The Gladiators put two TDs on the board tonight before the Indians could even run a play and as you can see from that final, they were mighty glad to have those two scores as the game was pretty even after that. To the Indians' credit, they came to play tonight and the Miller to Armentrout passing combination was especially effective as it accounted for both Fort TDs, including a circus catch in the third quarter with about three Gladiator defenders hanging all over him.
That TD closed the gap to 21-13 and when the Indians forced a Big Red punt on the next series and proceeded to move the ball into RHS territory, hoping for a tying touchdown, the visiting fans started to make some serious noise. But within a matter of seconds came two plays that closed the door on the Indian rally and enabled Riverheads to put the game away. First the Fort fumbled just inside the 50 yard line and an alert Gladiator pounced on it. Then on the second play following that recovery, Austin Roberts took a double handoff, and darted right up the middle untouched to account for the final score. All of that action occurred in the third quarter after Riverheads had taken a 21-7 lead into the locker room.
Before recapping the scoring in a little more detail, I will mention the two other subplots to this game. The first was the distant lightning that could be seen along the Blue Ridge. The field being situated the way it is, it was probably more obvious to the home fans, but getting the game finished without a weather delay was a major accomplishment because it did get nasty not too long after the game ended.
And speaking of "nasty".........those six folks tonight in the striped shirts (bless their hearts) certainly contributed to more than the usual drama you see in a game. The second quarter especially was astonishing as there was one flag after another and more often than not, there was major confusion as to what was called or how it was eventually marked off.
In one especially weird sequence that occurred as the Indians were driving for their first score, two flags were thrown........one around the 25 and the other down closer to the 5, and they were on opposite sides of the field. Therefore they could not have been for the same infraction. After about a 10 minute delay as we all watched the aforementioned lightning, it became obvious that both calls were against the Fort. Therefore, NOBODY knew what was going on when the final decision was to not assess any penalty yardage, give the Indians a first down, and let them continue their drive.
Overall there were far more penalties called on Fort Defiance than on Riverheads, which makes it even more remarkable that the visitors were able to withstand all that adversity and stay as close as they did. There were a few penalties called on the Big Red, and some of those were equally puzzling, but if they keep penalty yardage stats like they used to, the visiting Indians probably tripled Riverheads tonight in that category. But as we all know, the games in which the officials seem to get everything right are few and far between, so I am sure this one will be forgotten by both sides as soon as they each experience the next similar game.
As hinted at above, this game was all Riverheads for the first quarter. They took the opening kickoff and used 5 1/2 minutes to drive down the field, all on the ground, using the same quartet of backs that were so effective at Tazewell last week. Just like we saw down there, Roberts alternated carries with Jonathan Talbott, Brody Phillips, and Brendon Fortune, and then when the ball got inside the 1, they went with the safe QB sneak and Levi Dunlap put the Big Red on the board. Zac Brooks, who is now a perfect 10 for 10 on the season, converted the PAT.
On the ensuing kickoff, we are not sure if Brooks meant to kick it as short as he did but it only squibbed about 5 yards downfield and an Indian hauled it in on the run. For a brief micro-second it looked as if he might have a path to the end zone with it, but a trio of Gladiators corralled him and forced a fumble as he was trying to break loose.
That put the RHS offense right back on the field and the running game picked up where it left off. But again just like we saw at Tazewell, when the Indians least expected it, Dunlap rolled to his left and found Caleb Weston open for what I believe is his first career TD pass reception. That score came with about two minutes left in the opening period.
The Indians then made their first move and as mentioned, somehow managed to dodge the flag parade long enough for Miller to find Armentrout in the back of the end zone. That was not the circus catch by the way, but it was still a darn nice play, one of half a dozen the two completed tonight.
Riverheads then managed an important TD when they got the ground game going again and Talbott eventually scored from about the 2. That made it 21-7 and set the stage for that frantic third quarter in which the Indians battled back valiantly before the fumble and Roberts' TD burst settled the issue.
With the win, RHS is now 2-1 and will look forward to a much-needed bye week before taking on the unpredictable Wilson Hornets on the 22nd. Hopefully the Gladiators can use that week off to re-focus after this uneven performance and of course they will continue to monitor the progress of the injured Cayden Cook-Cash.
The Indians may now be 0-3 on the young season, but if they continue to put out the effort they did tonight, any team on their upcoming schedule will be making a huge mistake if they fail to take them seriously.
