On one of the warmest nights we have ever seen for Senior Night, the Big Red warmed up on the field in a hurry and ran away from the Little Giants tonight by a 62-17 final count. It really wasn't even that close as the Gladiators led 55-3 at one point and again at 62-9.
Although 10 seniors were saluted prior to the game, ironically only one of them had the "game of a lifetime" final home appearance that players dream of. That was Brady Boehm, who scored three times, two of them in spectacular fashion, and also had an interception on defense. Zac Brooks, the Gladiators' senior kicker, had a 5 for 6 night on PATs but other than those two, most of the scoring came from underclassmen.
Boehm got the party started with a 77 yard touchdown reception from his classmate Levi Dunlap, who of course is worthy of special mention also. In fact, after about 8-10 years, Gladiator fans won't know how to react next year when there is someone other than a Dunlap behind center, as Levi followed in the footsteps of older brothers Elijah and Bennett at the quarterback position.
That 77 yard strike came on the Big Red's second play from scrimmage and Boehm was so open that he had to wait on the ball and then had clear sailing to the end zone. There was even a second receiver in the area who could have been another option.
After that explosive TD, it was all about the Gladiator ground game as they rolled to a 41-0 lead before Waynesboro could dent the scoreboard. Junior running back Jonathan Talbott returned to action from an injury and looked to be in fine form as he scored twice in the first half. Sophomore Jackson Fitzgerald added a TD and (I just remembered) Dunlap scored in the first quarter on one of his patented QB sneaks. Boehm's second TD also came in the second quarter.
Waynesboro kicked a field goal just before halftime just to get on the board as the teams went to the locker room with the scoreboard reading 41-3. Boehm then opened the scoring in the second half with a brilliant broken-field 61-yard run in which he faked out the same defender about three times on his way to the end zone.
Junior Preston McCauley scored the final two Gladiator TDs on an impressive pair of runs, and next year's likely place-kicker, Bryan Lopez-Rojas, kicked the final three PATs as he and Brooks went a combined 8 for 9 in that department.
Other big plays on the evening came from Skyler Shiflett, who dashed down the far sideline for about 60 yards and also picked off a deflected pass, one of three Gladiator interceptions on the night; back-up quarterback Kendall Edwards, who turned a routine sneak into a 50 yard gallop; and junior Chris Dotson, who hauled in Dunlap's second-longest pass of the night on a 30 yard sideline route and was also a major force on defense as he has been all year.
Waynesboro meanwhile kept fighting to the end, as evidenced by their two second-half touchdowns. Their junior quarterback Haden Morris, has an impressive arm and probably completed a dozen or more passes tonight, but the Giants had trouble with penalties, turnovers, and clock management. Most folks in the area are predicting that the Giants are headed in the right direction and could be more competitive as early as next season.
As mentioned the Gladiators did get Talbott back tonight but it was also circulating around the crowd that Brody Phillips, a three-sport athlete who was the Big Red's punter, among other duties, is most likely lost for the entire year and will have to wait for his senior season to make his mark in those three sports. All told the Big Red still has four or five guys walking the sidelines but unable to play.
Last but not least, the big announcement came out today about Central Woodstock having its wins re-instated. That of course is amazing news for them but it also will help Riverheads in terms of playoff seeding, since the Gladiators knocked them off in the season-opener. So you can bet that numbers are being crunched all around the state tonight to sort all of that out.
So congrats to the Big Red who now get the week off before those playoffs begin on the 15th.
