It was not the prettiest of their five wins, but the Big Red got the job done this evening as they remained undefeated with a hard-fought and somewhat feisty road win over the Bison.
They say statistics mean little if anything in football and how is this for a weird one? Of the eight minutes in the opening quarter, the Gladiators possessed the ball for a grand total of six seconds. Yet the score after one was Riverheads 6, Buffalo Gap 0.
The Bison had taken the opening kickoff but moved more backwards than forward, so RHS got the ball in excellent position after a punt was returned to the Gap 25 with exactly 5:00 left in the quarter. Quarterback Bennett Dunlap rolled to his right and found his favorite receiver Landon Lightner out in the flat. He crossed the goal line with 4:54 left to give RHS a lead it would not relinquish. The Gap then proceeded to hold on to the ball for almost the equivalent of a full quarter as the clock ticked down to the five minute mark of the second before Riverheads ever saw it again.
The home team then pushed across a tying touchdown late in the quarter just when it looked like Riverheads would preserve the shutout. The Bison had moved the ball down to a first and goal at the 9, but the Big Red defense stiffened, and forced a fourth and goal from the 17. BG converted a short pass over the middle that was caught around the 8. The receiver was immediately corralled but he refused to go down and dragged a defender across the goal line with him to tie the score at 6-6.
The Gladiators then moved downfield themselves quickly for their second score. I believe it was an Aiden Miller run but don't quote me because if you know BG's visiting bleachers, you know that you have to sit at one end or the other and a 50-yard line seat is not possible. The Big Red then added the two-point PAT to move ahead 14-6.
Regardless of whether Mr. Miller factored into that score, he most certainly was the focal point of a controversial play that occurred with less than a minute to go before the break. The Bison were punting and he was in a receiving position.
The ball appeared to be headed out of bounds on the Bison sideline. He apparently wanted to prevent the Gap defender from covering the punt since it may have been a live ball at that point. So he leveled a full body block at the defender and was flagged for it. From my vantage point across the field, it did not appear that he hit the guy in the head or neck area or that he led with his helmet, it just appeared to be a good solid hit.
However, after a conference, he was ejected. You could hear some Bison fans saying that it was because the hit occurred out of bounds, but again who could tell from the Riverheads side? Gladiator fans did not seem to have much of a problem with a 15 yard penalty being called but the ejection seemed to be a bit much if you were wearing or supporting red. (Could it be that we have all been watching too much TV?)
Fortunately it did not impact the result as the Gladiator D kept the Bison from any serious second-half threat and the offense pushed across an insurance TD in the final minutes. However penalties continued to disrupt play for most of the game as the Big Red was even flagged once for having too many players on the field.
So it was not RHS' most polished effort by a long shot. Perhaps a lack of practice due to the recent weather could be to blame. It would most likely be one of those games that if you were to look at the stats, such as penalty yardage and time of possession, you would wonder how Riverheads won.
But a win is a win and it is in the books as such. Next up will be a home game next Wednesday against Stonewall Jackson.
They say statistics mean little if anything in football and how is this for a weird one? Of the eight minutes in the opening quarter, the Gladiators possessed the ball for a grand total of six seconds. Yet the score after one was Riverheads 6, Buffalo Gap 0.
The Bison had taken the opening kickoff but moved more backwards than forward, so RHS got the ball in excellent position after a punt was returned to the Gap 25 with exactly 5:00 left in the quarter. Quarterback Bennett Dunlap rolled to his right and found his favorite receiver Landon Lightner out in the flat. He crossed the goal line with 4:54 left to give RHS a lead it would not relinquish. The Gap then proceeded to hold on to the ball for almost the equivalent of a full quarter as the clock ticked down to the five minute mark of the second before Riverheads ever saw it again.
The home team then pushed across a tying touchdown late in the quarter just when it looked like Riverheads would preserve the shutout. The Bison had moved the ball down to a first and goal at the 9, but the Big Red defense stiffened, and forced a fourth and goal from the 17. BG converted a short pass over the middle that was caught around the 8. The receiver was immediately corralled but he refused to go down and dragged a defender across the goal line with him to tie the score at 6-6.
The Gladiators then moved downfield themselves quickly for their second score. I believe it was an Aiden Miller run but don't quote me because if you know BG's visiting bleachers, you know that you have to sit at one end or the other and a 50-yard line seat is not possible. The Big Red then added the two-point PAT to move ahead 14-6.
Regardless of whether Mr. Miller factored into that score, he most certainly was the focal point of a controversial play that occurred with less than a minute to go before the break. The Bison were punting and he was in a receiving position.
The ball appeared to be headed out of bounds on the Bison sideline. He apparently wanted to prevent the Gap defender from covering the punt since it may have been a live ball at that point. So he leveled a full body block at the defender and was flagged for it. From my vantage point across the field, it did not appear that he hit the guy in the head or neck area or that he led with his helmet, it just appeared to be a good solid hit.
However, after a conference, he was ejected. You could hear some Bison fans saying that it was because the hit occurred out of bounds, but again who could tell from the Riverheads side? Gladiator fans did not seem to have much of a problem with a 15 yard penalty being called but the ejection seemed to be a bit much if you were wearing or supporting red. (Could it be that we have all been watching too much TV?)
Fortunately it did not impact the result as the Gladiator D kept the Bison from any serious second-half threat and the offense pushed across an insurance TD in the final minutes. However penalties continued to disrupt play for most of the game as the Big Red was even flagged once for having too many players on the field.
So it was not RHS' most polished effort by a long shot. Perhaps a lack of practice due to the recent weather could be to blame. It would most likely be one of those games that if you were to look at the stats, such as penalty yardage and time of possession, you would wonder how Riverheads won.
But a win is a win and it is in the books as such. Next up will be a home game next Wednesday against Stonewall Jackson.
