The Ripon Indians capitalized on strong defense and excellent quarterback play from sophomore Ana Shriver-Vazquez, picking up a 20-0 non-conference victory over a game River Islands team on Monday night at Wes Stouffer field.
“I was really happy with the way each and every one of these girls played tonight,” Indians coach Louis Rivera said. “We got beat up pretty good in a tournament over the weekend, and with a lack of practice time you count on games like this to get better, and I think we did that.”
The Indians (2-2) were led by Shriver-Vazquez, who was called up for the game due to River Islands not yet fielding a junior varsity squad. To say she took advantage of the opportunity would be an understatement.
Shriver-Vazquez contributed to all three touchdowns the Indians scored in the game, running for one in the first half before throwing for two touchdowns late. The sophomore ended the game with 139 yards through the air, while leading Ripon in rushing with 38 total yards.
“I was nervous but really just wanted to go out there and have fun,” Shriver-Vazquez said. “It has been a great experience playing with varsity the past few games, and I was really happy to help the team win.”
Receiver Mia Hendrix was Shriver-Vazquez’s favorite target, hauling in touchdown passes of 62 and 24 yards. She finished with four receptions for 117 yards.
The Riptide (0-2) came into Tuesday’s game after losing in double overtime to Stagg of Stockton last Thursday. The second-year team hung tough with its hosts behind stingy defense. First-half interceptions from Octavia Orndoff and Veronica Erilim flipped momentum toward the visitors.
In a bit of tough luck, Erilim’s flag fell off untouched running towards the end zone late in the first half. Ripon’s defense would hold on four consecutive plays from inside the 5-yard line to keep the Riptide off of the board going into the halftime break.
“We’ve played eight quarters of really good football,” River Islands coach Joe Cataline said. “Obviously, we’re a young team still learning and making mistakes, but there are a lot of positives, especially in that first half that we can take away and build upon.”
Ripon capitalized on the emotional boost that came from the goal-line stand late in the half and continued solid defensive play throughout the game. Freshman Aubree Fleming led the Indians with two sacks while coming up with one of their three interceptions in the game. Teagan Osborn and Hendrix also picked passes off for Rivera’s side.
“The defense was lights out tonight,” Rivera said. “We made one mistake tonight, but it’s a performance we can build off of moving forward as we move forward in what is going to be a difficult schedule.”
Up next for Ripon is a matchup at home against East Union on Wednesday.
“East Union is a great program, and they got us pretty good last year,” Rivera said. “It’s a great program, but I told our girls after this game that if we take the positive things we did today and clean up some mistakes, we will put ourselves in a really good spot.
“River Islands will look to bounce back quickly tonight at Mountain House.
“We’ll look to build off of some of the good stuff we did tonight moving forward,” Cataline said. “These girls understand this is a process, and while there are going to be some bumps along the way like tonight, we know what we’re working towards and these girls are excited to be a part of what we are building here at River Islands.”
