Caden Pace ran for 193 yards and two touchdowns, and Ravenwood turned a 35-21 halftime lead into a 63-28 Region 6-6A win at Independence. Brooks Brown threw five touchdown passes without an interception as the Raptors improved to 3-0 in the region.
THOMPSON'S STATION, Tenn. — Caden Pace ran for 193 yards and two touchdowns, and Ravenwood pulled away from Independence in the second half of a 63-28 Region 6-6A win Friday night.
The Raptors led 35-21 at halftime. They led 49-21 less than five minutes into the third quarter. Independence did not score in the fourth.
Pace got Ravenwood started with a 35-yard run at 11:36 of the first quarter. Brooks Brown hit Hudson Stollenwerk for a 16-yard score at 4:21, then found Dallas Stallings for 63 yards with 16 seconds left in the quarter. Matthew Horner answered just before that, a 51-yard touchdown to Ethan Willis. Ravenwood led 21-7 after one.
The second quarter was the same game. Horner threw a 65-yard touchdown to Brody Bullock at 10:56 and a 25-yarder to George Mabury at 2:36. Brown came back with a 29-yard touchdown to D.J. McDuffey and a 21-yard score to Stallings in the final minute. Stallings had both of his touchdowns in the first half. Brown threw five touchdown passes and did not throw an interception.
Independence had a chance to keep it there. It didn't.
Connor Gallman picked off a tipped Horner pass at the Independence 35 and returned it for a touchdown at 10:13 of the third. The Eagles drove across midfield on the next series and came up short on fourth-and-10 at the Ravenwood 30. Pace scored from 63 yards two plays later. Eli Garlington got Independence on the board with a 3-yard run at 6:32, and McDuffey caught a 28-yard touchdown from Brown at 1:16. That was the last Independence score. Eli Knickerbocker ran in from the 7 with 11 seconds left.
Ravenwood finished with 603 yards, 364 of them on the ground. Pace carried 17 times. Cole Crawford added 107 yards on 10 carries. Brown was 13 of 14 for 239 yards. Independence threw for 317, with Horner at 22 of 37 and two interceptions, and ran 22 times for 180. Bullock caught eight passes for 123 yards. Willis, a freshman, ran for 105 and caught four passes for 83.
"Independence is a really good program, and anytime Scott Blade is the coach, you know the team is definitely going to be prepared," Ravenwood coach Ricky Rodriguez said. "We just settled down, made some adjustments and let the kids play."
He also said his defense played two quarters, and that he wants four the next time out.
Blade said some of his players showed up for the game and some did not.
"We didn't do a good job of getting the rest to believe we could compete at this level, and that's on me," Independence coach Scott Blade said. "Brock Daniel was a bright spot — his toughness on both sides of the ball. And Willis, the freshman, was definitely a bright spot for the offense."
Ravenwood is 5-2 and 3-0 in the region, with four wins in a row and the head-to-head against Independence. The Eagles are 3-4 and 3-1. A three-game region streak is over, and so is any path that ran through the Raptors. Independence is still in the race. It just doesn't control it.
