Northlake Christian on the road against Ridgewood

Northlake Christian School’s Wolverines try to rebound from their season opening, 14-3, loss to Crescent City. The Wolverines, 8-4 last season, take on the Ridgewood Golden Eagles (0-2) in Metairie tonight.

The Golden Eagles fell to Ascension Catholic, 31-22, last week on the road after dropping their season opener to Fisher High, 28-16, also on the road. The Golden Eagles went 3 and 7 last season.

NCS defensive coordinator Tony Agresta described Ridgewood as a run oriented football team.

“They are very strong and physical up front,” Agresta said. “If you can’t stop their running game, they will make you pay. They dominated the game at the line of scrimmage last week against Ascension Catholic, but came up short after some costly turnovers that resulted in scores.”

The Wolverines’ offense struggled last week. Freshman quarterback Tim Broussard went 7-of-14 for 43 yards with two interceptions. The Wolverines didn’t fair much better rushing the ball with just 35 yards.

Agresta said the Wolverines need to a better job of clock management along with cutting down on offensive penalties this week.

NCS sophomore inside linebacker Shawn Burst topped the Wolverines with seven tackles. Sophomore strong safety Derek Williams, who also starts at running back, was in on six stops. Senior defensive end Alex Reed was in on six tackles, and junior defensive end Cody Jones was credited with five stops. Sophomore linebacker Tyler Clark chipped in with four stops, while sophomore nose guard Micah Agresta chipped in with a sack and a tackle for a loss.

Wolverine linebacker Carter Fitzgerald forced a fumble last week, which was recovered by Zachary Malloy.

Ridgewood head coach Norman Ryan is in his seventh season with 22 years at the school.

Ridgewood runs an I-formation along with some variation as a wing. Senior quarterback Joe DiMarco (5-7, 160), who began the year as a starting cornerback, was moved to quarterback after senior starter Harris Avery was injured in the season opening scrimmage. Senior tailback Reuben Foster (6-0, 190) rushed the ball for 228 yards on 22 carries and two TDs in last week’s loss to Ascension Catholic. His touchdowns covered 56 and 18 yards.

Agresta, the second-year defensive coordinator for the Wolverines, said Foster is a back who can hurt you.

“He will slam you off tackle and runs very hard at the point of attack. He also has enough speed to hurt you in the secondary,” Agresta said.

“I think defensively, we have to stop the big play. If we can get them into some third-and-long situations, predictable passing downs, we should be OK.”

Senior John Lambertson (6-0, 200) gives the Golden Eagles a bruising type runner from his fullback position. Ridgewood rushed the ball for 261 yards last but struggled in the passing game, completing just 3-of-7 passes for 44 yards. DiMarco was picked off four times in last week’s loss. Junior tight end C.J. Whitley (6-5, 285) provides the Golden Eagles with a big target. Senior tackle Beau DAunoy (5-10, 250) bolsters the offensive line.

Senior linebacker Steffen Aleman (5-9, 190) posted 12 solo stops and four assists last week.

Junior cornerback Christian Bartholomew (5-10, 160) was credited with five tackles, six assists and an interception and also recovered a fumble. Senior linebacker Will Roberts (6-1, 220) recorded five individual tackles and five assists and recovered a fumble.

Ryan said his program has a good relationship, playing Northlake Christian.

“We enjoy playing them. They are well coached and come to play. They have a well-balanced club. They give you two different defensive looks from a 4-4 and a 3-5-3.

They have a good young quarterback (Tim Broussard) and a talented young running back (Derek Williams),” Ryan said.

“They have a very good kicking game. Their place kicker (Kevin Pence) has good range on his field goals, and gets good distance on his kickoffs.”