Riverheads wrapped up a 9-1 regular season and posted its only shutout tonight at Page in a moved-ahead game that turned out to be a wise decision since it started raining most places about an hour after the game ended. If there is one thing RHS and Page fans did not want to see tonight, it was rain after last spring's tried-twice-and-still-never-got-it-played baseball finale.
But tonight it was not only dry but unseasonably warm to boot and the Gladiators took to the weather beautifully, scoring four first-quarter touchdowns to seize control of the game. Those four scores alternated between running and passing plays, as Devin Morris started things off with a 63-yard gallop.
On the Gladiators' next possession, substitute quarterback Elijah Dunlap, who was filling in for the temporarily injured Justin McWhorter, flashed his formidable passing arm as he connected with Avery Schaefer from about 48 yards out. The touchdown was rather humorous as an official got in the way but he managed to avoid interfering with the play, which was Schaefer's first TD of the year from his tight end position, to go along with two fullback TDs.
Zac Smiley scored TD number three for Riverheads on a short run and then Dunlap found Schaefer again on a nice crossing pattern to make it 28-0 with just six seconds left in the quarter. As you can tell from the score, placekicker Peyton Skillman was perfect on the evening.
The second quarter was vintage Smiley as he scored three times in the north end of the stadium and if you saw one of them, you saw all three of them. The first two were especially similar as they came from almost the same place on the field. In all three cases, he swept right, broke a tackle or two along the way, and coasted into the end zone, first from about the 30, ditto the second time, and then from maybe 15 yards.
After a halftime show that saluted Page's award-winning band, the moving clock wrapped up the game quickly. Most of the second half was played between the 30s as each team was content to run the ball.
Although Page never scored, they never gave up fighting. In fact at one point in the fourth quarter, back-to-back penalties left them facing an impossible 2nd down and 40 from their own 20 yard line. But they produced positive yardage on the next three plays and made the first down by half a football.
Unfortunately a fumble squashed that drive, and on Riverheads' final possession, they unveiled a weapon many of us did not even know they had brought with them tonight. His name is Aiden Miller, a tiny running back with blinding speed who has now been brought up from the JVs for the duration of the season.
The Gladiators had already gone through every other back they had so when he was put in late in the game, he was understandably a totally unexpected and unfamiliar number to the Panthers. But the moment he touched the ball, he gave us a glimpse of the next three years as he raced through a huge hole untouched and crossed the goal line from about 75 yards out without a defender anywhere in sight. The Gladiator fans made surprisingly little noise about it because they were as shocked as anyone.
So now Riverheads waits an agonizing 15 days before they swing back into action. The most likely opponent that Friday night the 16th will be Altavista. In the meantime, we encourage Gladiator fans to get behind the girls volleyball team, who are the number one seed in Region B and won tonight's quarterfinal over William Campbell. I am told they will now host Cumberland Monday.
But tonight it was not only dry but unseasonably warm to boot and the Gladiators took to the weather beautifully, scoring four first-quarter touchdowns to seize control of the game. Those four scores alternated between running and passing plays, as Devin Morris started things off with a 63-yard gallop.
On the Gladiators' next possession, substitute quarterback Elijah Dunlap, who was filling in for the temporarily injured Justin McWhorter, flashed his formidable passing arm as he connected with Avery Schaefer from about 48 yards out. The touchdown was rather humorous as an official got in the way but he managed to avoid interfering with the play, which was Schaefer's first TD of the year from his tight end position, to go along with two fullback TDs.
Zac Smiley scored TD number three for Riverheads on a short run and then Dunlap found Schaefer again on a nice crossing pattern to make it 28-0 with just six seconds left in the quarter. As you can tell from the score, placekicker Peyton Skillman was perfect on the evening.
The second quarter was vintage Smiley as he scored three times in the north end of the stadium and if you saw one of them, you saw all three of them. The first two were especially similar as they came from almost the same place on the field. In all three cases, he swept right, broke a tackle or two along the way, and coasted into the end zone, first from about the 30, ditto the second time, and then from maybe 15 yards.
After a halftime show that saluted Page's award-winning band, the moving clock wrapped up the game quickly. Most of the second half was played between the 30s as each team was content to run the ball.
Although Page never scored, they never gave up fighting. In fact at one point in the fourth quarter, back-to-back penalties left them facing an impossible 2nd down and 40 from their own 20 yard line. But they produced positive yardage on the next three plays and made the first down by half a football.
Unfortunately a fumble squashed that drive, and on Riverheads' final possession, they unveiled a weapon many of us did not even know they had brought with them tonight. His name is Aiden Miller, a tiny running back with blinding speed who has now been brought up from the JVs for the duration of the season.
The Gladiators had already gone through every other back they had so when he was put in late in the game, he was understandably a totally unexpected and unfamiliar number to the Panthers. But the moment he touched the ball, he gave us a glimpse of the next three years as he raced through a huge hole untouched and crossed the goal line from about 75 yards out without a defender anywhere in sight. The Gladiator fans made surprisingly little noise about it because they were as shocked as anyone.
So now Riverheads waits an agonizing 15 days before they swing back into action. The most likely opponent that Friday night the 16th will be Altavista. In the meantime, we encourage Gladiator fans to get behind the girls volleyball team, who are the number one seed in Region B and won tonight's quarterfinal over William Campbell. I am told they will now host Cumberland Monday.
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