Riverheads and long-time rival Parry McCluer met tonight in Greenville with the Big Red ultimately winning 40-26 in a game that was a bit closer than that score would indicate. Touchdowns were even at four apiece until the last two minutes of the game when the Gladiators added an insurance score to account for the 14 point margin.
However, the all-important two-point conversion, which is generally the weapon of choice at the JV level, played a big role in determining the final margin because the Gladiators successfully converted all five of theirs, whereas PM only managed 1 out of 4. So that discrepancy kept the Gladiators in front for most of the game and kept the Blues playing catch-up.
The visiting Blues certainly got off to a good start as they took the opening kickoff and marched down the field to score. With QB Nathan Glass leading the way, they had the Gladiator defense on its heels with an option attack which more often than not featured keepers by Glass. They punched in the TD midway through the quarter but when the Gladiators stopped their two-point try, little did we know that a pattern was being set.
Riverheads then matched that TD with one of its own and when they converted the two-point try, that put them in the lead for good. Following that 8-6 beginning, the pattern went 16-6, 16-12, 24-12 at the half, followed by second half scores of 24-18, 32-18, 32-26 and the final 40-26. So as you can see, the Blues stayed within striking distance all night long, but the Gladiators on occasion helped them stay in the game with turnovers and miscues in the kicking game.
In fact, whether or not it was intentional, the Gladiators had not one, but two kickoffs following touchdowns that only went three yards. Needless to say, those kicks set the Blues up in Riverheads territory on those two occasions. Pooch kicks have been a Gladiator tradition for years but the JVs may need to fine-tune that particular aspect of their game.
But to accentuate the positive, when the Gladiators were not botching kicks or turning the ball over, they ran the ball quite nicely, with a four-prong rushing attack. First-year QB Ethan Mulcahy ran the offense efficiently and kept the ball himself a few times, but when he handed off, three very talented running backs toted the pigskin and all three figured prominently in the scoring of those 40 points. Although Triple C and some of his buddies will get the major ink for the Gladiator varsity this season, watch out in future years for the freshman trio of Jonathan Talbott, Chase Donathan, and Holden Fitzgerald. They were so effective that the Gladiators did not attempt more than one or two passes all night.
With the win, RHS moves to 2-0 on the season. I was not able to attend last week's home win over Waynesboro, nor have I been able to find an accurate score. But from what I could determine the Big Red scored in the 30s or maybe low 40s and Waynesboro only scored once or twice. I was told that Talbott had an especially good game in that one.
A schedule change that will be good news for Gladiator fans was announced tonight. Due to the varsity team's upcoming games with Lord Botetourt, Tazewell, and Westmoreland (in that order) the JV team had no one on the schedule for those weekends. So as I understand it, the end-of-the-season game at Stuarts Draft has now been moved up to September 14th. I assume it will take the place of the last regular season game as opposed to being a second meeting between the two JV teams. At the present time that is the only game in September for the Junior Gladiators due to the above-described varsity schedule.
And speaking of the varsity teams, let us not forget that they are set to tangle Friday night in Buena Vista, with the Gladiators needing a victory to tie the state record for consecutive wins by any state team. A victory Friday will be RHS' 52nd straight win.
Because of what is at stake, and perhaps somewhat influenced by last week's GIGANTIC crowd at Waynesboro, RHS and PM made some plans to hopefully make crowd control easier Friday. First of all, advance tickets were on sale tonight and presumably will be at both schools Thursday and Friday. (You might want to call your school of choice to verify that.) Also a shuttle service of some type is being provided that will allow fans to park at the old football field and be taken to the new one. Again I would suggest calling PM to verify details on that.
The weather sounds like it will be great again so a huge crowd is a very logical expectation. I even heard that gates will open at 4:00! That shows great respect for these two proud programs that have been knocking heads for the last 50 years.
However, the all-important two-point conversion, which is generally the weapon of choice at the JV level, played a big role in determining the final margin because the Gladiators successfully converted all five of theirs, whereas PM only managed 1 out of 4. So that discrepancy kept the Gladiators in front for most of the game and kept the Blues playing catch-up.
The visiting Blues certainly got off to a good start as they took the opening kickoff and marched down the field to score. With QB Nathan Glass leading the way, they had the Gladiator defense on its heels with an option attack which more often than not featured keepers by Glass. They punched in the TD midway through the quarter but when the Gladiators stopped their two-point try, little did we know that a pattern was being set.
Riverheads then matched that TD with one of its own and when they converted the two-point try, that put them in the lead for good. Following that 8-6 beginning, the pattern went 16-6, 16-12, 24-12 at the half, followed by second half scores of 24-18, 32-18, 32-26 and the final 40-26. So as you can see, the Blues stayed within striking distance all night long, but the Gladiators on occasion helped them stay in the game with turnovers and miscues in the kicking game.
In fact, whether or not it was intentional, the Gladiators had not one, but two kickoffs following touchdowns that only went three yards. Needless to say, those kicks set the Blues up in Riverheads territory on those two occasions. Pooch kicks have been a Gladiator tradition for years but the JVs may need to fine-tune that particular aspect of their game.
But to accentuate the positive, when the Gladiators were not botching kicks or turning the ball over, they ran the ball quite nicely, with a four-prong rushing attack. First-year QB Ethan Mulcahy ran the offense efficiently and kept the ball himself a few times, but when he handed off, three very talented running backs toted the pigskin and all three figured prominently in the scoring of those 40 points. Although Triple C and some of his buddies will get the major ink for the Gladiator varsity this season, watch out in future years for the freshman trio of Jonathan Talbott, Chase Donathan, and Holden Fitzgerald. They were so effective that the Gladiators did not attempt more than one or two passes all night.
With the win, RHS moves to 2-0 on the season. I was not able to attend last week's home win over Waynesboro, nor have I been able to find an accurate score. But from what I could determine the Big Red scored in the 30s or maybe low 40s and Waynesboro only scored once or twice. I was told that Talbott had an especially good game in that one.
A schedule change that will be good news for Gladiator fans was announced tonight. Due to the varsity team's upcoming games with Lord Botetourt, Tazewell, and Westmoreland (in that order) the JV team had no one on the schedule for those weekends. So as I understand it, the end-of-the-season game at Stuarts Draft has now been moved up to September 14th. I assume it will take the place of the last regular season game as opposed to being a second meeting between the two JV teams. At the present time that is the only game in September for the Junior Gladiators due to the above-described varsity schedule.
And speaking of the varsity teams, let us not forget that they are set to tangle Friday night in Buena Vista, with the Gladiators needing a victory to tie the state record for consecutive wins by any state team. A victory Friday will be RHS' 52nd straight win.
Because of what is at stake, and perhaps somewhat influenced by last week's GIGANTIC crowd at Waynesboro, RHS and PM made some plans to hopefully make crowd control easier Friday. First of all, advance tickets were on sale tonight and presumably will be at both schools Thursday and Friday. (You might want to call your school of choice to verify that.) Also a shuttle service of some type is being provided that will allow fans to park at the old football field and be taken to the new one. Again I would suggest calling PM to verify details on that.
The weather sounds like it will be great again so a huge crowd is a very logical expectation. I even heard that gates will open at 4:00! That shows great respect for these two proud programs that have been knocking heads for the last 50 years.
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