While many teams started their regular season last night, Riverheads is still in "practice mode" and today they made a real country road trip over into Greene County for a three-way scrimmage with hosting Blue Ridge School and Fork Union Military Academy. First of all, the 75 or so hearty Big Red fans who made the trip should be commended because it was the classic case of "You can't get there from here."
Seriously, if you came by way of Crozet, the trip offered some great scenery through an unexpectedly rural part of Albemarle County and once you got there the setting for the school was gorgeous. Some of us, myself included, then experimented with a return trip via Rt. 33 through Elkton and although longer was almost the same travel time.
Anyway, RHS easily dispatched of the host team in the first scrimmage, winning 41-0 in the regulation two-quarter part of the action. It quickly became evident that the Big Red's goal for the day was to see everyone play and avoid injuries and as a result you rarely saw the game guy carry the ball more than once in the same possession.
Therefore starters such as Zac Smiley, Devon Morris, and Blake Smith saw limited action and two other backs that will be heavily counted on this season (Moose Lee and Avery Schaefer) were not in attendance. That opened the way for a number of others to show their stuff.
The biggest surprise in that (running back) department was the emergence of a little ball of fire named Cyrus (Cy) Cox. He only goes about 5'8" and "maybe" 150 and is listed as the third or fourth QB on the depth chart, but today he was given the opportunity to run the ball and he may have turned in the best game of the day.
His low center of gravity allowed him to slash through the defense and he scored two touchdowns to my recollection, one of which was about a 35 yarder down the left sideline. He also directed the offense on a series or two. So although the Gladiators did not exactly "need" another running back, they may have just found one anyway!
The Big Red also experimented some with the passing game and scored once through the air on about a 12-yarder to senior Drew Bond, who also saw some QB duty today. The number one and two quarterbacks, Justin McWhorter and Elijah Dunlap, alternated as they have been doing thus far and it remains to be seen who will get the start Friday night at Bath.
Blue Ridge offered very little competition in that scrimmage, but the Gladiators got a much stronger test when FUMA took the field after a very brief break in the action.
The Big Red took it in for a score entirely on the ground to grab an early 7-0 lead, but FUMA retaliated, mainly through the air, to score on their first possession as well. They however missed their PAT.
Riverheads then scored again to go up 14-6 and in the play that may have turned the game around, Dunlap leaped in front of an intended receiver for an INT that put the Gladiators in business for a third score. They pushed it in to make it 21-6 and then added a field goal on the final play for a 24-6 final.
Both scrimmages used the 10-untimed-play format to finish out the action and in the second scrimmage, FUMA moved the ball at will against the RHS subs and scored twice in their ten plays, including their second TD pass of the day, which came on the final play of the game.
FUMA and Blue Ridge then met in a final scrimmage and logically one would assume that FUMA came out on top in that one. I would assume that any and all RHS folks left before that started for the winding trip back home, whichever path they chose to take.
As mentioned above, the Gladiators open their regular season Friday night at Bath County. They will then entertain Stuarts Draft on September 7th.
Seriously, if you came by way of Crozet, the trip offered some great scenery through an unexpectedly rural part of Albemarle County and once you got there the setting for the school was gorgeous. Some of us, myself included, then experimented with a return trip via Rt. 33 through Elkton and although longer was almost the same travel time.
Anyway, RHS easily dispatched of the host team in the first scrimmage, winning 41-0 in the regulation two-quarter part of the action. It quickly became evident that the Big Red's goal for the day was to see everyone play and avoid injuries and as a result you rarely saw the game guy carry the ball more than once in the same possession.
Therefore starters such as Zac Smiley, Devon Morris, and Blake Smith saw limited action and two other backs that will be heavily counted on this season (Moose Lee and Avery Schaefer) were not in attendance. That opened the way for a number of others to show their stuff.
The biggest surprise in that (running back) department was the emergence of a little ball of fire named Cyrus (Cy) Cox. He only goes about 5'8" and "maybe" 150 and is listed as the third or fourth QB on the depth chart, but today he was given the opportunity to run the ball and he may have turned in the best game of the day.
His low center of gravity allowed him to slash through the defense and he scored two touchdowns to my recollection, one of which was about a 35 yarder down the left sideline. He also directed the offense on a series or two. So although the Gladiators did not exactly "need" another running back, they may have just found one anyway!
The Big Red also experimented some with the passing game and scored once through the air on about a 12-yarder to senior Drew Bond, who also saw some QB duty today. The number one and two quarterbacks, Justin McWhorter and Elijah Dunlap, alternated as they have been doing thus far and it remains to be seen who will get the start Friday night at Bath.
Blue Ridge offered very little competition in that scrimmage, but the Gladiators got a much stronger test when FUMA took the field after a very brief break in the action.
The Big Red took it in for a score entirely on the ground to grab an early 7-0 lead, but FUMA retaliated, mainly through the air, to score on their first possession as well. They however missed their PAT.
Riverheads then scored again to go up 14-6 and in the play that may have turned the game around, Dunlap leaped in front of an intended receiver for an INT that put the Gladiators in business for a third score. They pushed it in to make it 21-6 and then added a field goal on the final play for a 24-6 final.
Both scrimmages used the 10-untimed-play format to finish out the action and in the second scrimmage, FUMA moved the ball at will against the RHS subs and scored twice in their ten plays, including their second TD pass of the day, which came on the final play of the game.
FUMA and Blue Ridge then met in a final scrimmage and logically one would assume that FUMA came out on top in that one. I would assume that any and all RHS folks left before that started for the winding trip back home, whichever path they chose to take.
As mentioned above, the Gladiators open their regular season Friday night at Bath County. They will then entertain Stuarts Draft on September 7th.
