Ridley wins one for 'Schnell'

A bobblehead doll of longtime Ridley assistant coach Carl Schnellenbach sits on the mantel in Jalen Randolph's home. Randolph says the doll has been there as long as he can remember.

Thursday, Randolph and his Ridley teammates used the real Carl Schnellenbach as inspiration for a 42-6 romp over neighborhood rival Interboro in their Turkey Bowl finale.

The 6-foot-1, 225-pound Randolph led the Green Raiders to their ninth win in 12 games with a pair of touchdowns. Ridley also took advantage of several Bucs mistakes for two more touchdowns, leading to a running clock when the score reached 35-0 in the third quarter.

After the game, Schnellenbach, 78, announced with tears that he was retiring as an assistant coach after 51 years. But Ridley coach Dennis Decker had already hinted to his players that "Schnell" might be stepping down.

"I told them there were rumors flying around that this might be his final season," Decker said.

The players agreed that they were dedicating the game to Schnellenbach. After picking up their 33d win in this 44-year-old series, they presented Schnellenbach with the game ball.

"After 51 years, it's time," the veteran coach told the Green Raiders surrounding him on the Bucs field. "I have no regrets. I don't have the energy anymore. Coaching under Phil Marion and Joe McNicholas was great. I coached John Waller and Dennis Decker [when they were players at Ridley] and coached for both of them. I also coached for four years under Steve Lennox, the Interboro coach."

Noted for his sometimes crusty but lovable style, Schnellenbach said he's a softie at heart. He admitted to being emotional.

"I did pretty good today," he said with a smile.

Schnellenbach also has been the Green Raiders wrestling coach. He said he probably will give that up after this coming season.

Randolph said he can remember his father, Pat, a former Ridley standout, talking about Schnellenbach long before he got to high school.

"That's why we wanted to win this one for him," Jalen Randolph said.

In addition to Schnellenbach's announcement, the Green Raiders had another reason to be motivated. Interboro beat them last season on Thanksgiving, 6-0. It was the Bucs' 10th victory in their last 15 meetings.

"Yes, we were looking for a little payback," Randolph said. "We felt we could run against them. The memory of that last game with them wasn't good. We were tired of hearing about it in the community."

Interboro (7-5) got its lone score on the last play of the game when quarterback John Breen hit Rashon Fentress on a 15-yard pass play.

"I'm disappointed we lost, and I'll be thinking about it until next year," said Lennox, who recalls fondly the four years when Schnellenbach was on his staff. "We had a lot of fun together.

Lennox said his team simply made too many mistakes this time against Ridley.

"They were like a snowball coming down the hill. We have to play a near-perfect game to beat them," he said.

Ridley   7 14 14 7 – 42

Interboro   0 0 0 6 – 6

R: Smoluk 7 pass from Davis (Heverly kick)

R: Randolph 42 run (Heverly kick)

R: Crowley 42 with fumble (Crowley run)

R: Randolph 20 run (kick blocked)

R: Dougherty 33 with interception (Heverly kick)

R: Crowley 17 run (Heverly kick)

I: Fentress pass from Breen (no attempt)