Sorry for the delayed report but hopefully I can make it worth the wait because this one was a doozy. To give you the punch line first, each team scored its touchdown midway through the first quarter, within 30 seconds of one another, and then it was a defensive slugfest until Riverheads was able to work the final few minutes of the clock and kick the game winner at the final horn.
So as unbelievable as this may seem, for the second year in a row, the Gladiators won the game on a Zac Brooks field goal, an ending I don't think any of us would have predicted for this one. In fact, while I am handing out apologies, I probably owe the team one because I did not give the Big Red much of a chance in this one, for all the reasons I had listed earlier in the week.
Not only should C burg have had revenge in mind after last year, but Riverheads was short-handed due to injuries and as it turned out there was another one in this game that may have an impact moving forward. Sophomore running back Jackson Fitzgerald, who came into the game as RHS' number two back in yardage, went out early in the game and never returned. That meant that top dog Jonathan Talbott was forced into a bigger role than usual and I am guessing he carried the ball a minimum of 30 times, which made the Big Red more predictable to defend.
But somehow they gut-checked their way into another huge win, and I see that they have moved up in the Region 2 B standings. But there is a HUGE game staring them in the face this upcoming week, which I will address in the next day or so.
OK, obviously defense was the name of this one. As already stated, C'burg was able to handle the Gladiator offense quite effectively as I don't think Riverheads had a play of more than 10-15 yards all night. In fact their biggest gainer of the night, to my recollection, came when Brody Phillips faked a punt and tossed a pass to Brady Boehm for a first down.
Speaking of his punts, he probably booted the ball more in this game than he had in all the previous ones combined, and one in particular had a huge impact on the game and led to the RHS touchdown. On a couple of occasions, it looked like C burg might block him but they never did.
As for the Big Red's defense on the Demons, the coaches did another one of their classic jobs in the halftime locker room and other than the early touchdown, they stopped the home team and never allowed another scoring threat. That was quite an accomplishment because the Demons have a lightning quick running quarterback, a couple of other speedsters, and although he plays mainly defense, they have a 6'9" monster linebacker that I was told is headed to Virginia Tech next year.
So although the Gladiators did their part on defense, C'burg at times was its own worst enemy as they coughed up four fumbles by my count, one of which led to the RHS touchdown. But in those final wild few minutes, they essentially beat themselves with the combination of a questionable decision on offense and two very late penalties which enabled RHS to work into position to kick the game-winner, which I will address here shortly.
Both teams elected to pooch or squib kick each time, so Riverheads took the opening kickoff and was only able to advance it close to midfield. On the first of his many punts, Phillips coffin-cornered the Demons into starting from their own two yard line. That proved to be disastrous as fumble number one put RHS in business from the same two yard line. C'burg still made them work for it but Talbott pushed it across on third down for the first score of the game.
C'burg scored the equalizer almost immediately as the quarterback broke the initial line of containment, cut to his right, and then around the 20 faked the last defender out of his shorts to complete about a 50 yard score. At that point it looked like Big Mo was going to switch sides, especially once the news of Fitzgerald's injury became apparent. But for the rest of the game, each team bent on defense but never broke, although as mentioned every time C'burg looked like they could be ready to pounce, they coughed up another fumble.
So after nearly three full quarters of back and forth football, C'burg was in Riverheads territory with about four minutes left and found themselves facing a 4th and 12 from around the RHS 44. To most of us in the stands, it looked like the smart call at that point would have been to punt the ball and pin the visitors deep since the Gladiators had been unable to move the ball effectively on offense all night.
Instead the Demons elected to pass the ball, although they had shown very little of a passing attack to that point. The receiver was open downfield but the pass was badly overthrown and Riverheads took over one last time.
Well you will notice that I have not yet mentioned the officials, but as it would turn out, they had a big hand in the final outcome. On the Gladiators' first play from scrimmage following the C'burg incompletion, they managed a respectable gain up to about midfield when a flag was thrown into a pile of bodies.
Ordinarily when a flag is thrown, it is easy to figure our what happened and/or you get a quick signal. Not so in this case.......instead the guy who threw it ran up to Mr. White Hat, and they stood all alone talking for what seemed like 2 or 3 minutes, while each side of the stadium wondered who had done what and what impact it was about to have on the game.
Finally the call was made......a chop block call against the Demons. That marched off 15 big ones and put RHS in business around the C'burg 35. Moments later, the Big Red threw a short pass to the right sideline. It was incomplete and this time there was a little less drama but still a surprise when an official that was not the closest to the play flagged the Demons for interference.
That moved the ball to around the 20 and at that point, we knew the Big Red's game plan.........to use the clock wisely and take their time to work the ball to the middle of the field and set up the game winner. Quarterback Levi Dunlap helped that cause tremendously, as he has several times this season, as one of his patented QB sneaks pushed the line forward about an extra 8-10 yards. The Gladiators kept their cool and when the clock ticked down to four seconds, Mr. Brooks did his thing, even after C'burg used its last time out to ice him.
But the kick was perfect and the air horns blew celebrating the Big Red win. In all fairness to C'burg, they were the quicker and more explosive team and with the Gladiators hampered on offense, this could have been a Demon win if not for all the fumbles and that odd sequence of events in the final four minutes.
But a win is a win and we will take it. RHS is now 5-1 on the season, but the next three will be brutal, with Staunton, Buffalo Gap, and Stuarts Draft all coming up, two of which are on the road. Only time will tell if the Gladiators can get some of their wounded warriors back and if the coaches can keep up those masterful half-time pep talks, which clearly seem to be working.
