For those of you who have not yet done so, you should really take a good long look at the incredible wealth of information he has about each team. You can not only review each season to refresh your memory about how it went, but notice at the very bottom, he will give you such things as the overall scoring averages for your team, the number of playoff appearances they have made, and perhaps the most interesting stat of all, exactly how you have fared against a given team over the years.
So Riverheads fans or interested parties, read on for some of the more interesting things I found out about the Big Red. Others you are of course also welcome to read if you wish.
INTERESTING RECORDS AGAINST CERTAIN TEAMS:
1) We have a winning record against three of our four county rivals, the lone exception being Stuarts Draft. We are currently 24-25 against the Cougars all-time, which means we can tie it up this year with a win.
2) As for our two other neighborhood rivals, we are 2-1 against the Leemen and 4-4 against Waynesboro, having lost all four times in the 70s, but won all four games played between 2013-2016.
3) We are an all-time 0-17 against Madison County, so needless to say we would love to have another crack at them sometime. Two of those losses, one at each place, were by 7-6 scores and I painfully remember how close we came to winning each one of those.
4) If there is another interesting "0-fer" in our records, it would have to be against the old Clifton Forge High School. We are 0-5-1 against them.. I had to say "them" because it has been so long I don't even remember their team name. (Mountaineers maybe???) What makes that so interesting to me is that the school existed back when there were three schools in Alleghany County, and being the smaller town, Clifton would logically have been the smallest of the three. Yet it was the one we had the most trouble against.
5) Conversely, we are 21-0 all-time against Page County. I remember that in our first-ever meeting in 1982, the Panthers were undefeated and playing at home, and we were 4-2 and not given much of a chance, but we pulled out a 21-6 win on the road. At least two other games in the series have been offensive shootouts in which the teams combined for over 100 points.
6) We are clinging to a perfect record against East Rock also, as that series now stands at 8-0. There have been some close ones and this year it looks like it could be a tight one. One source tells me that the two teams will continue to play once ER moves to the Bull Run, but that is of course cart before horse.
INTERESTING PLAYOFF FACTS:
1) From the school's inception in 1962, we went to the playoffs only six times between that year and 1999. We lost all six games.
2) But starting with the year 2000, we have played in 45 playoff games. Without switching back to the other screen, I think we have won 33 of those. Therefore all 33 of our playoff wins have come under Coach Casto.
3) The two most agonizing playoff losses would have to be the 7-6 loss to Parry McCluer in 1976 and the 28-27 loss to King William in 2014. In both cases we were undefeated at the time, and we had a dependable place-kicker who just happened to miss at the worst possible time. In the case of the PM loss, we had beaten them on their own field to start the regular season.
4) The most exciting playoff wins were ones that actually had identical scores and identical circumstances. In 2006 at William Campbell and at home in 2013 against Goochland, we were trailing 31-21 early in the fourth quarter but in each case, we scored twice late in the game to pull out a 35-31 win. For me personally, either of those games was more exciting than any of our title games.
WILDEST REGULAR SEASON GAME EVER: I can still remember this like it was yesterday. We traveled to Luray on the last night of the regular season with a 9-0 record in 1999. Luray was something like 6-3 and had a running back that was tearing up the season. The game was a wild see-saw affair which we won 49-47 by stopping a two-point conversion in the final minute of the game. We then lost our perfect record the next week with a wild 42-35 playoff loss at home to Strasburg.
MY SUGGESTION FOR A FUTURE OPPONENT: They tell me that the new district alignments may cause some scheduling problems around the state. So I would like to see Riverheads start playing Rockbridge County, which is only 22 miles down the road. We have played them some in other sports but never football, although we did play the "old" Rockbridge 25 times back in the good old days.
OK, that is enough for me for now. Thanks again Mr. Baker for all your hard work. I am truly impressed at how many memories you have brought back.
So Riverheads fans or interested parties, read on for some of the more interesting things I found out about the Big Red. Others you are of course also welcome to read if you wish.
INTERESTING RECORDS AGAINST CERTAIN TEAMS:
1) We have a winning record against three of our four county rivals, the lone exception being Stuarts Draft. We are currently 24-25 against the Cougars all-time, which means we can tie it up this year with a win.
2) As for our two other neighborhood rivals, we are 2-1 against the Leemen and 4-4 against Waynesboro, having lost all four times in the 70s, but won all four games played between 2013-2016.
3) We are an all-time 0-17 against Madison County, so needless to say we would love to have another crack at them sometime. Two of those losses, one at each place, were by 7-6 scores and I painfully remember how close we came to winning each one of those.
4) If there is another interesting "0-fer" in our records, it would have to be against the old Clifton Forge High School. We are 0-5-1 against them.. I had to say "them" because it has been so long I don't even remember their team name. (Mountaineers maybe???) What makes that so interesting to me is that the school existed back when there were three schools in Alleghany County, and being the smaller town, Clifton would logically have been the smallest of the three. Yet it was the one we had the most trouble against.
5) Conversely, we are 21-0 all-time against Page County. I remember that in our first-ever meeting in 1982, the Panthers were undefeated and playing at home, and we were 4-2 and not given much of a chance, but we pulled out a 21-6 win on the road. At least two other games in the series have been offensive shootouts in which the teams combined for over 100 points.
6) We are clinging to a perfect record against East Rock also, as that series now stands at 8-0. There have been some close ones and this year it looks like it could be a tight one. One source tells me that the two teams will continue to play once ER moves to the Bull Run, but that is of course cart before horse.
INTERESTING PLAYOFF FACTS:
1) From the school's inception in 1962, we went to the playoffs only six times between that year and 1999. We lost all six games.
2) But starting with the year 2000, we have played in 45 playoff games. Without switching back to the other screen, I think we have won 33 of those. Therefore all 33 of our playoff wins have come under Coach Casto.
3) The two most agonizing playoff losses would have to be the 7-6 loss to Parry McCluer in 1976 and the 28-27 loss to King William in 2014. In both cases we were undefeated at the time, and we had a dependable place-kicker who just happened to miss at the worst possible time. In the case of the PM loss, we had beaten them on their own field to start the regular season.
4) The most exciting playoff wins were ones that actually had identical scores and identical circumstances. In 2006 at William Campbell and at home in 2013 against Goochland, we were trailing 31-21 early in the fourth quarter but in each case, we scored twice late in the game to pull out a 35-31 win. For me personally, either of those games was more exciting than any of our title games.
WILDEST REGULAR SEASON GAME EVER: I can still remember this like it was yesterday. We traveled to Luray on the last night of the regular season with a 9-0 record in 1999. Luray was something like 6-3 and had a running back that was tearing up the season. The game was a wild see-saw affair which we won 49-47 by stopping a two-point conversion in the final minute of the game. We then lost our perfect record the next week with a wild 42-35 playoff loss at home to Strasburg.
MY SUGGESTION FOR A FUTURE OPPONENT: They tell me that the new district alignments may cause some scheduling problems around the state. So I would like to see Riverheads start playing Rockbridge County, which is only 22 miles down the road. We have played them some in other sports but never football, although we did play the "old" Rockbridge 25 times back in the good old days.
OK, that is enough for me for now. Thanks again Mr. Baker for all your hard work. I am truly impressed at how many memories you have brought back.
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