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LANGHORNE - Ridley knocked Neshaminy out of the 2007 Class AAAA District One tournament, and many of the Redskins had not forgotten.
"We knew we had to beat them because of last year," Redskins’ junior running back Bryan Dean said. "Coach (Mark Schmidt) wasn't too happy about that. We wanted to come in and make the best of it. It was a big factor for me and (Quilan Arnold) because we didn't play much in last year's game."
Running backs Dean and Arnold combined for more than 200 rushing yards and four touchdowns in Neshaminy's 31-3 win over the defending district champion Green Raiders at Harry E. Franks Stadium in a district quarterfinal on Friday night.
Third-seeded Neshaminy (11-1) visits unbeaten No. 2 seed Garnet Valley (12-0) next weekend.
Dean ran for 106 yards and three touchdowns on just nine carries. Arnold ran for 106 yards and one TD on 13 carries.
Neshaminy rolled up 284 rushing yards on 37 attempts for an average of 7.7 yards per carry.
"They couldn't stop our run, so we just stuck with that," said fullback Jay Colbert, who ran for 37 yards and cleared big holes for Arnold and Dean.
Dean scored on runs of three yards, 19 yards and 43 yards. He has rushed for 940 yards and scored 15 touchdowns this season.
"The offensive line was spectacular," Dean said. "The credit all goes to the offensive line and fullback. I cut off of my blocks and go from there."
Arnold has eight touchdowns and about 1,100 yards. The two backs have combined for more than 2,000 rushing yards and are averaging around 6.8 yards per carry.
"Any time you can give those guys six inches, they can go," Colbert said. "But I try to give them two feet. They do a great job."
Neshaminy's defense held Ridley to 69 rushing yards on 27 carries. The Green Raiders did have 150 yards passing, but had trouble moving the ball all night.
Kicker Tom Bongiorno made a 26-yard field goal late in the first quarter for Ridley's only points.
Neshaminy has allowed 91 total points in 12 games and has allowed only 22 points in its last three games against very good teams: Pennsbury (9-3), Downingtown East (6-5) and Ridley (9-3).
"We're very confident on defense," Colbert said. "We love to stop people."
The game was relatively close at halftime. Neshaminy kicker Seth Jeffries made it 17-3 with a 39-yard field goal on the final play of the second quarter.
But Neshaminy forced the Green Raiders to punt on their first possession of the second half, and the Redskins dominated the rest of the way.
Neshaminy drove 70 yards on five rushing plays on its first series of the third quarter. Arnold had a 39-yard run on the drive, and Dean capped it with a 19-yard touchdown run to make it 24-3.
On their next possession early in the fourth quarter, the Redskins drove 86 yards on six consecutive running plays. Dean carried the ball on five of them and scored on a 43-yard run.
"Our offensive line did good things and kept an active Ridley defense on its heels a little bit," Neshaminy coach Mark Schmidt said. "The boys played well. I'm proud of them."
NESHAMINY 31, RIDLEY 3
Ridley 3-0-0-03
Neshaminy 7-10-7-731
Scoring
N-Quilian Arnold 8 run (Seth Jeffries kick)
R-Tom Bongiorno 26 field goal
N-Bryan Dean 3 run
N-Jeffries 39 field goal
N-Dean 19 run (Jeffries kick)
N-Dean 43 run (Jeffries kick)
Ridley
Rushing:
John Harshaw 9-28; Sam Dixon-Dougon 4-21; Cody Myers 2-9; Shahaid Smith 3-7; Jake Cahill 1-2; Andrew Pidgeon 7-2; Colin Masterson 1-0.
Passing:
Pidgeon 16-24-1, 144 yards; Masterson 1-3-0, 6 yards.
Receiving:
Troy Foster 7-80; Vince Jennings 4-38; Harshaw 2-12; Smith 2-2; Pat Mills 1-13; Myers 1-7; Pat Zimmerman 1-(-2).
Interceptions: Jennings, Cahill.
Neshaminy
Rushing:
Quilan Arnold 13-106, TD; Bryan Dean 9-106, 3 TDs; Jay Colbert 6-37; Ricky Williams 9-35.
Passing:
Brian Titus 4-7-2, 30 yards.
Receiving:
Tyler Orr 2-19; Rick Brebner 2-11.
Interceptions: Chris Boland.
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