RIDLEY TWP. — There was a lot for Johnny Palladino to process Friday night.

The Ridley senior linebacker owned up to a mistake in the third quarter of a one-point game against Penncrest. With the Green Raiders set to punt on fourth down, Palladino missed an assignment that allowed Orion Kolleh to shoot through and block the kick, giving the visiting Lions the ball at the Ridley 25.

“That blocked punt was definitely on me,” Palladino said.

It didn’t take long for him to make things right. Two plays later, Penncrest quarterback Paul Graham mishandled a snap under center, and Palladino fell on the fumble.

Palladino got a shot to redeem himself, and he delivered when Ridley needed him most.

“Coach always says that pressure’s a privilege,” he said. “We had our backs up against the wall and … I kind of was just there.”

“Just there” was enough for Ridley to grind out a 10-6 win over a strong Central League opponent.

The Green Raiders added some cushion in the fourth on a 29-yard field goal by Tim Calamita and held off a tough Penncrest squad.

“I made a mistake, but it’s all about how you react to it,” Palladino said.

A week after shutting out Haverford, Ridley’s defense was sensational once again, holding six-win Penncrest to a single score. Ridley has allowed just 61 points all season, 41 in eight weeks since a 20-14 Week 1 loss to Central Bucks East.

The win pushed the Green Raiders to 8-1 and 8-0 in the Central League. With one game left in the regular season, they have a chance to clinch at least a share of the league title next Friday at home against Garnet Valley.

Ridley and Springfield, which beat Garnet Valley 28-7 Friday, are tied atop the standings. Ridley hasn’t captured a Central League crown since 2016.

After Palladino’s recovery, Ridley leaned on its emerging star at running back, Jamar Savoy. He ripped off a 12-yard run to close the third quarter, then followed with gains of seven, eight, 12 and 13 yards on a 12-play drive that bled into the fourth. Calamita’s field goal capped it.

Ridley’s defense did the rest, forcing incompletions on third and fourth down during Penncrest’s next drive. To seal the deal, quarterback Jackson Solomon kept it on fourth-and-inches, pushing up the middle for five yards. Two kneel-downs later, the Green Raiders walked off with an eighth straight victory.

“That was a tough game, a tough opponent, but we’re built for this,” Solomon said. “Our defense is the best defense I’ve ever been a part of. Back-to-back weeks shutting down some great offenses, they’re the best. Our offensive line, as I said earlier in the year, we are going to ride them all the way to the Central League title. And we’ve got one more game left, and that’s our goal. It’s been our goal since the start of the year.”

That offensive line — Andrew Casey, James Coskey, Josh Hamson, Cooper Smith and Yuron Villanueva — has been the backbone of Ridley’s run. The unit powers a ground game built around Savoy and Solomon. Savoy topped 100 yards again, finishing with 124 and a touchdown on 24 carries after going for 161 yards last week.

Solomon added 63 yards on 16 attempts. Together, they accounted for every positive rushing yard as Ridley averaged 4.3 yards per carry.

Solomon showed flashes in the passing game, something he’s worked to improve. He was intercepted on a batted ball at the line for the second straight week, this time on an acrobatic play by Kolleh. But he delivered one of the night’s biggest throws, a 37-yard strike to Tahmir Moody-Ruffin down the middle to set up Ridley’s first touchdown. One play later, Savoy powered into the end zone to make it 7-0 in the second quarter.

“It was a huge play. We saw something on film that we liked,” said Solomon, who finished 5-for-10 for 67 yards. “We worked all week on it. It was just a post route, and we trust our guys to beat their guys. Moody made a hell of a catch on that play. I trust him just like I trust all of my playmakers.”

Penncrest struggled early, managing 39 yards and two first downs before halftime. But Graham and the offense got in sync after the break. Graham used his legs to make things happen, breaking a 55-yard run down the Ridley sideline that set up his short touchdown run to cut the lead to 7-6 with 4:30 left in the third quarter. The extra point missed.

“Something I’ve learned throughout the season is we don’t quit. We have a lot of fight,” said Graham, who ran for a team-high 78 yards on nine carries. “When we came out in the second half, it was zero-zero for us. We didn’t quit, but we just couldn’t close it out. I’m super proud of our guys, especially my guys up front, for battling the whole game. We’ve got to carry that into the playoffs.”

Kolleh and linebacker/fullback Jeffrey Cropper were all over the field defensively. Cropper added 25 tough yards on 10 carries, while linemen DeJon Fitzgerald and Donovan Trucchio were forces against the run.