It was that time again in Greenville as East Hardy, Amelia County, Rustburg, and Fort Defiance joined the host Gladiators for about 7 hours of scrimmage action. I only attended the final two segments featuring Riverheads but I believe I was told that in the earlier action Rustburg beat Amelia 7-6, Fort Defiance beat East Hardy 14-0, and Rustburg beat East Hardy 24-7.
The format for each scrimmage was to play two timed quarters, followed by each team then getting ten un-timed downs. It took roughly an hour or so to play each scrimmage. I was told that it rained for most of the first three scrimmages, but the Gladiators were blessed to play their two in near perfect weather with a nice breeze blowing through the stadium.
Riverheads manhandled Amelia 35-0 in its first test, and looked every bit the state champion contender they hope to be. Four different players scored TDs, all on the ground. Devin Morris broke a long one from about 58 yards around left end, Blake Smith scored from in close, Zac Smiley scored twice from inside the ten, and in the strangest score of the day, Trevor Roberts handled an errant snap that bounced straight back up to him and must have confused the defense long enough to allow him to dart right up the middle about 35 yards almost untouched for the score. Returning place kicker Peyton Skillman connected on all five unchallenged PATs.
In the untimed -down section of this scrimmage, Riverheads used only second and third stringers whereas Amelia had no choice but to use primarily starters, since they only dressed out about 20 for the afternoon. As a result the Raiders scored twice in their ten plays, including a 66-yard bomb in which the receiver got behind the defense, made his first contact with the ball, and then juggled it for about 15-20 yards before taking it in for the score. It was definitely the individual-effort play of the day for the Raiders. The RHS subs failed to score in their ten plays.
In the final scrimmage of the day, the host Gladiators took on cross-county rival Fort Defiance, which will be joining the Shenandoah District next season. Fort, as everyone knows, has had its struggles on the gridiron the last few years, but they seemed to be a much more confident bunch today and don't be surprised if they are able to string together some wins this year.
The Gladiators came out on top 13-0 in the two-quarter scrimmage, but they did not look anywhere near as efficient this time around. They were called for a number of penalties, they coughed the ball up on at least two handoffs, and they just appeared to have lost their mojo compared to the precision they displayed in the first game. Of course the Indians defense likely had something to do with all of that. Smiley scored a couple of short TDs to account for the scoring.
With their ten un-timed downs, the Big Red subs made a valiant effort to score as they made it down inside the five yard line on their final play of the day.
It appeared that the Indians might also come up short but instead they ended the day by scoring on their final play. I believe I heard the player scoring the TD was Manolescu or something like that.
RHS has another scrimmage next Saturday at Blue Ridge School over the mountain whereas the Indians will start their regular season next Friday night as they travel to Buffalo Gap. Those two have opened the season against one another for as long as I can remember and it has not been pretty the last few years, but the Fort team we saw today just might be capable of giving the Bison a run for their money.
The format for each scrimmage was to play two timed quarters, followed by each team then getting ten un-timed downs. It took roughly an hour or so to play each scrimmage. I was told that it rained for most of the first three scrimmages, but the Gladiators were blessed to play their two in near perfect weather with a nice breeze blowing through the stadium.
Riverheads manhandled Amelia 35-0 in its first test, and looked every bit the state champion contender they hope to be. Four different players scored TDs, all on the ground. Devin Morris broke a long one from about 58 yards around left end, Blake Smith scored from in close, Zac Smiley scored twice from inside the ten, and in the strangest score of the day, Trevor Roberts handled an errant snap that bounced straight back up to him and must have confused the defense long enough to allow him to dart right up the middle about 35 yards almost untouched for the score. Returning place kicker Peyton Skillman connected on all five unchallenged PATs.
In the untimed -down section of this scrimmage, Riverheads used only second and third stringers whereas Amelia had no choice but to use primarily starters, since they only dressed out about 20 for the afternoon. As a result the Raiders scored twice in their ten plays, including a 66-yard bomb in which the receiver got behind the defense, made his first contact with the ball, and then juggled it for about 15-20 yards before taking it in for the score. It was definitely the individual-effort play of the day for the Raiders. The RHS subs failed to score in their ten plays.
In the final scrimmage of the day, the host Gladiators took on cross-county rival Fort Defiance, which will be joining the Shenandoah District next season. Fort, as everyone knows, has had its struggles on the gridiron the last few years, but they seemed to be a much more confident bunch today and don't be surprised if they are able to string together some wins this year.
The Gladiators came out on top 13-0 in the two-quarter scrimmage, but they did not look anywhere near as efficient this time around. They were called for a number of penalties, they coughed the ball up on at least two handoffs, and they just appeared to have lost their mojo compared to the precision they displayed in the first game. Of course the Indians defense likely had something to do with all of that. Smiley scored a couple of short TDs to account for the scoring.
With their ten un-timed downs, the Big Red subs made a valiant effort to score as they made it down inside the five yard line on their final play of the day.
It appeared that the Indians might also come up short but instead they ended the day by scoring on their final play. I believe I heard the player scoring the TD was Manolescu or something like that.
RHS has another scrimmage next Saturday at Blue Ridge School over the mountain whereas the Indians will start their regular season next Friday night as they travel to Buffalo Gap. Those two have opened the season against one another for as long as I can remember and it has not been pretty the last few years, but the Fort team we saw today just might be capable of giving the Bison a run for their money.
