Ripon rides its defense to another key Trans-Valley League victory over Livingston
The Ripon High coaching staff knew it would have to lean heavily on the team’s defense to win games this year.
So far, so good.
The Indians held a high-powered Livingston offense to just one touchdown as Ripon won its sixth consecutive game with a 20-7 victory over the Wolves at Livingston High School on Friday night.
“We had one drive where we kind of got out of sorts, but our defense did an unbelievable job against a very powerful offense, a high-scoring offense all year,” said Ripon coach Chris Musseman. “That’s been the strength of our team this year.”
The Wolves (4-3 overall, 1-2 Trans-Valley League) came into Friday’s key TVL matchup averaging 30 points per game behind fourth-year starting quarterback in Rocklin Baptista and an explosive running game led by junior Carlos Baez.
However, the Indians’ bottled up Livingston, holding Baptista to 5-of-16 passing for just 70 yards and also stuffed the Wolves’ running game. Baez finished with 72 yards rushing.
The Indians forced Livingston into three turnovers.
“They had three linebackers that were just coming in really hard and it was a little tough for us to pick them up,” Baptista said. “There were plays that I made mistakes on, too. It wasn’t just one specific thing, it was things we struggled as a team.”
During the Indians’ six-game winning streak, the defense has surrendered 9.5 points per game, including just 16 points in the last three games against Livingston, Riverbank and Hilmar.
Musseman said the key against Livingston was not surrendering the big plays and to control the clock.
The Indians did the bulk of their work on offense on the ground, running out two tight ends and grinding out yards in between the tackles.
Ripon ended the first quarter with a 10-play drive – all on the ground – that covered 60 yards. Jack Manning scored on an 8-yard run on the final play to give the Indians a 6-0 lead.
After the defense forced a three-and-out, the offense struck again as Dylan DeGraff connected with Ethan Day on a 36-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 12-0 with 9:18 left in the first half.
The Wolves’ lone scoring drive came midway through the second quarter as they marched 65 yards on seven plays. Baptista broke free for a 17-yard run and Baez added a 21-yard run. Jordan Alvarez punched in a touchdown on an 8-yard run to pull Livingston within 12-7 with 6:12 left in the first half.
The second half was dominated by the Ripon defense as it forced two Baptista fumbles to stop drives.
The Indians tacked on a third touchdown when quarterback Adam Barrera found Nolan Young for an 11-yard touchdown pass that gave Ripon a 20-7 lead with 8:18 remaining.
“It’s tough because this was a really important game, one of the most important games for us and them as well,” Baptista said. “They came away with the win and all we can do is look ahead and see how playoff rankings end up for us.”
Ripon heads into its bye week 6-2 overall and, more important, 4-0 in the TVL. Next up is Escalon (6-1, 3-0) on Oct. 22 in a game that will likely decided the TVL title.
“If we wanted a chance at winning TVL we had to win tonight,” Musseman said. “That’s a good football team, that’s a talented football team.
“Any time you can be 4-0 in the TVL it feels pretty good,” he added. “I don’t care how you get there.”
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 11:48 PM.
