Although the "big one" is still almost 48 hours away, the two JV teams did their absolute best tonight to add some major drama to the week as the homestanding Gladiators edged the Junior Cougars 20-14 in a game that went right down to the absolute final play. With the win, the Big Red caps off an impressive 8-2 season.
For better than 2 1/2 quarters, it actually appeared as if RHS might win easily. They scored on their first two possessions on a pair of sweeps by Zac Smiley, who has been the go-to guy all season, even though he is just an eighth-grader. The Gladiators then received the second half kickoff and quickly moved into Cougar territory, looking for a three-touchdown lead.
But this is football we are talking about and it can take funny bounces. Just when the Gladiators seemed ready to put the game away, the Cougar defense stiffened and forced a punt from around midfield. The snap was bobbled and SD recovered, which led to a major momentum swing.
The Cougars quickly moved downfield and hit paydirt on a wide-open halfback option pass, and added the two-point conversion to trim the lead to 14-8. They then surprised the Gladiators by recovering an onside kick and were right back in business.
It took a little longer for the visitors to score the tying touchdown, but they finally did with just under nine minutes to go. But Riverheads stuffed the conversion on a run right up the middle to leave the game deadlocked.
Then came momentum swing number two of the second half. Just when you might have thought the Cougars had Riverheads on the ropes, the Gladiators instead simply calmed down, re-focused, and drove right back down the field for the winning touchdown, using the running of Smiley almost all the way.
His biggest play of that drive was a 21-yard gallop that carried from the 26 down to the 5, where he took it in on the next play, scoring with 5:04 left in the game. But the Gladiators, who rarely pass, tried one for the PAT but it was intercepted, leaving the door wide open for the Cougars to possibly score again and snatch the victory after all.
And they proceeded to make a very determined effort to do just that. Using a series of short passes, they quickly crossed midfield. But as they got inside the 30, the yardage got tougher and the clock moved faster.
The biggest play for the Draft then came in the final minute when the QB, facing a 4th and 5 play, appeared to be stopped, but somehow wiggled away and danced up the sidelines for a first down at the RHS 23. However, all that running around trying to avoid the sack ate up valuable time and the Cougars were out of time-outs.
So the final 17 seconds consisted of two passes into the end zone, the first of which fell incomplete when the receiver appeared to turn the wrong way. On second down, the ball was well overthrown and sailed completely out of play, leaving five seconds for one final winner-take-all play.
The Cougar QB (sorry I did not pick up a program and can't report any of their names) went back to pass, but was quickly surrounded and emphatically brought down by the duo of Jameson Shover and Gage Maxfield. (Hope I am giving credit to the right guys.)
All in all a terrific game by two teams who showed both sides of the stadium that their programs are on solid ground for the future. Will the varsity teams top this one Friday night? Probably but these two teams certainly did their part tonight to get us all fired up.
For better than 2 1/2 quarters, it actually appeared as if RHS might win easily. They scored on their first two possessions on a pair of sweeps by Zac Smiley, who has been the go-to guy all season, even though he is just an eighth-grader. The Gladiators then received the second half kickoff and quickly moved into Cougar territory, looking for a three-touchdown lead.
But this is football we are talking about and it can take funny bounces. Just when the Gladiators seemed ready to put the game away, the Cougar defense stiffened and forced a punt from around midfield. The snap was bobbled and SD recovered, which led to a major momentum swing.
The Cougars quickly moved downfield and hit paydirt on a wide-open halfback option pass, and added the two-point conversion to trim the lead to 14-8. They then surprised the Gladiators by recovering an onside kick and were right back in business.
It took a little longer for the visitors to score the tying touchdown, but they finally did with just under nine minutes to go. But Riverheads stuffed the conversion on a run right up the middle to leave the game deadlocked.
Then came momentum swing number two of the second half. Just when you might have thought the Cougars had Riverheads on the ropes, the Gladiators instead simply calmed down, re-focused, and drove right back down the field for the winning touchdown, using the running of Smiley almost all the way.
His biggest play of that drive was a 21-yard gallop that carried from the 26 down to the 5, where he took it in on the next play, scoring with 5:04 left in the game. But the Gladiators, who rarely pass, tried one for the PAT but it was intercepted, leaving the door wide open for the Cougars to possibly score again and snatch the victory after all.
And they proceeded to make a very determined effort to do just that. Using a series of short passes, they quickly crossed midfield. But as they got inside the 30, the yardage got tougher and the clock moved faster.
The biggest play for the Draft then came in the final minute when the QB, facing a 4th and 5 play, appeared to be stopped, but somehow wiggled away and danced up the sidelines for a first down at the RHS 23. However, all that running around trying to avoid the sack ate up valuable time and the Cougars were out of time-outs.
So the final 17 seconds consisted of two passes into the end zone, the first of which fell incomplete when the receiver appeared to turn the wrong way. On second down, the ball was well overthrown and sailed completely out of play, leaving five seconds for one final winner-take-all play.
The Cougar QB (sorry I did not pick up a program and can't report any of their names) went back to pass, but was quickly surrounded and emphatically brought down by the duo of Jameson Shover and Gage Maxfield. (Hope I am giving credit to the right guys.)
All in all a terrific game by two teams who showed both sides of the stadium that their programs are on solid ground for the future. Will the varsity teams top this one Friday night? Probably but these two teams certainly did their part tonight to get us all fired up.
