The Ridgefield Spudders closed out their 8-0 season start with two straight losses, ending their season in the state preliminary round with a 34-7 loss to Fife High School on Saturday, Nov. 9.
The Spudders quickly experienced the speed and physicality of the Fife Trojans as a pair of brothers, Vadym and Slavik Shemedyuk, combined for over 300 yards and five touchdowns in the routing of the Spuds. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter when Spudders quarterback Landon DeBeaumont found wide receiver Talon Sosky for the lone score.
Ridgefield built up a lot of expectations over the first eight weeks but fell flat in the 2A Greater St. Helens League title game against the Woodland Beavers and the preliminary round. Spudders head coach Scott Rice remained proud of what his team accomplished this season, and especially the seniors who helped build its culture as the class of 2025 is the team’s largest in six years.
Rice’s closing thoughts on the season were summed up with his initial statement of “tough year.”
“To be 8-2 and feel like the last two weeks were just kind of stubbing our toe and not being able to put it together the way we’d like to, that’s frustrating,” he said. “But, [we showed] a lot of growth. I’m proud of the guys, you know, like I told them, these senior guys have been part of 30 victories in their four years and have been in the playoffs every single year. It’s a darn good group of kids, and we’re proud of them for what they’ve done.”
