Division 8 final: Shea Ruddy drives Ottawa Lake Whiteford past Ubly for state title
Detroit — When Ottawa Lake Whiteford needed it most, the offense answered the call. A two-touchdown lead had evaporated in the second half and quarterback Shea Ruddy and Co. had to come up with points.
The ensuing 17-play, 80-yard drive, took 7:42 off the clock and gave Whiteford a lead it never relinquished after Ruddy outraced the defense to the pylon with 1:59 remaining in the game.
“I’m not going to sit here and lie and say I wasn’t nervous, because the game is on the line at that point,” first-year Whiteford head coach Todd Thieken said. “But I definitely had a quiet confidence about what we had in front of us.”
Whiteford (14-0) beat Ubly, 26-20, to cap a perfect season and secure the Division 8 state championship on Friday at Ford Field. It’s Whiteford’s second state title after winning Division 8 in 2017.
Ubly (13-1) finishes as runner-up for the second time in three years after making it to Ford Field in 2020.
BOX SCORE: Ottawa Lake Whiteford 26, Ubly 20
“I couldn’t be prouder,” Ubly head coach Eric Sweeney said. “Man, you know, we gotta come down here and win one of these.”
The first half seemed to take place almost exclusively within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. Ubly ran the wing-T and attempted three passes: one completed, one dropped, one intercepted. Whiteford didn’t air it out much, either. Ruddy attempted eight passes in the first half, completing four for 56 yards, but also threw a potentially game-altering interception in the second quarter.
As Whiteford looked to build on a 12-0 lead, Ruddy rolled right and tried to connect with younger brother Ryin Ruddy. It was Ubly junior Evan Peruski — also the quarterback — in coverage who came down with a one-handed, tipped-to-himself interception.
Prior to that point, Ubly had been stymied, unable to create running lanes or confusion with the option. That changed five plays and 30 yards after the interception when Ubly running back Mark Heilig burst into the endzone around the left end to put his team on the board. A missed extra point left the score at 12-6, in favor of Whiteford, as the two teams went to half.
Untimely interception aside, Ruddy was the difference for Whiteford. Whereas Ubly was intent on running the option and passing only as a last resort, Whiteford deftly picked spots to throw and balance its own option running game. Ruddy’s favorite target, junior tight end Kolby Masserant, tormented Ubly defenders to the tune of five catches for 82 yards.
Ruddy himself was responsible for 176 yards of offense, plus two rushing touchdowns — including the game winner.
“Our guys in the booth were saying ‘Hey, it’s gonna be the quarterback. It’s gonna be the quarterback.’ That kid is a heck of a player. That’s the best athlete I’ve seen this year. And I’m sure these guys would say the same thing,” Sweeney said about Ruddy as his players, flanking him at the press conference, nodded in agreement.
And, not feeling the threat of Ubly passing, Whiteford correspondingly loaded the box. The typical formation had five men on the line of scrimmage, three stack linebackers and three defensive backs — all within 10 yards of the line.
It didn’t stop Ubly so much as slow the rushing attack — Sweeney said that Ubly got back to some of their staples on offense to more success in the second half — but stemming the tide and not stopping it was all Whiteford needed to let Ruddy and the offense go the rest of the way.
And they did, as Ruddy orchestrated a masterful drive that put Whiteford ahead and gave Ubly no real chance to answer.
“I told our offensive coordinator when we went into that drive, I said ‘I want the ball in Shea’s hands. I want us doing things that he’s either running it or he’s directing the play in some way, shape or form,’” Thieken said.
Ruddy, for his part, was soft spoken and brief in the postgame press conference.
“You’re always going to be slightly nervous in a situation like that. But, you just have to keep it together,” Ruddy said. “We’ve been running plays like that all year and executing them.”
He and his teammates had let their play say enough, anyways.
Andrew Graham is a freelance writer.