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Rams Hope Playoffs Become Tradition

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By BART O'CONNELL Tribune correspondent

Published: October 28, 2007

NEW PORT RICHEY - The sight of players celebrating a homecoming victory and dumping a cooler of ice water on their coach is hardly a tradition at Ridgewood. Neither is celebrating a playoff berth and 8-0 record.

But this season, all of the Rams' success has seemed routine, and left fans and players thirsting for more following Friday's 27-13 win against Springstead which accomplished all of the above.

What can't be ignored is just how far Ridgewood's football program has come in the short tenure of Coach Chris Taylor, from the victories to the talent on the roster and even the excitement that students show in the hallways, going to class the day of each game.

In his first season as the varsity coach, 2005, the Rams were 1-9. Now they are preparing for Friday's game against Land O' Lakes that, with a win, would clinch the school's first district title.

'We've been working towards this for four years, when I was the JV coach. Our football program has changed here, dramatically, in the last three years, four years,' he said, also pointing out that the JV team went 8-0 this year. 'That's our expectation. We expect to come on the field and win football games.

'We've been working for next week for four years, so we're going to get ready to go and get ready to play some big time football.'

That's exactly what the Ridgewood football team has become - big time - after years of futility. Perhaps the most amazing, and telling, streak that ended Friday was 14 consecutive losses on homecoming.

The transformation hasn't been lost on the players, either. Tailback Byronell Arline was a sophomore on that 1-9 team in 2005, as were many other players who have been key to this year's team, like linebacker Ben Perry, quarterback T.J. Haab and fullback Barry Johnsonbaugh among many others.

'Being 1-9, you aren't really playing for much, but 8-0, you're playing for something. You're in the postseason,' Arline said. 'When you're playing for something, and you've got something to accomplish and achieve, it helps.'

Arline, who rushed 23 times for 197 yards and four touchdowns Friday, giving him 30 rushing touchdowns for year, is thriving in the new atmosphere. He added that winning Friday was like lifting a weight off the team's shoulders, pressure that had little to do with being named homecoming king at halftime.

Clinching a playoff spot has, for now, allowed the Rams to live up to expectations set forth at the beginning of the year.

But a victory Friday, against a playoff-bound squad that is used to big games, will provide a definitive test to see just how good Ridgewood has become.

One thing Arline and the Rams won't be lacking is confidence.

'I've seen them play. I don't think we're going to have trouble with 'em,' he said of Land O' Lakes. 'I honestly don't. I saw them play against Tarpon Springs. I don't think we're going to have trouble with them.'

Bart O'Connell can be reached at boconnell@pop.tampatrib.com.

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