Ridge gives O'Connor its best
by Jason Stone

NORTH VALLEY – Sandra Day O’Connor was hoping it wouldn’t be on the field to witness Mountain Ridge’s best performance of the year when the two teams met last week.

Unfortunately for Eagles fans, that’s exactly what the team got.

Mountain Ridge quarterback Kevin Yost had by far his best game of the year for Mountain Ridge, throwing for four touchdowns and 314 yards in the Mountain Lions’ 35‑10 win over O’Connor, the third straight loss for the Eagles.

Yost came into the game with only two touchdowns passes and nearly doubled his season’s passing total coming in as Mountain Ridge earned its first win of the year after starting the season with four losses.

O’Connor, meanwhile, fell out of the playoff picture with its third loss after opening the season with three straight wins. The Eagles will try to break the skid this week when Kingman visits for the Eagles’ annual homecoming game.

Mountain Ridge appeared poised to make another late‑season run like it did in 2004. That year the Mountain Lions started 0‑4 but won their final six regular season games and advanced all the way to the 5A state championship game.

Last Friday against O’Connor, Yost found Brian Lowe for a 12‑yard strike three minutes into the game to put the Mountain Lions up 7‑0. O’Connor stayed close for the rest of the first quarter, but watched Ridge take a 14‑0 lead at the 10:12 mark of the second quarter when Yost hit Giorgio Giurdanella on a 29‑yard touchdown pass.

O’Connor gained some momentum heading into halftime when Bryan Turski kicked a 19‑yard field goal with 11 seconds left in the half to cut the deficit to 14‑3.

Giurdanella caught his second touchdown pass of the night with four minutes gone in the second half to extend Mountain Ridge’s lead to 21‑3.

On Mountain Ridge’s  next possession, O’Connor nearly began a rally when Robert Robbins intercepted a Yost pass deep in Mountain Ridge territory and returned it six yards for a touchdown. The extra point put O’Connor within 11 points.

But early in the fourth quarter, Mountain Ridge returned the favor as Brett Hager picked off a pass and took it 27 yards to the end zone giving the Lions an 18‑point lead. With less than six minutes left in the game, Yost iced it with 20‑yard scoring strike to Ryan King.

Reach the reporter at jason@thedesertadvocate.com.