Take away the penalties from that game and I bet it would be more exciting than the next one in Salem. If Essex could be as tough mentally as they are physical and talented they would be almost impossible to beat. Discipline goes along way. Makes the coaches job a lot easier if u can get the kids on board too.
Riverheads 17 Essex 14 FINAL
- Thread starter kwhs95fan
- Start date
The ban was not because of the players. As for today’s game, this is the 1st time ALL YEAR that they had this many unsportsmanlike penalties. Even in other close games (2with Sussex and the CB game) they never acted up. So for those of you who are judging the Essex program from today’s performance and not looking at the other 13 games, you are completely wrong in your judgement. The way I see it, if Essex goes the next 5 years without a performance like today with those type of penalties, and the very next game they have a game like today, some of you on here will be on here posting “see how they are, they don’t deserve this or that and so on”. As you all have said numerous of times on here “they are teenagers and teenagers get emotional at times”. Congratulations goes out to Riverheads on the win today. Good luck next week in Salem. As for my Trojans...congratulations on another good season. Today was not your normal performance but you still have my respect.
I agree with you on their performances during the regular season but it seems when Essex is on the big stage that everything that was taught and learned is completely forgotten. Also, you have one of the best running backs in the state. Run the ball!
Not weak at all. Essex did have poor behavior today but as a fan and someone who has been at all but 2 games this year, this was the 1st I’ve seen it. I judge this team this year for their whole body of work, not one game like other one here are doing.
I have also been to almost every game this year, but we aren't talking about those games, we are talking about this game. The game that was played in front of their biggest crowd of the year with many other schools there watching which does not give Essex a good look. I'll support Essex at every game but today was tough to watch
Region A was embarrassed today. With success comes more responsibility. Clearly that is not a lesson taught by Essex coaches.
After all the insinuations that Fulks didnt have what it takes to discipline his Essex teams, I'm wondering where those same accusations are for Jones...
Kids won't learn any lesson at all with adults excusing the behavior because "it's just one game".
Never did I say it was excusable. Just saying the culture at Essex is not what was on display today. That’s all. I’m pretty sure they feel bad about it.
Jones will get a pass because he's a good old boy and can't do anything wrong in the eyes of the powers that be at Essex. Fulks went to 3 straight state championship games and a semifinal appearance yet got crapped on behind the scenes. Someone said yesterday that a lot of people were turned of by the behavior of the 2012 team and stopped supporting them. Wonder how many will stop supporting Jones. Zero. Because for some reason he can't do any wrong.
Since I was traveling and then catching up on the other sporting events of the day, you guys are just now getting my 1:00 AM review of this game. Thanks first of all to those of you from Essex who have been candid and truthful about the way your team pretty much fell apart today. They have some incredible athletes and I for one am worried already about # 24 coming back yet another year, which I believe is the case, isn't it?
Those of you who were not there and are only reading about the game on here..........I can tell you that if you closed your eyes and tried to picture the most number of penalties and the VARIETY of penalties that can be called in just one game and if you let your imagination run wild, you would still not come even CLOSE to how bizarre this game was. My guess, and I hope someone can post the official stat on this, is that Essex had between 175 and 200 yards in penalties. Those refs (more on them in a minute) pulled every rule out of the rulebook that they could find and threw a flag for it. You name it, it was called in this game and of course it kept the game from developing any kind of flow to it and kept both teams from showing what they might have otherwise been able to bring.
But to be fair, it was not all Essex. Riverheads did not play a perfect game by any stretch and if someone does have those penalty stats, the Red team probably was called for between 70 and 80 yards themselves. So neither coach should be happy about that aspect of the game, although who really knows how many of them were justified penalties.
Before getting to the game itself and more about the officiating, kudos to the Middlesex staff for your nice facility. We were told by the RHS staff to be sure and thank some of the people, which I did and I hope other Riverheads folks did as well. It really was a nice place for a game.
OK about these officials................at first it appeared as if they were totally clueless. Riverheads was called several times in the first quarter for illegal motion, and the fans were getting more and more irate about it, for the simple reason that we were running the same plays we had all year, and I can tell you that Riverheads is NOT a heavily-penalized team. Coach Casto got on them about it, as well he should have, and it must have done at least some good, because about midway through the second quarter, the officiating seemed to shift toward Essex and its MANY behavioral issues. I personally lost count at 8 or 9 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties but they were also called for a chop block, holding, interfering with a fair catch......as I said you name it, those guys threw a flag for it.
So who knows, maybe they were really a great officiating crew who called the game exactly the way it was supposed to be called and maybe they got every single call right. But whatever the case, it sure took away from what could have been a great game.
OK on to a review of the game itself.........RHS received and drove down to around the 30, gambling on fourth down twice before being stopped. Essex then went three and out. RHS then pretty much repeated its first drive, but I think the penalties were starting to get everybody ticked off. That drive also ended in Essex territory. First quarter ended with no score but with RHS definitely playing the better game to that point.
Midway through the second quarter, Essex had its best offensive play of the day as they connected on about a 40 yard pass down inside the 10, although it appeared from our vantage point that he dropped it. But they pushed it in for a 7-0 lead.
Riverheads then miraculously scored two TDs in the final minute of the half, less than 35 seconds apart. They had driven inside the red zone, no doubt helped along by some penalty yardage, but were facing a 4th and 13 from about the 20. Tyler Smith connected with Devin Morris on a nice crossing pattern that caught us all by surprise and the Big Red was on the board with 57 seconds left.
The Essex coaches then elected to try and score again instead of running out the clock, as other posters have mentioned. That led to an interception by Blake Smith, Tyler's brother, around midfield. He brought it back into Essex territory and a late hit penalty had the Gladiators knocking on the door inside the 15.
Fullback Dalton Jordan, who eventually rushed for over 100 of the toughest yards you can imagine, had just been injured and was replaced by a very capable Moose Lee. He rammed it right up the middle to put the Gladiators ahead 14-7 with something like 25 seconds left.
But we were not through yet! Essex got a good enough kickoff return that this time it DID make sense to try and score and they actually ended the half on a throw to the end zone. Blake intercepted that one too, but a ref blew it dead, giving him the idea that he could not return it, so he stopped on the assumption the half was over. In reality, he could have and should have returned it, and the coaches actually made him run it the rest of the way, where he stood in the opposite end zone for 5 minutes while the stripes had one of their MANY conferences. End result was an inadvertent whistle and the teams finally went to the locker room.
With Essex receiving, everybody in the stadium knew the first drive of the second half would be crucial. Well it could not have gone any worse for the Trojans. First the receiver slipped and fell. Then they were called for an unsportsmanlike conduct and they started the drive inside their own 10.
From there the flag parade REALLY got worse, and we can only assume that F bombs and fertilizer comments were behind most of them. But to the credit of both teams, when they did get to run a play, each defense was controlling the other's high-powered offense and the yards were hard to come by. In fact the two already-mentioned pass plays were probably the two longest plays of the day, and there were very few, if any, rushing plays that went for more than 15 yards.
Finally late in the third, RHS drove down inside the five, and even though Coach Casto is a riverboat gambler when it comes to fourth down plays, in this case he opted for the field goal on fourth and goal from the two, and Peyton Skillman squeezed the eventual game winner just inside the right upright.
Riverheads fumbled a punt snap late in the game, which enabled Essex to score with less than a minute left. They then went for the onside kick, which RHS easily recovered, and finally the visiting fans, which maybe only barely outnumbered Essex today, were able to exhale.
So to summarize, a great effort by both defenses. Essex' size advantage definitely gave Riverheads some issues, but each team kept the other from breaking the big one, and the refs kept either one from establishing any kind of rhythm. I just hope RHS survived this one healthy and that we can put it behind us and get ready for Chilhowie. See my post in another thread about our limited history with the Warriors.
Those of you who were not there and are only reading about the game on here..........I can tell you that if you closed your eyes and tried to picture the most number of penalties and the VARIETY of penalties that can be called in just one game and if you let your imagination run wild, you would still not come even CLOSE to how bizarre this game was. My guess, and I hope someone can post the official stat on this, is that Essex had between 175 and 200 yards in penalties. Those refs (more on them in a minute) pulled every rule out of the rulebook that they could find and threw a flag for it. You name it, it was called in this game and of course it kept the game from developing any kind of flow to it and kept both teams from showing what they might have otherwise been able to bring.
But to be fair, it was not all Essex. Riverheads did not play a perfect game by any stretch and if someone does have those penalty stats, the Red team probably was called for between 70 and 80 yards themselves. So neither coach should be happy about that aspect of the game, although who really knows how many of them were justified penalties.
Before getting to the game itself and more about the officiating, kudos to the Middlesex staff for your nice facility. We were told by the RHS staff to be sure and thank some of the people, which I did and I hope other Riverheads folks did as well. It really was a nice place for a game.
OK about these officials................at first it appeared as if they were totally clueless. Riverheads was called several times in the first quarter for illegal motion, and the fans were getting more and more irate about it, for the simple reason that we were running the same plays we had all year, and I can tell you that Riverheads is NOT a heavily-penalized team. Coach Casto got on them about it, as well he should have, and it must have done at least some good, because about midway through the second quarter, the officiating seemed to shift toward Essex and its MANY behavioral issues. I personally lost count at 8 or 9 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties but they were also called for a chop block, holding, interfering with a fair catch......as I said you name it, those guys threw a flag for it.
So who knows, maybe they were really a great officiating crew who called the game exactly the way it was supposed to be called and maybe they got every single call right. But whatever the case, it sure took away from what could have been a great game.
OK on to a review of the game itself.........RHS received and drove down to around the 30, gambling on fourth down twice before being stopped. Essex then went three and out. RHS then pretty much repeated its first drive, but I think the penalties were starting to get everybody ticked off. That drive also ended in Essex territory. First quarter ended with no score but with RHS definitely playing the better game to that point.
Midway through the second quarter, Essex had its best offensive play of the day as they connected on about a 40 yard pass down inside the 10, although it appeared from our vantage point that he dropped it. But they pushed it in for a 7-0 lead.
Riverheads then miraculously scored two TDs in the final minute of the half, less than 35 seconds apart. They had driven inside the red zone, no doubt helped along by some penalty yardage, but were facing a 4th and 13 from about the 20. Tyler Smith connected with Devin Morris on a nice crossing pattern that caught us all by surprise and the Big Red was on the board with 57 seconds left.
The Essex coaches then elected to try and score again instead of running out the clock, as other posters have mentioned. That led to an interception by Blake Smith, Tyler's brother, around midfield. He brought it back into Essex territory and a late hit penalty had the Gladiators knocking on the door inside the 15.
Fullback Dalton Jordan, who eventually rushed for over 100 of the toughest yards you can imagine, had just been injured and was replaced by a very capable Moose Lee. He rammed it right up the middle to put the Gladiators ahead 14-7 with something like 25 seconds left.
But we were not through yet! Essex got a good enough kickoff return that this time it DID make sense to try and score and they actually ended the half on a throw to the end zone. Blake intercepted that one too, but a ref blew it dead, giving him the idea that he could not return it, so he stopped on the assumption the half was over. In reality, he could have and should have returned it, and the coaches actually made him run it the rest of the way, where he stood in the opposite end zone for 5 minutes while the stripes had one of their MANY conferences. End result was an inadvertent whistle and the teams finally went to the locker room.
With Essex receiving, everybody in the stadium knew the first drive of the second half would be crucial. Well it could not have gone any worse for the Trojans. First the receiver slipped and fell. Then they were called for an unsportsmanlike conduct and they started the drive inside their own 10.
From there the flag parade REALLY got worse, and we can only assume that F bombs and fertilizer comments were behind most of them. But to the credit of both teams, when they did get to run a play, each defense was controlling the other's high-powered offense and the yards were hard to come by. In fact the two already-mentioned pass plays were probably the two longest plays of the day, and there were very few, if any, rushing plays that went for more than 15 yards.
Finally late in the third, RHS drove down inside the five, and even though Coach Casto is a riverboat gambler when it comes to fourth down plays, in this case he opted for the field goal on fourth and goal from the two, and Peyton Skillman squeezed the eventual game winner just inside the right upright.
Riverheads fumbled a punt snap late in the game, which enabled Essex to score with less than a minute left. They then went for the onside kick, which RHS easily recovered, and finally the visiting fans, which maybe only barely outnumbered Essex today, were able to exhale.
So to summarize, a great effort by both defenses. Essex' size advantage definitely gave Riverheads some issues, but each team kept the other from breaking the big one, and the refs kept either one from establishing any kind of rhythm. I just hope RHS survived this one healthy and that we can put it behind us and get ready for Chilhowie. See my post in another thread about our limited history with the Warriors.
just one correction longtimerhsfan. Essex didn't score off the dropped punt snap. They subsequently fumbled at the RHS 6 or so.
As for the end of the first half, I think one of the refs got confused as I believe the RHS kid intercepted the pass -- off a deflection -- in the field of play and carried it into the end zone before turning upfield. Again, that's how I saw it without the advantage of instant replay.
As for the end of the first half, I think one of the refs got confused as I believe the RHS kid intercepted the pass -- off a deflection -- in the field of play and carried it into the end zone before turning upfield. Again, that's how I saw it without the advantage of instant replay.
Thanks for the correction. I read that other report on another thread and you are indeed correct that the fumbled punt snap was not the play that led to the final TD. I just do these things from memory and sometimes I get a detail or two wrong.
