Sometimes you win with your offense. Sometimes it is your defense that comes through for you. And other nights it might be your special teams play.
Well in tonight's mildly surprising 56-17 romp over Wilson, the homestanding Gladiators got a HUGE play in all three of those categories within the first 2 1/2 minutes of the game and pretty much took the Hornets out of contention before the fans even got settled in their seats. The idea of Riverheads winning the game was not a shock in and of itself but the margin and the total domination surprised just about everyone.
Sophomore running back Zac Smiley, who had by far the best game on the field, got the Big Red off to a rousing start as he returned the opening kickoff 96 yards to put RHS ahead 7-0 just 15 seconds into the game. If that is not a school record for longest TD it would obviously have to be close.
He broke the first containment around the 30 and cut to his left down the Wilson sideline. For most of the run it looked as if he would be caught or forced out of bounds, especially when he lost his balance around the Wilson 30. But he somehow regained his footing, got the final block he needed, and took it in for the score.
Wilson then took the field for its first possession. The Hornets found themselves facing a 4th and 2 around their own 30. They decided to gamble and go for it, only to be stopped about half a yard short by a solid Forrest Shuey hit.
The Gladiators then had their first big offensive play of the night as Jaden Phillips, who has really come into his own the last two games, broke loose right up the middle on the Big Red's second play from scrimmage and scored untouched from about 35 yards out. That made the score 14-0 with 9:32 still left in the first quarter and by the time the Gladiators threw the rest of their many weapons at the visitors, it was a highly-successful Homecoming.
For TD number three, Smiley broke loose for a 73-yard score, again having the same balance issue and appearing to be ready to be brought down, only to somehow recover and score. That made it 21-0 and they would add one more first period score for a 28-0 tally.
Two more scores gave RHS its biggest lead of the night at 42-0 with over 6 minutes still to go before the Queen was crowned. That also turned out to be historic by the way as we had a sister crown her twin, which doesn't happen at every Homecoming.
Included in the TD parade was a third one from Smiley from about 40 yards out, a pair of short ones from quarterback Justin McWhorter, and another red zone run from senior Devin Morris.
Wilson had its two big moments lumped together in the latter stages of the second quarter as Ty Hevener ran a kickoff back from about 70 yards, followed by another long run. That made the halftime score 42-14 and despite that lopsided margin, the Hornets had every reason to be holding their heads up, as they knew they had come back from 21 down last week to beat Lee.
But Riverheads would have none of that and on their first possession of the second half, crowd-pleasing sophomore running back Cy Cox, who also owns a 90 yard kickoff return TD from earlier in the season, broke loose right up the middle from about 60 yards to put the Big Red up 49-14. McWhorter's second TD finalized the scoring for RHS, still in the third, before Wilson added an Ingersoll field goal to account for the final margin. (Note: Those two RHS TD's occurred in the opposite order according to the paper. I trust them since they take notes and I don't.)
In an odd little twist at the very end of the game, three different Riverheads players either scored or came within a yard of it, but yet the score remained the same. First senior running back Avery Schaefer, playing in only his second game since coming back from a pre-season injury, galloped around left end for about 40 yards before being knocked out at the one.
Not seeing the need to score again, the Gladiators took a delay just to try and run out the clock, even though there were three minutes left. But a pair of Wilson penalties moved the ball back inside the five and sophomore D'ante Gray scored what appeared to be his first career touchdown, only to see it wiped out on a holding call.
Still one more RHS sub, and I am sorry I did not catch the name, carried the ball down to the 1 on a fourth-down play, thereby finally turning the ball over to Wilson with less than 30 seconds left.
With the win, the Gladiators move to 5-1 on the season, with a trip to Luray next on the docket. Wilson will celebrate its Homecoming against Page and will hope to get back on the winning track. But after tonight's other wacky Shenandoah results (Lee over Luray and Stuarts Draft over Buffalo Gap) who knows what to expect anymore?
Well in tonight's mildly surprising 56-17 romp over Wilson, the homestanding Gladiators got a HUGE play in all three of those categories within the first 2 1/2 minutes of the game and pretty much took the Hornets out of contention before the fans even got settled in their seats. The idea of Riverheads winning the game was not a shock in and of itself but the margin and the total domination surprised just about everyone.
Sophomore running back Zac Smiley, who had by far the best game on the field, got the Big Red off to a rousing start as he returned the opening kickoff 96 yards to put RHS ahead 7-0 just 15 seconds into the game. If that is not a school record for longest TD it would obviously have to be close.
He broke the first containment around the 30 and cut to his left down the Wilson sideline. For most of the run it looked as if he would be caught or forced out of bounds, especially when he lost his balance around the Wilson 30. But he somehow regained his footing, got the final block he needed, and took it in for the score.
Wilson then took the field for its first possession. The Hornets found themselves facing a 4th and 2 around their own 30. They decided to gamble and go for it, only to be stopped about half a yard short by a solid Forrest Shuey hit.
The Gladiators then had their first big offensive play of the night as Jaden Phillips, who has really come into his own the last two games, broke loose right up the middle on the Big Red's second play from scrimmage and scored untouched from about 35 yards out. That made the score 14-0 with 9:32 still left in the first quarter and by the time the Gladiators threw the rest of their many weapons at the visitors, it was a highly-successful Homecoming.
For TD number three, Smiley broke loose for a 73-yard score, again having the same balance issue and appearing to be ready to be brought down, only to somehow recover and score. That made it 21-0 and they would add one more first period score for a 28-0 tally.
Two more scores gave RHS its biggest lead of the night at 42-0 with over 6 minutes still to go before the Queen was crowned. That also turned out to be historic by the way as we had a sister crown her twin, which doesn't happen at every Homecoming.
Included in the TD parade was a third one from Smiley from about 40 yards out, a pair of short ones from quarterback Justin McWhorter, and another red zone run from senior Devin Morris.
Wilson had its two big moments lumped together in the latter stages of the second quarter as Ty Hevener ran a kickoff back from about 70 yards, followed by another long run. That made the halftime score 42-14 and despite that lopsided margin, the Hornets had every reason to be holding their heads up, as they knew they had come back from 21 down last week to beat Lee.
But Riverheads would have none of that and on their first possession of the second half, crowd-pleasing sophomore running back Cy Cox, who also owns a 90 yard kickoff return TD from earlier in the season, broke loose right up the middle from about 60 yards to put the Big Red up 49-14. McWhorter's second TD finalized the scoring for RHS, still in the third, before Wilson added an Ingersoll field goal to account for the final margin. (Note: Those two RHS TD's occurred in the opposite order according to the paper. I trust them since they take notes and I don't.)
In an odd little twist at the very end of the game, three different Riverheads players either scored or came within a yard of it, but yet the score remained the same. First senior running back Avery Schaefer, playing in only his second game since coming back from a pre-season injury, galloped around left end for about 40 yards before being knocked out at the one.
Not seeing the need to score again, the Gladiators took a delay just to try and run out the clock, even though there were three minutes left. But a pair of Wilson penalties moved the ball back inside the five and sophomore D'ante Gray scored what appeared to be his first career touchdown, only to see it wiped out on a holding call.
Still one more RHS sub, and I am sorry I did not catch the name, carried the ball down to the 1 on a fourth-down play, thereby finally turning the ball over to Wilson with less than 30 seconds left.
With the win, the Gladiators move to 5-1 on the season, with a trip to Luray next on the docket. Wilson will celebrate its Homecoming against Page and will hope to get back on the winning track. But after tonight's other wacky Shenandoah results (Lee over Luray and Stuarts Draft over Buffalo Gap) who knows what to expect anymore?
Last edited:
