Raiders Rising: Ryan wins turnover battle, advances to regional semis with victory against SGP

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ARLINGTON - Three and you're in it, four and you win it.

That's what the Denton Ryan coaches tell their defensive players about turnovers, and the saying played out like a guidebook Friday evening at AT&T Stadium. After forcing three turnovers in the third quarter to battle back from a halftime deficit, the Raiders were in "it" - a dogfight against South Grand Prairie.

Then came the fourth takeaway, and Ryan had won it, claiming a 43-35 victory that earned the Raiders a spot in the third round of the Class 6A Division I playoffs. Ryan (12-0) will next face either Amarillo Tascosa or Odessa Permian, who play on Saturday.

"They were going down and scoring all game, but we were, too," Ryan senior linebacker Nick Watts said of a game filled with momentum swings. "So I knew it was going to come down to the end."

Trailing 36-35, South Grand Prairie (7-5) took over possession with four minutes left. The Warriors had only scored once in the second half, but they had four straight touchdown drives in the first half, so the game-winning potential was there.

Two plays into the drive, however, quarterback Greg Eisworth was pressured and tried to drop a pass over Watts in the middle of the field. Watts reached high to make the interception at the SGP 19-yard line.

"They had been throwing over my head all night and I knew it was coming," Watts said. "I timed it right."

After Ryan pushed the lead to eight on quarterback Spencer Sanders' 13-yard touchdown run with 1:53 left, SGP had a final chance. The Warriors got to Ryan's 45-yard line with 41 seconds left, but couldn't convert a fourth-and-7.

That sealed the game for Ryan, which was outgained by more than 200 yards. The Raiders made up for that by forcing turnovers, and they got a boost from two long Rodney Gladney kickoff returns: a 74-yarder that set up a field goal and an 82-yarder that finished in the end zone.

"The coaches had always told me that the lanes were going to be open," said Gladney, who also caught a 30-yard touchdown pass.

The other key factor for Ryan was the way it played in critical situations. The Raiders only had 253 yards of total offense, but their biggest plays came in the game's biggest moments. That was especially true in the fourth-quarter touchdown drive that gave Ryan a 36-35 lead.

On the 13-play, 75-yard march, Ryan converted three times on third-and-long. On a third-and-6, Sanders connected with Gladney for 11 yards. On a third-and-10, Sanders found Chritauskie Dove for 14 yards. And in one of the biggest plays of the night, a third-and-11 became first-and-goal when Sanders' pass split two defenders and fell into Gladney's arms for a 22-yard gain.

Two plays later, Sanders' 3-yard run gave Ryan back the lead. Then the Raiders' defense made sure it held up.

"They found a way to win. That's the bottom line," Ryan coach Dave Henigan said. "Our kids have found a way to win all year."

After finding a way Friday, Ryan now has more reason to talk about "three and you're in it, four and you win it."

Three more wins and Ryan will be in the state title game. Four and it will be a champion.

Twitter: @mattwixon