The Elmwood Park Tigers will challenge the Ridgewood Rebels at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have had a bumpy ride up to this point with eight consecutive losses for Elmwood Park and five for Ridgewood.
Last Friday, Elmwood Park lost to Streamwood on the road by a 40-21 margin.
Meanwhile, Ridgewood fought the good fight in their overtime game against Fenton on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They and the Bison were almost perfectly matched up, but they suffered a 28-27 defeat. While the Rebels didn't get the win, they did start the game off strong, beating the Bison 7-0 in the first quarter.
Despite the loss, Ridgewood got top-tier performance from Luke Melendez, who picked up 127 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Melendez torched the secondary when he pulled down a catch that went for 79 yards. Another player making a difference was Angelo Vitale, who threw for 189 yards and two touchdowns.
Ridgewood didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. Melendez picked up that interception and then proceeded to rub salt in the wound by taking it back the other way for a touchdown. He also posted 127 receiving yards, which is notable because Ridgewood is 2-1 when he posts at least 80 receiving yards, but 1-4 otherwise. Another thorn in Fenton's side was Marko Jonic, who made 13 total tackles and defended a pass.
Elmwood Park's defeat dropped their record down to 0-8. As for Ridgewood, their loss dropped their record down to 3-5.
Elmwood Park was taken down by Ridgewood 54-3 in their previous matchup back in October of 2023. Thankfully for Elmwood Park, Jaden Rodriguez (who threw for 335 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 16.8 yards per attempt, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
