Deady has helped Ridge dominate since 1-2 start, as Red Devils seek first title game berth since 2013

The last time the Ridge football team made a championship game, they were perfect, and almost perfect.

With Bill Tracy at the helm, the Red Devils went 12-0 in winning the North 2, Group 5 title before the snow made its way to what was then High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway.

In the game, they were almost perfect, scoring on all but one possession, when a field goal try doinked off one of the uprights, en route to a 48-13 win over Union.

That was nine years ago, well before any current players on the Ridge football team were teenagers. Now, with Andy West at the helm, Ridge has their shot in a season that hasn’t exactly happened quietly, but got off to an inauspicious start.

They started 1-2, although those two losses were to Phillipsburg and Hillsborough, and that was when the Raiders were looking like a title contender themselves, with a very good defense, and an offense that was still finding its way before losing its top two quarterbacks.

Since then, Ridge has been a juggernaut: they’re 6-0 since the ‘Boro loss, have tossed three shutouts, and haven’t had a team score more than a touchdown in any of their wins.

Friday, the third-seeded Red Devils visit second seed Ramapo, with both teams checking in at 7-2.

Ridge has a ground game led by thousand-yard rusher Will Deady, who’s just a junior, but has racked up 1,071 yards and 14 touchdowns this season. He’s the first to eclipse the thousand-yard mark in Basking Ridge since R.J. Milligan has 1,280 yards in 2018. And if the Red Devils make the finals, he could pass that mark.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Ridge junior runningback Will Deady about the Red Devils’ success in 2022, and their playoff matchup at Ramapo Friday night: