, and that’s what you saw out there.”
With the deficit cut in half, it was the defense’s turn to make a play.
On the very next Hughson possession, sophomore standout Mia Hendryx intercepted a Hobby pass and returned it inside the 10-yard line of the Huskies. Two plays later, Shriver found Vandernakker again, this time from 12 yards out to put the Indians up, 15-14.
It was sophomore Teagan Osborn’s turn to make a big play on defense on the next Hughson possession. She picked off a Hobby pass with 30 seconds left in the first half to get the ball back for the Indians.
Any thought that Rivera would be content to go into half up 15-14 went away after Shriver orchestrated a two-play, 40-yard drive capped off by a 23-yard strike to Hendryx (nine catches, 126 yards) for her first of two scores in the game. The Indians, who just two minutes of game play earlier saw themselves down 14-2, took a 23-14 lead into the break, turning the game on its head.
“That was a really big momentum swing,” Hendryx said. “We’ve been really struggling on offense, and sometimes it takes the defense making some plays to get us going, and we did just that at the end of the first half.”
Shriver would lead Indians in the first drive out of the break going 65 yards in six plays, this time finding sophomore Ava Aguirre (three catches, 29 yards) from 20 yards out to lengthen the lead for the Indians at 30-14.
The Indians completed a sequence in which they scored 28 points in just over five minutes of game time, a testament to how dynamic the unit can be for Rivera.
Ripon will hope to continue winning ways in the TVL next week with a pair of home games. They’ll host Hilmar on Monday and Sonora on Wednesday. Both teams are off to undefeated starts in league play after strong preseason campaigns.
“If we play like we did for that stretch tonight the rest of the season, we will be able to accomplish a lot of things in league play and hopefully in the postseason,” Rivera said. “It’s fun calling plays for both sides of the ball when our girls execute the way they did tonight.”
