Riverheads @ Staunton
- Class 2A (Fall)
- 2 Replies
These two played smash mouth, field position football between the 30s for almost three quarters, each one waiting to make its own big play or for the opponent to make a mistake. Finally Riverheads saw one of each go their way as they punched across a score late in the third and then ate up most of the fourth with an incredible 99 yard drive. (And just wait until you hear why they had to start at their own 1!)
First of all it was Homecoming and due to the way Riverheads travels, fans were still streaming in until halftime. Of course part of that was because the half was played in something like 40 minutes. As already implied, there were no big plays in the first half, no turnovers that I recall, no penalties to speak of, and quite a few punts. So the two teams fought their way through the Homecoming Court to get to the locker room with neither one having established any control.
However, you could already pick up on one key element of Riverheads' game plan and it most definitely made a difference in the game. Staunton had no doubt prepared for a heavy dose of Jonathan Talbott. Who could blame them after he carried the ball about 80% of the time last week at Christiansburg?
So the Gladiators threw a monkey wrench into the works by running at least four or five other running backs in a deliberate attempt to take the focus off him. Brody Phillips toted the pigskin a few times in the first half, but as the game progressed, the Big Red got quality runs from Brady Boehm, Carson Brooks, and Spencer Simpson. Not only that but Levi Dunlap continued to make positive yardage occasionally on the old-fashioned QB sneak.
Meanwhile the Gladiator defense snuffed out anything and everything the Storm tried to establish. According to the radio guys in the post game, they held Staunton to something like 60 yards of offense for the game. Some of us, myself guilty, thought Staunton was a big play team that Riverheads would have trouble handling, but other than one run (hold your horses......I'm getting there!) Staunton just did not produce as expected.
The punting game finally gave Riverheads the break it needed to get the party started. Phillips had pinned the Storm deep midway through the third quarter and due to the Big Red defense, Staunton had to punt it right back from its own end zone. Phillips also returns punts, so he fielded this one around midfield, got some key blocks and rambled all the way down to the 11 to finally set up the first serious scoring threat of the game.
The Gladiators stopped themselves briefly with a penalty but Boehm broke loose up the middle to score from the eight with 1:26 left in the third. Zac Brooks' PAT made it 7-0.
However, that score fired up the Storm and they returned the ensuing kickoff into RHS territory. On the opening play of the final quarter, the QB (sorry I don't know all their names) broke loose up the middle, dodged a couple of tacklers and appeared headed for a game-tying touchdown.
Just when it looked like we were headed for that deadlock, he fumbled the ball (not sure if it was a Riverheads strip) but the important thing is that the Gladiators recovered it at the one. That left the Gladiators with the daunting task of trying to get out of the shadow of their own end zone without giving Staunton another chance to make something positive out of the situation.
Although no one dreamed it would be possible at the time, the Big Red actually did drive 99 yards for a game-clinching TD. Staunton gave them the first five yards on an encroachment call, and along the way, both Boehm and Simpson converted key first downs as precious minutes ticked off the clock.
The Gladiators soon found themselves facing a 4th and 4 from the Storm 41 yard line. Some of us in the stands thought a punt to pin them deep would be wiser than risking a stop that would give them the ball in good field position.
That turned out to be a non-issue as Talbott got to the outside and dashed untouched up the near sideline to cover those remaining 41 yards and put RHS in command with about 4 minutes left. It would be interesting for someone to check the record books and see when the last time was that Riverheads drove 99 yards in a game, or even found themselves in that situation.
Staunton was unable to do anything with its final possession and RHS took some knees to run out the clock. The win was huge for the Big Red's title hopes and playoff seeding, and last I heard Stuarts Draft was taking care of business at Fort Defiance. If they did indeed win that one, we will have an amazing four-way tie at the top between the four teams. But we will sort that out in next week's preview.
So hats off to the Big Red for what was probably their best overall performance of the season. The decision to use the run-by-committee approach was a stroke of genius on the part of the coaching staff, and the defense on the normally-explosive Storm proved that the Gladiators really did their homework for this one.
As I had predicted earlier in the week, if the Storm wanted to have a successful Homecoming, they needed to put RHS away early and when they failed to do so, the Gladiators saw their chance and took it. RHS is now 6-1 on the season with Buffalo Gap coming to Greenville next Friday.
First of all it was Homecoming and due to the way Riverheads travels, fans were still streaming in until halftime. Of course part of that was because the half was played in something like 40 minutes. As already implied, there were no big plays in the first half, no turnovers that I recall, no penalties to speak of, and quite a few punts. So the two teams fought their way through the Homecoming Court to get to the locker room with neither one having established any control.
However, you could already pick up on one key element of Riverheads' game plan and it most definitely made a difference in the game. Staunton had no doubt prepared for a heavy dose of Jonathan Talbott. Who could blame them after he carried the ball about 80% of the time last week at Christiansburg?
So the Gladiators threw a monkey wrench into the works by running at least four or five other running backs in a deliberate attempt to take the focus off him. Brody Phillips toted the pigskin a few times in the first half, but as the game progressed, the Big Red got quality runs from Brady Boehm, Carson Brooks, and Spencer Simpson. Not only that but Levi Dunlap continued to make positive yardage occasionally on the old-fashioned QB sneak.
Meanwhile the Gladiator defense snuffed out anything and everything the Storm tried to establish. According to the radio guys in the post game, they held Staunton to something like 60 yards of offense for the game. Some of us, myself guilty, thought Staunton was a big play team that Riverheads would have trouble handling, but other than one run (hold your horses......I'm getting there!) Staunton just did not produce as expected.
The punting game finally gave Riverheads the break it needed to get the party started. Phillips had pinned the Storm deep midway through the third quarter and due to the Big Red defense, Staunton had to punt it right back from its own end zone. Phillips also returns punts, so he fielded this one around midfield, got some key blocks and rambled all the way down to the 11 to finally set up the first serious scoring threat of the game.
The Gladiators stopped themselves briefly with a penalty but Boehm broke loose up the middle to score from the eight with 1:26 left in the third. Zac Brooks' PAT made it 7-0.
However, that score fired up the Storm and they returned the ensuing kickoff into RHS territory. On the opening play of the final quarter, the QB (sorry I don't know all their names) broke loose up the middle, dodged a couple of tacklers and appeared headed for a game-tying touchdown.
Just when it looked like we were headed for that deadlock, he fumbled the ball (not sure if it was a Riverheads strip) but the important thing is that the Gladiators recovered it at the one. That left the Gladiators with the daunting task of trying to get out of the shadow of their own end zone without giving Staunton another chance to make something positive out of the situation.
Although no one dreamed it would be possible at the time, the Big Red actually did drive 99 yards for a game-clinching TD. Staunton gave them the first five yards on an encroachment call, and along the way, both Boehm and Simpson converted key first downs as precious minutes ticked off the clock.
The Gladiators soon found themselves facing a 4th and 4 from the Storm 41 yard line. Some of us in the stands thought a punt to pin them deep would be wiser than risking a stop that would give them the ball in good field position.
That turned out to be a non-issue as Talbott got to the outside and dashed untouched up the near sideline to cover those remaining 41 yards and put RHS in command with about 4 minutes left. It would be interesting for someone to check the record books and see when the last time was that Riverheads drove 99 yards in a game, or even found themselves in that situation.
Staunton was unable to do anything with its final possession and RHS took some knees to run out the clock. The win was huge for the Big Red's title hopes and playoff seeding, and last I heard Stuarts Draft was taking care of business at Fort Defiance. If they did indeed win that one, we will have an amazing four-way tie at the top between the four teams. But we will sort that out in next week's preview.
So hats off to the Big Red for what was probably their best overall performance of the season. The decision to use the run-by-committee approach was a stroke of genius on the part of the coaching staff, and the defense on the normally-explosive Storm proved that the Gladiators really did their homework for this one.
As I had predicted earlier in the week, if the Storm wanted to have a successful Homecoming, they needed to put RHS away early and when they failed to do so, the Gladiators saw their chance and took it. RHS is now 6-1 on the season with Buffalo Gap coming to Greenville next Friday.
