RIDGWAY, Pa. (D9Sports) — All season long people have talked about a powerful co-op being the favorite to win District 9 Class 2A.

(Photo: Jake Wickett had a pair of touchdowns for Ridgway in the Elkers 42-0 win over previously unbeaten Clarion Friday night. Photo by Jared Bakaysa of JB Graphics. See more of Bakaysa’s work here)

What people weren’t accounting for was that co-op being the defending D9 Class 2A champion Ridgway Elkers who have won three straight D9 titles when you take into account their Class 1A titles in 2016 and 2017.

But make no mistake, the Elkers (6-1) are still the big dog in D9 after a 42-0 thrashing of previously unbeaten Clarion, which came into the game averaging 46.5 points per game while winning all six of its contests by double digits.

But Ridgway’s defense, which has allowed 54 points all season, limited the Bobcats (6-1), who were without star running back Austin Newcomb, to 289 yards of offense while getting two touchdowns from Jake Wickett and two from Gabe Watts and rolling up 445 yards of offense including 315 on the ground.

A 21-point second quarter left no doubt as to who the winner was going to be, as Ridgway led 28-0 at halftime.

Watts scored on first-half runs of one and four yards, while Wickett scored on second-half runs of 30 and 19 yards. Paul Gresco added a 1-yard rushing touchdown and threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Matt Dush.

Wickett led the ground game for the Elkers with 10 carries for 150 yards with Watts adding 13 for 68, while Gresco, who ran twice for six yards, was 8 of 10 passing for 130 yards. Dush caught four passes for 61 yards and ran twice for 82 yards with Austin Green adding two catches for 66 yards and Watts (1 yard) and Wickett (2 yards) each catching one pass.

Colton Zacherl led Clarion with 18 carries for 110 yards with Cutter Boggess adding 10 for 81. Cal German was 8 of 21 passing for 106 yards including three passes to Boggess for 68 yards.