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Ooohhh What a Rush: Senior running back picks up 249 yards of offense, four TDs
BY Bill Conrad, bconrad@starlocalnews.com
GARLAND -- Plano East (2-0) used a strong game from Ricky Ilodianya to run past Garland Naaman Forest (0-2) 60-38 Friday night at Williams Stadium.
The victory gave East its first 2-0 start since 2007, when the Panthers began 6-0 before dropping the final four games and missing the playoffs.
Ilodianya, a senior running back who played on the Panthers' JV last season, finished the night with 25 carries for 193 yards and three touchdowns. He added another 56 yards and one touchdown on five receptions. Having running backs that can catch the ball out of the backfield is a staple of East's offense, Ilodianya said. He credited the chemistry between the running backs and senior quarterback Mario Smalls as one of the keys to the Panthers' fast start this season.
"I would give myself about a 7.5 tonight since there were some areas I could have done better," he said. "I need to be more physical and finish runs. I'll work on that for next week against (Richardson) Berkner."
East head coach Johnny Ringo and his offensive staff have been tasked with breaking in several new offensive starters, including Ilodianya, in 2012.
Through two games, Ringo has liked what he's seen from his senior tailback.
"Ricky has just gotten better and better," he said. "If he had been on varsity last year I think he would be on a lot of college's radars, but I think he has opened some eyes in the first two weeks. He brings a lot to us and is a complete back that can run and catch the ball out of the backfield."
In a game where the Panthers racked up 674 yards and 36 first downs, Ilodianya was far from the only star on offense.
Senior wide receiver Collin Shaw followed up his three touchdown effort in Week 0 with five catches for 106 yards and two more scores, while Smalls completed 21-of-28 passes for 287 yards and three scores, while running for 75 yards on 12 carries.
"Mario is a level-headed kid that makes good decisions and we are really pleased with him," Ringo said. "We think he will get better and better across the board. He is not as fast as Corey Wesley (East's quarterback from 2010-2011), but we feel in our run game if he can make 5 or 6 yards a carry that is huge."
Naaman Forest started on the right foot, taking a 7-0 lead only 16 seconds in when Branson Ball caught the first of his four touchdowns, a 70-yard grab from Justin Walker.
East answered right back with a 9-yard run from junior Lionel Wills less than four minutes later, and picked up a two-point conversion to go up 8-7. The lead see-sawed throughout the first half before Shaw hauled in a 9-yard pass with 4:22 left to give East a 22-17 lead it would never relinquish.
A 10-yard catch by Ilodianya with 10 seconds left in the half gave East a 29-17 lead and set the tone for a high-scoring second half.
"We talked about starting fast and finishing strong, but we didn't start fast tonight," Ringo said. "We were able to come back and match them score-for-score in the first half and take the lead at halftime. We have spurts where all the things go right and then we have spurts where we are not getting it done."
The second half featured several long touchdown catches, including a 34-yarder from Shaw and two from Ball, one of the 77 yard variety and the other from 28. Ball finished with nine grabs for 253 yards, easily getting behind the East defense on several occasions.
"Their best receiver was hurt so they went to [Ball] all night," Ringo said. "We didn't know he had quite the speed he has, and with their other guys on offense, they are capable of scoring a lot of points. We didn't tackle as well as we wanted to, so we have some things to work on."
With a late lead, Ilodianya and Wills, who finished with 90 yards on nine carries, controlled the tempo and never allowed Naaman to get closer than 15 points. A 3-yard scamper by Ilodianya with less than a minute left sealed the 60-38 victory.
East returns to action Friday at Berkner. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. from Wildcat-Ram Stadium.
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