Aug 24, 2018 4 min read

For new Ringgold High School football coach Mike Zmijanac, there’s going to be a learning curve, even for a coach that has 237-36 career record with six WPIAL championships while he was at Aliquippa.

Zmijanac has as much to learn about his young team as his players have to learn about him and his philosophies and systems.

Friday night at Chartiers Valley, the learning process began.

The Rams muffed three kickoffs, had a snap sail over the punter’s head for a safety and watched Colts running back Connor Barrett run wild as Chartiers Valley spoiled Zmijanac’s Ringgold debut with a 48-0 victory.

“If you’re looking for positives, it didn’t rain today,” Zmijanac said. “We’ve got some good young players, but it is what it is. I’m going to tell you what I told the team and any team I’ve ever coached after a loss. If the worst thing that happens to you is that you lose a football game, then you are going to live a great life.”

Ringgold was outgained 440-79 as Chartiers valley did whatever it wanted on offense, rushing for 400 yards.

Barrett was the main culprit, carrying the ball nine times for 197 yards. He scored on runs of 26, three, 19 and 89 yards.

“Our line came out of the gate blocking great,” said Barrett. “We all came out with that fire and we had the momentum rolling and we took advantage of it.”

The Rams’ special teams were sloppy as Donte Kinds couldn’t handle the opening kickoff, starting Ringgold at its own four-yard line. Forced to punt, the snap went over punter Clayton Rosensteel’s head and out of the end zone for a safety.

After the free kick, Barrett took a sweep 26 yards for a score on the Colts’ first play from scrimmage.

That’s really all CV needed.

“We felt we were the better team on paper, but we had to come out and execute,” Chartiers Valley head coach Dan Knause said. “We bought in during the offseason and during camp and everyone worked really hard. It was nice that we came out and gave a good effort and had good results.”

On CV’s second possession, quarterback Griffin Beattie broke loose for a 58-yard run. One play later, Barrett scored from three yards on a direct snap.

Ringgold’s Jeremiah White-Johnson fumbled the ensuing kickoff, which was recovered by CV’s Antonio Zambrano. Barrett made Ringgold pay with a 19-yard touchdown run two plays later to make it 23-0.

After a Ringgold punt, Troy Donofrio caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from Beattie to make it 29-0 after one quarter.

The Rams turned the ball over on downs at their own 19-yard line on their next possession and it only took one play for Socrates Boulis to connect with Sean Banas on a 19-yard touchdown pass.

“We’re not a very good football team right now,” Zmijanac said. “It’s that simple. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Ringgold finally got Chartiers Valley pinned deep in their own end on the next possession, but it only took three plays for Barrett to bust loose with an 89-yard touchdown run to make it 42-0, where it stayed into halftime.

Brayden Reynolds, CV’s third-string quarterback, capped the scoring with a one-yard sneak late in the fourth quarter.

Things might not get any easier for the Rams next week as they travel to powerhouse Thomas Jefferson.

“It doesn’t get any easier,” said Zmijanac. “We’ve got TJ, Gateway and Belle Vernon coming up. It’s a tough league. But it’s not supposed to be easy.”