RIVERHEADS @ BUFFALO GAP
- Thread starter Xcross
- Start date
Wise decision in my opinion. See my post on the 2-A thread for other announcements that might give some of you the opportunity to attend other games.
Sorry for the delay, but who could have resisted coming home to watch Clemson and Louisville???? Anyway, as RedPrideNation indicated, the Gladiators just completely manhandled the Bison tonight in a game that surprised fans on both sides as it was expected to be a much more competitive game. To give you an idea as to how thorough the domination was, the Big Red posted their first two touchdowns before the Bison could even run a successful play from scrimmage, and it took the Gladiators only 15 minutes of game time to score more points than the Gap had given up all season. (19 points allowed in their first four games.)
In my opinion, there were two keys to the rout. One was RHS' relentless ground game. Not only did the starting trio of Harrison Schaefer, Brett Hostetler and Dalton Jordan all run lights out, but every time the Big Red stuck someone else in the backfield, the Gap had no answer for him either. The ground game was so successful that the Gladiators did not even attempt a pass tonight.
The second key to the win was the fact that the Bison came as advertised in terms of having a tendency to make mistakes. They were flagged for an above-average number of penalties tonight, some of which were purely related to frustration, and they also committed two first-half turnovers, each of which Riverheads turned into a touchdown.
The Gladiators received the opening kickoff and drove 70 yards in 12 plays, with Jordan scoring from a yard out. To give place-kicker Rinaldo Martina his props early in this review, he kicked the first of what would turn out to be a perfect 7 for 7 night.
The Bison returned the ensuing kickoff out near midfield but promptly coughed it up on their very first play from scrimmage. Riverheads recovered around the 45 and took just a little bit over a minute to score TD number two as Schaefer got to the right sideline and scooted in from about 30 yards out.
BG then settled down and moved the ball effectively, driving down into the red zone in the opening moments of the second quarter. But just when it looked like they might punch it in to make it a one-touchdown game, disaster struck in the form of Mr. Hostetler. He intercepted an underthrown pass out in the Bison left flat and had almost clear sailing for an 81-yard pick six. He needed one block around the Bison 30 and got it. There was initially a flag thrown, perhaps for a block in the back, but after a stripes convention, they awarded RHS the back-breaking touchdown to make it 21-0 with still about 9 minutes to go in the half.
However the Big Red was just getting warmed up. On their next possession, Schaefer scored his second TD of the night on an amazing individual effort. He took a handoff around the Bison 20, plowed his way right up the middle, and looking nothing like the 200-pounder he is, actually HURDLED the final defender to make it into the end zone. You had to see it to appreciate it!
The Bison failed to move the ball following that score and gave RHS one final chance before the break. This time, in a brilliant coaching move, the Gladiators took Schaefer out to rest and replaced him with tiny sophomore Jackson Shover, who would have to wear two uniforms to make it to 140 pounds. The Bison were not prepared for his speed, as he carried about 4 times in a row to put the visitors in scoring position once more. But just when the Gap said "guess we need to key on that little guy," the Gladiators crossed them up again and scored easily on a 20-yard straight-ahead hand-off to Jordan.
With the moving clock speeding the game along in the second half, no one scored in the third quarter. BG finally pushed across a one-yard plunge on fourth down against the Riverheads reserves early in the fourth to make it 35-7.
With the Gladiators then substituting liberally, their fans got to cheer even louder as favorites such as "Moose" Lee, Jaden Phillips, and Devin Morris got their chances to tote the pigskin. Moose is a bruising 200 + pound fullback whose specialty is carrying tacklers with him, and Morris is another lightning-quick waterbug who is as hard to see as he is to catch.
So in the waning moments of the game, Phillips scored from about 5 yards out and Morris flashed around left end and raced untouched from the 47 to finally end the nightmare for the Bison.
This was easily the Gladiators' best effort of the season as they had no turnovers that I recall, and only a few harmless penalties. They will now have the slightly-shorter week to prepare for Jaylen McNair and his East Rock passing attack as the Eagles travel to Greenville next Friday. As for the Bison, all they need after tonight's shellacking is to face another unbeaten team, but that is their fate as they travel to Stuarts Draft next week.
In my opinion, there were two keys to the rout. One was RHS' relentless ground game. Not only did the starting trio of Harrison Schaefer, Brett Hostetler and Dalton Jordan all run lights out, but every time the Big Red stuck someone else in the backfield, the Gap had no answer for him either. The ground game was so successful that the Gladiators did not even attempt a pass tonight.
The second key to the win was the fact that the Bison came as advertised in terms of having a tendency to make mistakes. They were flagged for an above-average number of penalties tonight, some of which were purely related to frustration, and they also committed two first-half turnovers, each of which Riverheads turned into a touchdown.
The Gladiators received the opening kickoff and drove 70 yards in 12 plays, with Jordan scoring from a yard out. To give place-kicker Rinaldo Martina his props early in this review, he kicked the first of what would turn out to be a perfect 7 for 7 night.
The Bison returned the ensuing kickoff out near midfield but promptly coughed it up on their very first play from scrimmage. Riverheads recovered around the 45 and took just a little bit over a minute to score TD number two as Schaefer got to the right sideline and scooted in from about 30 yards out.
BG then settled down and moved the ball effectively, driving down into the red zone in the opening moments of the second quarter. But just when it looked like they might punch it in to make it a one-touchdown game, disaster struck in the form of Mr. Hostetler. He intercepted an underthrown pass out in the Bison left flat and had almost clear sailing for an 81-yard pick six. He needed one block around the Bison 30 and got it. There was initially a flag thrown, perhaps for a block in the back, but after a stripes convention, they awarded RHS the back-breaking touchdown to make it 21-0 with still about 9 minutes to go in the half.
However the Big Red was just getting warmed up. On their next possession, Schaefer scored his second TD of the night on an amazing individual effort. He took a handoff around the Bison 20, plowed his way right up the middle, and looking nothing like the 200-pounder he is, actually HURDLED the final defender to make it into the end zone. You had to see it to appreciate it!
The Bison failed to move the ball following that score and gave RHS one final chance before the break. This time, in a brilliant coaching move, the Gladiators took Schaefer out to rest and replaced him with tiny sophomore Jackson Shover, who would have to wear two uniforms to make it to 140 pounds. The Bison were not prepared for his speed, as he carried about 4 times in a row to put the visitors in scoring position once more. But just when the Gap said "guess we need to key on that little guy," the Gladiators crossed them up again and scored easily on a 20-yard straight-ahead hand-off to Jordan.
With the moving clock speeding the game along in the second half, no one scored in the third quarter. BG finally pushed across a one-yard plunge on fourth down against the Riverheads reserves early in the fourth to make it 35-7.
With the Gladiators then substituting liberally, their fans got to cheer even louder as favorites such as "Moose" Lee, Jaden Phillips, and Devin Morris got their chances to tote the pigskin. Moose is a bruising 200 + pound fullback whose specialty is carrying tacklers with him, and Morris is another lightning-quick waterbug who is as hard to see as he is to catch.
So in the waning moments of the game, Phillips scored from about 5 yards out and Morris flashed around left end and raced untouched from the 47 to finally end the nightmare for the Bison.
This was easily the Gladiators' best effort of the season as they had no turnovers that I recall, and only a few harmless penalties. They will now have the slightly-shorter week to prepare for Jaylen McNair and his East Rock passing attack as the Eagles travel to Greenville next Friday. As for the Bison, all they need after tonight's shellacking is to face another unbeaten team, but that is their fate as they travel to Stuarts Draft next week.
