The play call was a boot pass. The quarterback was to roll out and find a receiver on a post route over the middle. But Miles Miller saw a mismatch he thought he could exploit, so the wide receiver signaled to Julian Ringgold to change it.
“I knew these guys couldn’t run with me,” Miller said. “I saw his hips were turned inside, and I knew if I got him to open his hips I could get that leverage, get outside and get open.”
The Havre de Grace senior wideout slithered past his Aberdeen defender and turned toward the pylon, just enough turf between him and the sideline to reel in Ringgold’s toss for the game-tying touchdown with nine seconds left.
Then in overtime, after Havre de Grace’s defense stopped Harford County’s highest scoring offense on its first try, Kamari McGirt punched in the winning score to cap a thrilling 26-20 Warriors win.
Havre de Grace (3-3) ended a two-game losing skid with the victory over Aberdeen (3-3), a team some have beaten but with an offense few have slowed down. The 20 points the Warriors’ defense held them to is the fewest Aberdeen’s scored this year.
“This was a bounce-back game,” Ringgold said. “We knew we had to have this one.”
McGirt opened the scoring with a 25-yard rushing touchdown to put Havre de Grace on top before Aberdeen countered with two Collin Rogers rushing scores, his county-leading 11th and 12th of the season.
It appeared the Eagles would carry that 12-7 lead into halftime, but Havre de Grace needed just 28 seconds to score just before the break. Ringgold connected with Miles’ younger brother, Kevin, to put the Warriors ahead, 14-12, with possession out of halftime and momentum.
Rogers connected with Tevonte Williams for a 90-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, but that was all for the Eagles, who entered Friday averaging a county-best 39.6 points per game. Harford County’s leading rusher Cameron Durbin was held out of the end zone as Havre de Grace’s defense tightened and its offense engineered a comeback.
Rogers’ second interception of the game — the ninth turnover in the game overall for two offenses stymied by tough opposing defenses — gave the Warriors a final chance. They needed a touchdown with time running out. Ringgold, calculated and calm, drove down the field with the Miller brothers at his side. Miles clinched overtime. Then McGirt won it.
“I’m just going with the flow, taking what they give me,” Ringgold said.
The senior quarterback spent his offseason working out at Quarterback Factory, a popular spot for high school football players to get private training based in Gambrills. It’s more than 100 miles round trip from Havre de Grace. That didn’t stop Ringgold from going “religiously,” coach Brian Eberhardt said. Last winter the Millers often joined him.
Ringgold entered Friday second in the county in passing yards and tied for third in touchdowns, which now stands at 10 through six games. Add an overtime-forcing, two-minute drive to those accomplishments.
“You’re seeing the fruits of that now,” Eberhardt said. “I gotta believe he’s one of the better quarterbacks in the state.”
Havre de Grace, losers of two in a row to Edgewood and C. Milton Wright before Friday’s win, has a schedule that softens the rest of the way with Harford Tech, North Harford and Joppatowne. That, along with their latest impressive win, gives the Warriors confidence they’ll close the season strong entering the playoffs.
“These games have been building and building and building,” Eberhardt said. “I feel really good about the next three weeks and beyond. Something like this can really solidify a team.”
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