It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact the Thomas Jefferson Spartans can now relate to. Their rough 52-28 defeat to Dakota Ridge on Friday might stick with them for a while. Thomas Jefferson was down 38-14 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from.
Thomas Jefferson's defeat shouldn't obscure the performances of Dimitri Haralambopoulos, who rushed for 114 yards while picking up 7.1 yards per carry, and Doren Sacha who picked up 127 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Sacha was no stranger to the big play, cutting upfield for a catch that went for 68 yards. Xavier Allen got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Leading Dakota Ridge to victory were Blake Palladino and Landon Kalsbeck. Palladino rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 carries, while Kalsbeck gained 204 total yards and three touchdowns. The team also got some help courtesy of Stephen Price, who rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries.
Thomas Jefferson's defeat dropped their record down to 10-2. As for Dakota Ridge, the victory (which was their fifth in a row) raised their record to 8-3.
Thomas Jefferson does not have any more games scheduled as of now. Dakota Ridge will head out on the road to face off against Erie at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. Erie is also coming in off of a big victory, so somebody is in for a big reversal of fortune.
