Ridgewood

By Times staff
Published August 31, 2007

Five key players

1. Karakaris, Sr., LT

He's now a legit 300-pound blocker, and Arline's success will be tied directly to his.

2. Haab, Sr., QB

When the play-action is working, Haab is at his best.

3. Arline, Sr., RB

Sleeker, faster, stronger. Uh-oh.

4. Addidas Tolliver, Sr., WR

Tolliver is a prime candidate for a breakout season.

5. D-line and D-backs

We wanted to give some love to Bryce Thomas, Daniel Reiff, Kevin Dejenette, Ramon Pagon, Frankie Downey, Allyn Williamson and Justin Chittum.

All aboard

The Ridgewood bandwagon should be close to standing room only this season, with 10 of 11 starters back on defense and nine of 11 on offense. Included among the key returners is the county's two-time rushing champ Byronell Arline, tackle champ Ben Perry and 300-pound lineman John Karakaris. All this returning to a team that won a school-record six games and lost three (or four) games by six, three and three points.

Big boy

Arline has slimmed down, but don't be fooled - he's still a horse at 6-2, 220 pounds. "He can still run over you," said coach Chris Taylor, "but I think you'll see him making some cuts you didn't see last year." Arline ran for 23 touchdowns and 1,717 yards, just shy of Tyrone Tomlin's county single-season record of 1,753. Arline should make another run at that mark, and along the way is likely to become the county's all-time leading rusher. He needs 967 yards to break the record, believed to be the 4,057 yards Godfrey Pestana gained at Land O'Lakes.

Setting it up

While Arline is considered the source of the offense, an often-overlooked fact is this: Quarterbacks T.J. Haab and Charley Minichino combined for 954 passing yards and 16 touchdowns last season. Haab, the more cerebral of the two, likely will enter the season as the No. 1 starter, and Taylor would prefer it stay that way. Minichino, an athletic sort who prefers to make the big plays, will start the season as a linebacker.

Don't forget us

Perry is back after getting 164 tackles last year, a number even he admits he will have trouble matching. "With the other guys we have now, it'll be tough, but I still hope to get around 130," he said.

Ridgewood will start five linebackers in its defensive set, including Tim Rearden, a starter for Newsome last year, and transfer Kurt Holt from Gulf. The Rams also get back Arron Jackson, who missed last year with a torn meniscus but has been compared favorably to Perry after a strong spring and fall.

John C. Cotey, Times staff writer

Check out our new team and player pages at tampabay.com

[Last modified August 29, 2007, 13:51:49]