River Ridge is the last team standing in West Pasco.
The Royal Knights are the only West Pasco team in the state playoffs. Mitchell, which had made the field 12 straight seasons, stayed home. So did Gulf, Anclote, Hudson and Fivay.
River Ridge opens on the road Friday, Nov. 13, at No. 1 Bishop Moore in Orlando. The Royal Knights come in on a four-game winning streak, and they finally beat their biggest rival.
Class 4A, Region 2
No. 8 River Ridge (8-2) at No. 1 Bishop Moore (8-2), 7:30
River Ridge beat Mitchell 13-10 on Oct. 30. It was the Royal Knights’ first win over the Mustangs since a 10-7 win on Aug. 28, 2015.
Getting here took some work. River Ridge went 7-3 last season and still missed the playoffs because of a weak strength of schedule. So the Royal Knights toughened the 2026 schedule, adding Carrollwood Day and Northside Christian.
Carrollwood Day showed what that meant. The unbeaten Patriots, now the top seed in Class 1A, Region 3, handed River Ridge its first loss, 45-0 on Aug. 28.
The Royal Knights answered by winning seven of their next eight. They opened district play with wins at Sunlake (30-26), at Fivay (29-0) and over Hudson (32-0). Their only other loss was 21-7 to Zephyrhills on Oct. 2, which cost them the District 4A-8 title. They finished second at 5-1.
Defense carried them. River Ridge gave up 71 points in its opener and 68 in its next seven games combined, according to MaxPreps. Against Springstead, four players had a sack each: linebacker Dayton Ray, Korontae Moore, Alec Ferraro and Jackson McCaffrey. Defensive back Brett Biggs returned an interception for a touchdown in that game.
On offense, quarterback Dylan Walstatter threw three touchdown passes on 17 attempts against Springstead and 251 yards against Mitchell. Antony Doston leads the ground game, including 94 yards against Springstead. Fred Reid coaches the Royal Knights.
Bishop Moore won its district at 4-0 and has won eight straight, most of them blowouts. During the streak the Hornets beat DeLand 55-0, West Shore 52-0, Hagerty 42-0 and New Smyrna Beach 45-7. MaxPreps ranks them third in Class 4A.
Junior quarterback Blake McCullough threw for 257 yards and ran for two touchdowns in a 31-17 win over Lake Mary in the finale. Lucas Bower had three of the Hornets’ six sacks that night.
Next: The winner meets the Zephyrhills-Vanguard winner Nov. 20. A rematch with Zephyrhills is possible.