Not only did Ridgefield impress the home crowd with a 42-0 win over Hudson’s Bay High School on Friday, Sept. 26, but the night also marked 50 years to the day of the Ridgefield Spudders home debut at Spudder Stadium.
To amplify the night’s fun, Ridgefield High School celebrated its homecoming night with classic cars dropping off the homecoming court to the stage on the track.
The Spudders did stutter at the start of the game with a couple of empty possessions, but Ridgefield head coach Scott Rice said he was not worried about that as his team continues to learn the new offense.
After the slow start, the Spudders could not be stopped from outside the red zone with long touchdown after long touchdown.
For Rice, the home crowd in Ridgefield has always been a treasure, but treating them to a win was important, especially now that league play has started in the wide open 2A Greater St. Helens League. The Spudders have three away games and two home games left, including the ever important rivalry game between the Spuds and Woodland Beavers that has decided the league champion each of the last two years.
“Great crowd and our band is amazing, the kids are amazing,” Rice said of the home game atmosphere. “They were super focused. We talked about it in my classes and stuff this week like, you know, we’re better when our kids are better and our community is amazing. They rally around us.”
When Rice got the head coaching job seven years ago, he knew Ridgefield would be special on Friday nights.
“Seven years ago, I knew it was a special place when I got here,” he said. “We’ve done a great job of building a community and our community has supported us. There’s no better place in America.”
The Ridgefield High School students filled an entire section of the 50-year-old stadium seating, bringing pure energy all night.
“I tell the kids all the time, I go, ‘there’s something special about Friday nights in Ridgefield, Washington,’” Rice said. “And it’s a testament to them showing up. They’re fired up. They cheer really hard and it’s amazing that they’re always decked out for the dress-up stuff. And again, it’s just an amazing group of kids and community.”
The Spudders will travel to Washougal High School to take on the only other undefeated team in league play this Friday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. The Washougal game kicks off a tough stretch of three strong league opponents in the Panthers, Mark Morris Monarchs and Columbia River Rapids.
“It’s going to be a heck of a game, and you know they’re going to be gunning,” Rice said of the Washougal game. “Then have Mark Morris here with a good football team right now and then River with a good football team, as well. So who knows what three weeks from now looks like, but this week we got to win a ballgame and go back to the drawing board Sunday and put a plan together to put our guys in the position to win.”
