Ridge head coach Andy West talks to his team after an upset road win over Woodbridge in the opening round of the playoffs on November 5, 2021.
When he was up on the dais at Big Central Media Day No. 2 on August 16th at Iron Peak Sports & Events in Hillsborough, Ridge head coach Andy West had a lot of tradition on the stage with him. After all, Phillipsburg was up there, and they were just talking about having beaten Easton in New Jersey’s biggest Thanksgiving Day rivalry game for the first time since 2014.
But West was quick to point out that Ridge has tradition, too. And in all of that, there have been a lot of Ws.
Bill Tracy won a title as head coach there in 2012, and Tom Falato in 2003 before him. Both won a good deal of games; Falato was 81-36 in 11 seasons in Basking Ridge, while Tracy was 71-38 in his 11 years.
West has continued that, going 20-9 in three seasons, including the wacky COVID year. His teams won six, six and seven games in that span. Mind you, they’re playing in perhaps the toughest division in the Big Central Conference, with Hunterdon Central, Hillsborough, and Bridgewater-Raritan also in the mix.
A big part of the tradition that one imagines would continue in 2023 will be Ryan Olivo and Will Deady.
Olivo’s brother Mike played his senior year for Ridge in 2021, and now Ryan will run the offense at quarterback, while Deady is a talented two-way player who can pick the ball off on defense, and ran for 1,200-plus yards last year on offense.
Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko at Big Central Media Days with Ridge head coach Andy West, and seniors Ryan Olivo and Will Deady:
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