Oct. 11—MOULTON — With a potential playoff berth and winning season on the line, Ardmore running back Javean Riddle didn’t leave it to chance Friday night.
The junior had over 230 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns in a 55-23 road win over Lawrence County, improving on his already impressive 224 rushing yards and five rushing scores against Madison County last week.
“He (Riddle) got dinged up in the first game of the season and tried to play through it, and it got to a point where he couldn’t,” Ardmore head coach Jonathan Snider said. “So, he went to rehab, and that Russellville game kind of jump-started him. Now I think he’s starting to get in a groove.”
The win keeps Ardmore’s (4-3, 1-3) playoff dreams alive, but they’ll need to win all their Class 5A, Region 7 games from here on to make the playoffs. With the loss, Lawrence County (4-4, 1-4) is eliminated from postseason contention.
But it wasn’t all negative for Lawrence County. Freshman running back Tavian Jones set a new single-game rushing record with 271 rushing yards and three touchdowns, overtaking Billy Stover’s 267 rushing yards over East Lawrence in 2000.
Despite such a positive game from Jones, Riddle made his impact felt as soon as he stepped on the field.
He had all three of Ardmore’s touchdowns in the first quarter; a 5-yard rushing touchdown, a 2-yard rushing score, then a 1-yard rushing touchdown with two minutes left in the first quarter.
“We’re always trying to hit them in the mouth first,” Riddle said. “We always emphasize being aggressive and making them want to quit early.”
In the second quarter, Ardmore quarterback Alex King hit receiver Cayden Hazelwood for a 30-yard touchdown pass. Ardmore’s Logan Newman then scored on a 26-yard touchdown rush.
Jones finally got the Red Devils on the board 34-8 before halftime with a 2-yard touchdown rush and successful 2-point conversion.
On the first play out of break, Jones scored with an 11-yard rush. However, Riddle broke free on the first play of the next drive to score on a 60-yard rush and extend the lead to 41-16.
Ardmore then scored consecutively: a 25-yard passing touchdown from King to Brodie Lindsay and a 24-yard scoring rush from Kaden Larsen.
With less than two minutes left, Jones rushed in a 2-yard touchdown to make the final tally.
Next week, Lawrence County will travel to Bulldog stadium to face Class 5A No. 10 Priceville (5-2, 3-1). Ardmore goes back home to host a region matchup against East Limestone (1-5, 0-3) on senior night.
