As some folks have already inferred, Strasburg was simply the better team tonight in just about every aspect and I imagine Coach Norcross will be enough of a gentleman to admit as much when his comments to the media are publicized.
Sure the fans were making the usual catcalls in the direction of the officials and even sadder there were some negative comments being directed at the players as if to say they were simply not trying their best or words to that effect. But the plain and simple truth is that the Rams were bigger, stronger, and especially faster.
I had read about them having about four or five quality running backs and at times it seemed like twice that many. I believe Coates and Williams (apologies if I have either name wrong) were the two most productive ones. By coincidence I had talked to Williams' grandmother in her place of business a couple of hours before game time and she said he was only a sophomore. So he will be a force to contend with next year. Not sure how many seniors the Rams may have but they sure performed like an experienced and mature team.
They drove easily about 60 yards each time for their first two scores. The first one ate up over half the first quarter clock. They then scored their second TD early in the second quarter.
Riverheads did manage to drive into Rams territory following that second TD but they were sent reeling backwards on back to back penalties and ended up having to punt. Strasburg then committed a penalty of its own on that punt return and had to start its third drive from around its own 20. There were only about three minutes left on the clock but they managed it well and Williams sneaked around left end and inside the pylon with just 10 seconds showing on the clock.
RHS received the second half kickoff and again moved into Rams territory. This time they were stopped just a yard ahort around the 40, and the Rams marched for their fourth touchdown. Coates scored that one on one of the Rams' longest and prettiest run of the night as he faked out several defenders. I believe the same lady mentioned above said he was a senior and he looked good enough tonight to be attracting some college scouts.
With the Rams ahead 28-0, Riverheads finally got on the board, but to show what a tough night it was, they had to score twice to get one touchdown. With Jonathan Talbott, Jackson Fitzgerald and Brady Boehm alternating carries they drove down inside the 10, and Boehm appeared to score from about the five yard line, but a penalty nullified that score. But the Big Red kept plugging away and I think Boehm got the honors a second time and this time the score stood.
The Rams added one more score in the fourth and then in a classy move on Coach Norcross' part, he put in his second string offense to finish out the game. They drove the ball down inside the 10 yard line but instead of a more respectable 35-14 final, they fumbled at the 9 in the final few seconds.
With the win, the Rams will now host Buckingham next week for the Region 2B championship. Whoever wins that one will then have to take care of the Region A champ if they hope to have Region B represented in Salem for a third straight year. Riverheads advanced that far last year and in 2022, Central played for the State Class 2 title.
As for Riverheads, the season comes to an end with a 9-3 record. Yes it would have cool to have kept playing for the chance at a 10th straight state title appearance. To recap, the Big Red lost a 7-6 heartbreaker to Galax in 2015, then won the state 1-A title the next 7 years, before falling short last year against Radford.
With that kind of consistent success, I would hope that the fans who were so hard on the team tonight (and hopefully there were only a few of them) will put the situation in perspec
