By Justin Schuver
The Daily News

Varnado broke out to a 26-point lead in the first quarter and the Wildcats cruised from there, earning a 47-18 win over visiting Ridgewood on Friday night.
The victory improved Varnado’s record to 4-4 overall, and 2-1 in District 8-1A. Ridgewood fell to 1-6 overall and 1-3 in district.
Varnado coach Scott Shaffett praised both teams’ efforts, pointing out that Ridgewood had just 17 players dressed and has suffered a number of tough injuries this year.
“I thought we played pretty well on both offense and defense,” Shaffett said. “We were able to play a lot of players tonight. I give a lot of credit to Ridgewood, because their team battled us all night long.”
Varnado used a pair of botched punt plays to jump out to a 12-0 lead. With 10:14 left in the first quarter, Ridgewood went back to punt and Varnado’s Damon Kirsh blocked it. Andre Jones picked up the loose ball and returned it 25 yards for the touchdown. The Wildcats missed the extra point.
On Ridgewood’s next possession, the Golden Eagles again went back to punt but attempted a fake run that was no good. The Wildcats took over on the Ridgewood 4-yard line, and Delrick Abrams ran for a touchdown on the next play. Again the extra point failed, but Varnado led 12-0 with 8:54 left in the first quarter.
“Special teams were a big part of our win tonight,” Shaffett said. “They can make a huge difference in a ball game.”
Later in the quarter, Abrams intercepted a pass and returned it 30 yards to the Ridgewood 30. On the next play, Nick Darden broke away for a long touchdown run. The extra point failed, but the Wildcats increased their lead to 18-0 with 7:24 left in the first quarter.
Varnado added another touchdown with 5:29 left, when Errol Varnado intercepted a pass and returned it 59 yards for a score. Abrams ran for the two-point conversion and the Wildcats led 26-0.
The Wildcats added another touchdown with 10:57 left in the second quarter on a 17-yard run by Errol Varnado. The extra point was no good.
Ridgewood broke onto the board with 2:03 remaining in the first half, cutting Varnado’s lead to 32-6. But the Wildcats answered right back, when Armontee Kemp scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 22 seconds left. Kemp also added the two-point conversion run, and the Wildcats went into the halftime break ahead by a 40-6 score.
The teams played with a running clock in the final three quarters of Friday night’s game, and the third and fourth quarters were each 10 minutes.
Ridgewood’s Soto scored on a 25-yard fumble recovery with 7:37 left in the third quarter. Varnado closed out its scoring with 8:22 left in the fourth quarter, when Jeroderick Robinson added a 2-yard touchdown run. Jaylon Jefferson added the extra point.
The Golden Eagles scored their final touchdown with 4:10 left in the game, when Soto completed a 54-yard touchdown pass to Brian Rosa.
Varnado’s Jamarion Davis intercepted a pass to end the game.
The Wildcats travel to face St. Martin in their game next Friday.