Ripley's Chris Jenkins, left, intercepts a pass during Thursday's game against Ravenswood. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

RAVENSWOOD — The 89th Hatchet Game here Thursday evening inside Spano-Taylor Stadium at Flinn Field was close for a half, but visiting Ripley pulled away for a 38-13 victory for first-year head coach Ryan Simon.

Ripley senior Noah Casto rushed 27 times for 311 yards and scored all five of the Vikings’ touchdowns.

“We got a lot of seniors kind of leading the way,” admitted Simon, whose 2-0 club welcomes in Lincoln County to Death Valley next Friday. “Decided to come out and play for us and we’re so happy that they did. It makes my job a lot easier.

“We got way too many turnovers and penalties. That’s the two things killing us right now. It all starts with the defense. I was scared coming into this game. I knew I was going into a hornet’s nest here. This place was rocking and it was totally packed.”

After holding the Red Devils of first-year head man Matt Peery to a three-and-out, the Vikings had a 39-yard touchdown pass from Tyson Pritt to Cody Lawrence called back due to a penalty. However, the Vikings took the lead for good at the 7:40 mark thanks to Parker Keller’s 35-yard field goal.

Ripley's Noah Casto carries the ball during Thursday's game against Ravenswood. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Casto and Ethan Kay combined on a sack of Ravenswood signal-caller Owen Curtis on the next drive. Facing a third-and-long at their own 14, Curtis was sacked again by Kay.

After taking over at the Red Devil 31, Pritt had a 29-yard TD burst called back. However, Casto proceeded to dart 40 yards to paydirt on the very next play for a 10-0 cushion with 3:40 left in the first.

Casto scored his second six-pointer on the next drive, which was a 5-yard burst that made it 17-0 following Keller’s PAT just 1:28 into the second quarter.

Ravenswood, which watched Austin Vannest lead the offense with 29 totes for 94 yards, picked up a pair of first downs on its next series, but was forced to punt. Ripley’s Caleb Parsons fumbled the ball and Matthew Phelps was there for the recovery, but three plays later Curtis was picked off by Chris Jenkins.

The Vikings, though, were unable to turn it into points as a Keller fumble was recovered by Cam Patterson.

Ravenswood'd Austin Vannest carries the ball during Thursday's game against Ripley. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

That allowed the hosts to set up shop at the Ripley 43. Two offside penalties as well as an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on Ripley got the ball into the red zone. Vannest finally scored from 11 yards out with less than a minute remaining in the half. Kalem Hupp’s extra point sliced the deficit to 10 heading into intermission.

In the final minute of the first half, Wyatt Burke partially blocked Keller’s punt which went for 2 yards. Ripley tight end Carter Neal, who had game-highs of four grabs for 43 yards, had a strip-stack that Casto recovered, but the Vikings couldn’t score.

Jessip Perry’s fumble recovery gave the hosts the ball back after Ripley had picked up three first downs on its initial drive of the second half. Facing a fourth-and-1 at their own 39, Ravenswood was lined up to go for it before going offsides.

The Vikings proceeded to lean on Casto as they went on a nine-play, 86-yard scoring march. Casto had seven runs, the final coming from 9 yards out, for a 24-7 lead at 4:02 of the third. Pritt, who had a 9-yard pass to Neal, also bolted 12 yards for a first down.

Casto’s 1-yard TD burst at 10:17 of the fourth was followed a series later with his 70-yard dash to the end zone. After going around the left end, the Viking cut it all the way back across the field and found paydirt.

Ravenswood's Wyatt Burke returns a kickoff during Thursday's game against Ripley. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Vannest added a 2-yard touchdown run with 70 seconds remaining, but Hupp’s extra point was blocked by Elijah Huffman.

“Great evening. Great weather. Great crowd,” said coach Peery, whose 0-2 squad welcomes in Wahama next Friday. “I appreciate everybody coming out on both sides. I think our guys played their tails off. They fought until the end and didn’t give up. That’s what we talk about, regardless of outcome.

“We got to go to the next play, the next series, the next game. They battled. We gave up chunk plays that caught us here and there. You get them to third-and-6 where we need to have them and Tyson Pritt pulls it down, runs around the edge and picks up 7 or 8. It’s a killer, but some inexperience at some positions. They are working hard and they are playing everyday. I’m proud of these guys.”

Ripley finished with 336 ground yards on 41 attempts, while the Red Devils had 90 stripes on 48 rushes.

“I knew we were going to have adversity at some point and it all started with a couple fumbles,” coach Simon added.

“Fundamentally, you can just see they are well coached. You can tell coach Peery has them coached up right and they are tough kids.”

Ripley now leads the all-time series 45-40-4.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com.