"Big Mo" was a mighty busy fellow down at Riverheads tonight, and when he swung for one final time, it was in favor of the home team as the Big Red held off an inspired comeback by Wilson. With the tight victory, which was not sealed until the final seconds, the Gladiators are now 5-1 on the season.
After a scoreless first quarter, things exploded the rest of the way including a busy second quarter for Riverheads' Tyler Davis, who scored not once but twice on nearly identical 64 yard sweeps around left end. In both cases, especially his second TD, it appeared that one or more defenders had the angle on him to make the tackle, but he turned on the afterburners and scored untouched.
His first score came on the opening play of the quarter and following that TD, the Hornets ate up almost all the rest of the quarter with their first drive of the night. When they finally punched it across, less than a minute remained on the clock and everyone assumed we were headed to the locker room tied at 6-6. But Mr. Davis had other ideas as he scored his second TD, and the Gladiators managed the only successful two-point conversion of the night, which would ultimately turn out to be the winning points of the game.
RHS received the second half kickoff and quickly drove it in to take a 20-6 lead. That TD came on a rare pass play as Cyrus Cox found Landon Lightner alone in the right corner of the end zone for a 19 yard completion.
Some Gladiator fans might have thought that Wilson would go away quietly after that score and that the Big Red might even win easily, but that was certainly not the case, thanks to an incredible second half by Wilson running back Naquanne Johnson. Shortly after Lightner's TD, the freshman broke off left tackle from about 40 yards to bring Wilson back to within 20-12. Then still within the third quarter, he galloped untouched up the middle from about 65 yards and the score was suddenly 20-18.
The Gladiators were stopping the PATs but momentum had clearly swung toward the Green Team and Johnson was not finished yet. Early in the fourth, he exploded for about a 56 yard broken field run in which he dodged at least half a dozen tacklers and refused to go down. That set the Hornets up for a first and goal, and moments later, Alyzia Stewart put the visitors ahead for the first time in the game.
The clock showed only 5:48 when Riverheads took over and the smart money would have been on Wilson holding them off and Johnson probably inflicting even more damage. But instead the Big Red kept its poise and regained the lead. But that final drive was not without its drama as they converted a fourth and long from the Wilson 42 on another Cox to Lightner completion, and later Davis broke off left tackle and rambled about 20 yards for a first and goal. The Gladiators then pushed it across on third down from inside the one for the winning score.
Trouble was there was still 1:20 left on the clock and everyone in the stadium knew who the Hornets would turn to for a possible last gasp TD. Sure enough after a decent kick return put them in business near midfield, they went to Johnson on four straight plays. Despite his success to that point, the Gladiator defense had his number when it counted and held him without a first down to secure the hard-fought victory.
To the credit of both teams, this was a clean, sportsmanlike game and the very few flags that were thrown were for timing errors such as false starts and encroachment. If there was a major penalty all night I don't remember it. Great game with each team unveiling some legitimate stars of the future.
After a scoreless first quarter, things exploded the rest of the way including a busy second quarter for Riverheads' Tyler Davis, who scored not once but twice on nearly identical 64 yard sweeps around left end. In both cases, especially his second TD, it appeared that one or more defenders had the angle on him to make the tackle, but he turned on the afterburners and scored untouched.
His first score came on the opening play of the quarter and following that TD, the Hornets ate up almost all the rest of the quarter with their first drive of the night. When they finally punched it across, less than a minute remained on the clock and everyone assumed we were headed to the locker room tied at 6-6. But Mr. Davis had other ideas as he scored his second TD, and the Gladiators managed the only successful two-point conversion of the night, which would ultimately turn out to be the winning points of the game.
RHS received the second half kickoff and quickly drove it in to take a 20-6 lead. That TD came on a rare pass play as Cyrus Cox found Landon Lightner alone in the right corner of the end zone for a 19 yard completion.
Some Gladiator fans might have thought that Wilson would go away quietly after that score and that the Big Red might even win easily, but that was certainly not the case, thanks to an incredible second half by Wilson running back Naquanne Johnson. Shortly after Lightner's TD, the freshman broke off left tackle from about 40 yards to bring Wilson back to within 20-12. Then still within the third quarter, he galloped untouched up the middle from about 65 yards and the score was suddenly 20-18.
The Gladiators were stopping the PATs but momentum had clearly swung toward the Green Team and Johnson was not finished yet. Early in the fourth, he exploded for about a 56 yard broken field run in which he dodged at least half a dozen tacklers and refused to go down. That set the Hornets up for a first and goal, and moments later, Alyzia Stewart put the visitors ahead for the first time in the game.
The clock showed only 5:48 when Riverheads took over and the smart money would have been on Wilson holding them off and Johnson probably inflicting even more damage. But instead the Big Red kept its poise and regained the lead. But that final drive was not without its drama as they converted a fourth and long from the Wilson 42 on another Cox to Lightner completion, and later Davis broke off left tackle and rambled about 20 yards for a first and goal. The Gladiators then pushed it across on third down from inside the one for the winning score.
Trouble was there was still 1:20 left on the clock and everyone in the stadium knew who the Hornets would turn to for a possible last gasp TD. Sure enough after a decent kick return put them in business near midfield, they went to Johnson on four straight plays. Despite his success to that point, the Gladiator defense had his number when it counted and held him without a first down to secure the hard-fought victory.
To the credit of both teams, this was a clean, sportsmanlike game and the very few flags that were thrown were for timing errors such as false starts and encroachment. If there was a major penalty all night I don't remember it. Great game with each team unveiling some legitimate stars of the future.
