East Ridge snaps 16-game losing streak with win over Fivay in overtime

HUDSON, FLORIDA- 703 days.

That’s the amount of time it has been since the last time the East Ridge Knights had won a game. October 6th, 2020 to be exact is when East Ridge defeated South Lake 32-12 on the road. Since then? 16 straight losses in a row for the Knights.

Going into Monday night’s game against the Fivay Falcons, East Ridge took aim at ending the long losing skid and it wasn’t easy. It took an overtime session, but East Ridge was able to snap the 16-game losing streak and defeated Fivay 41-34 at Falcon Stadium. 

East Ridge moves to 1-5 on the season and Fivay falls to 2-4. It’s a quick turnaround for both teams having to play on Friday night, respectively. The Knights will take on Ocala Forest on the road and Fivay will face off versus Citrus.

The Falcons (2-4) scored first in the opening quarter when Christopher Espinal punched it in on a 9-yard touchdown run. Fivay had an opportunity to get another scoring drive in as they recovered the ensuing kickoff return via a fumble.

They couldn’t take advantage and that’s when East Ridge knotted things up at 7–7 when running back Frankie Crumblish (17 carries, 113 yards) scored the first of his five touchdown runs on the night.

It ended up being a huge night for East Ridge offensively as the Knights piled up 412 yards of offense with 222 coming via the ground game. Much of that can be attributed to the hard running of Crumblish.

Fivay wide receiver Julius Quinones had a big night through the air for the Falcons, with the senior scoring on a 75-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Ayden Wallace (12-of-22, 173 yards). Wallace stepped in for starting quarterback David Acosta, who was out for the game. 

The Knights would take a 21-14 lead into intermission as Crumblish scored his second touchdown of the evening. East Ridge (1-5) wouldn’t waste too much time into the second half as the Knights added another Crumblish scoring run to go up 28-14. 

That’s when Fivay would begin mounting a comeback, with Quinones returned the ensuing punt 87 yards to pay dirt and pulling the Falcons within 28-21. After falling behind again by multiple scores to 34-21, Wallace connected with Quinones on a 7-yard strike to make the score 34-27. 

The game-tying score for Fivay came with just under 20 seconds left in the game as Wallace snuck it in to tie things up at 34-34. In the overtime session, quarterback Brandon Marks (10-of-19, 190 yards) scored on a fourth down touchdown run to push the Knights ahead 41-34. 

Fivay had a chance on the final play of overtime to tie the game up, but the pass would go incomplete and giving East Ridge its first win since 2020. East Ridge ended up out-gaining Fivay 412-295 on offense. Ty Wilson rushed for 77 yards in the loss and Quinones finished with eight catches for 155 yards. 

Andy Villamarzo can be reached at andyvillamarzo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @Andy_Villamarzo.