LYNN — The Lynn Classical football team scored on the first offensive play of the game and never looked back Friday night, as the Rams rolled to a 41-8 win over Malden at Manning Field. Quarterback Keith Ridley completed 6-of-8 passes for 215 yards and four touchdowns. Ridley also ran for a touchdown.
Another big part of the Classical win was the Rams defense, which only allowed 81 yards for the entire game.
“We want to be sound on defense, we stress that every day,” said Classical coach Brian Vaughan. “We can always work on things to improve, but today we had a really good showing out there.”
Nashaun Butler was once again the main target for Ridley, hauling in four receptions for 139 yards and two touchdowns. Cameron Greene had one reception for 70 yards and a touchdown, while Maurice Sequeira had one reception for six yards and a touchdown.
The Rams took advantage on their first offensive play. After getting the ball on their 45-yard line thanks to a short kickoff, the Rams set up to run the ball before Ridley saw something in the defense. He checked out of the run play and called a pass, which caught the Malden defense off guard and resulted in a 55-yard touchdown pass to Butler.
The Rams then forced a three-and-out on Malden’s first drive to get the ball back. After a couple of modest runs and another big completion to Butler (this one was 58 yards), Ridley once again used his arm to get the Rams into the end zone when he tossed a quick screen pass to Butler that went for a 15-yard touchdown.
One of the biggest reasons Classical’s offense was able to get off to such a good start was Ridley’s ability to check out of run plays to take advantage of the defense, something Vaughan has seen often this early in the season.
“We came into this game with a gameplan to run the ball, but we then we saw they were playing some cover-zero over the top and Ridley did a great job checking us into the right play,” Vaughan said. “He’s a high-IQ quarterback and he really made some outstanding checks. He probably made about 85 percent of the playcalls early on because he saw something, and that’s what we work on in practice each week. So it’s good to see him make that progression as a quarterback.”
After Ridley ran in a touchdown late in the first, the Rams held a 22-0 lead.
The second quarter was another good one for Classical, as the Rams forced a fumble on the first play of the frame. The second play was a 70-yard touchdown pass from Ridley to Greene, making it 28-0 and giving Classical complete control of the game. Ridley threw his final touchdown pass with just a few minutes remaining in the half, and after he found Sequeira for a six-yard score to make it 34-0, the day was over for the Classical starters.
The lone score in the second half for Classical came via a 50-yard punt return touchdown by Chase Buono, which made it 41-0.
Malden was finally able to score with about two minutes left in the game on a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Justin Nortelus.
Next up for Classical (2-0) is a road game at Revere at Harry Della Russo Stadium next Friday (7).
