The Gladiators recovered from a minor case of "Senior Night-itis" and survived an early punch in the mouth from the visiting Cougars to win going away tonight by a final score of 41-13. I am now hearing from various sources that the Big Red clinched the number one seed for the 1-A East playoffs, but I personally don't even begin to understand how that system works. I am just glad we have people on here who do!
Defense ruled the early going tonight as each team stopped the other's first possession. Draft then stuffed Riverheads a second time and began its second possession near midfield. However, it was not much of a possession as sophomore speedster Izzy Johnson broke right up the middle and raced untouched for about 50-55 yards for the first score of the game.
Riverheads however is not a team that is prone to panicking and they didn't this time. Instead they calmly drove the ball 90 yards for the equalizer. As expected the entire drive was on the ground, except for the scoring play, which ironically was the Gladiators' only pass attempt of the night. Taz Miller (yes Taz, not his twin Colt who usually gets mentioned more on this site) hauled in the reception deep in the left corner of the end zone for his first score of the season. RHS however uncharacteristically missed the PAT leaving the Cougars in front 7-6.
The second quarter was more about mistakes than anything else and each team was guilty. The Cougars fumbled twice in the quarter, the second of which led to Riverheads' go-ahead touchdown, and each team committed a number of penalties, including a rare chop block call against the Gladiators. SD maintained its lead and stopped one Riverheads thrust, but could not prevent the second one as Landon Diehl pushed across the goal line in the waning seconds of the quarter to give RHS a tight 13-7 halftime lead.
As everyone knows, halftime adjustments by coaches can make the difference in any sport and in this case, someone on the Riverheads staff made a HUGE one and deserves a raise. For the entire first half, the Cougar defense had quite successfully keyed on the district scoring leader Harrison Schaefer, who had scored at least two touchdowns in each Gladiator game this season. As a result, he probably did not have more than 25-30 yards rushing in the first half.
But whatever someone said or did at the break, they should bottle it because he got his two touchdowns in very short order in the third quarter as the Gladiators broke the game wide open. After stopping the visitors three and out, RHS received a punt around midfield, and just a few plays later, Schaefer made his move to the outside as we have seen him do all season, turned on the jets, and outraced the defense to the corner for a 29 yard score that put the Big Red ahead 20-7.
After holding SD again, Schaefer put the icing on the cake when he scored again on about a 20 yard run, only to have it called back on a holding penalty. No problem.......he simply ran it in again on the same play but to the opposite side of the field. This time there was no laundry on the field and the Big Red took a 27-7 lead.
Diehl added his second TD of the evening to open the fourth quarter, and then the Cougars unleashed their other thoroughbred as Marston Jones took it 80 yards to make the score 34-13. A late Gladiator score by Garrett Schultz finalized the score.
According to the radio wrap-up, RHS rushed for about 450 yards, with Schaefer, Diehl, and Colt Miller each topping the 100 yard mark. The Gladiators played a turnover-free game, and also got excellent service from kick-off specialist Tristan Robson who pinned the Cougars deep each time, and from punter Ridge Stokes, who had his best night of the season. Other than a few more penalties than Coach Casto would like to see, it was a pretty solid all-around effort from the Big Red.
The Cougars obviously have a talented one-two punch in Johnson and Jones. Both will be back next year, so it is quite possible that Draft fans already have this same game circled on their calendar for this night next year, when RHS will travel to the Den. Had it not been for their three fumbles overall and one pass interception, not to mention penalties, this might have been a closer game. They also had trouble all night long fielding Robson's deep kick-offs and more often than not a muff or a quick Gladiator tackle forced them to start deep in their own territory.
The good news is that both teams are playoff-bound, so best wishes to each. The Shenandoah District had a couple of other eyebrow-raising results tonight. Luray had to go into overtime to squeeze out a 34-28 win over Stonewall (which one of my fellow Gladiators had predicted) and East Rockingham put on a passing clinic and ruined Buffalo Gap's Senior Night with a 49-39 victory. Wilson rolled over Page 53-0 in the fourth district finale.
Defense ruled the early going tonight as each team stopped the other's first possession. Draft then stuffed Riverheads a second time and began its second possession near midfield. However, it was not much of a possession as sophomore speedster Izzy Johnson broke right up the middle and raced untouched for about 50-55 yards for the first score of the game.
Riverheads however is not a team that is prone to panicking and they didn't this time. Instead they calmly drove the ball 90 yards for the equalizer. As expected the entire drive was on the ground, except for the scoring play, which ironically was the Gladiators' only pass attempt of the night. Taz Miller (yes Taz, not his twin Colt who usually gets mentioned more on this site) hauled in the reception deep in the left corner of the end zone for his first score of the season. RHS however uncharacteristically missed the PAT leaving the Cougars in front 7-6.
The second quarter was more about mistakes than anything else and each team was guilty. The Cougars fumbled twice in the quarter, the second of which led to Riverheads' go-ahead touchdown, and each team committed a number of penalties, including a rare chop block call against the Gladiators. SD maintained its lead and stopped one Riverheads thrust, but could not prevent the second one as Landon Diehl pushed across the goal line in the waning seconds of the quarter to give RHS a tight 13-7 halftime lead.
As everyone knows, halftime adjustments by coaches can make the difference in any sport and in this case, someone on the Riverheads staff made a HUGE one and deserves a raise. For the entire first half, the Cougar defense had quite successfully keyed on the district scoring leader Harrison Schaefer, who had scored at least two touchdowns in each Gladiator game this season. As a result, he probably did not have more than 25-30 yards rushing in the first half.
But whatever someone said or did at the break, they should bottle it because he got his two touchdowns in very short order in the third quarter as the Gladiators broke the game wide open. After stopping the visitors three and out, RHS received a punt around midfield, and just a few plays later, Schaefer made his move to the outside as we have seen him do all season, turned on the jets, and outraced the defense to the corner for a 29 yard score that put the Big Red ahead 20-7.
After holding SD again, Schaefer put the icing on the cake when he scored again on about a 20 yard run, only to have it called back on a holding penalty. No problem.......he simply ran it in again on the same play but to the opposite side of the field. This time there was no laundry on the field and the Big Red took a 27-7 lead.
Diehl added his second TD of the evening to open the fourth quarter, and then the Cougars unleashed their other thoroughbred as Marston Jones took it 80 yards to make the score 34-13. A late Gladiator score by Garrett Schultz finalized the score.
According to the radio wrap-up, RHS rushed for about 450 yards, with Schaefer, Diehl, and Colt Miller each topping the 100 yard mark. The Gladiators played a turnover-free game, and also got excellent service from kick-off specialist Tristan Robson who pinned the Cougars deep each time, and from punter Ridge Stokes, who had his best night of the season. Other than a few more penalties than Coach Casto would like to see, it was a pretty solid all-around effort from the Big Red.
The Cougars obviously have a talented one-two punch in Johnson and Jones. Both will be back next year, so it is quite possible that Draft fans already have this same game circled on their calendar for this night next year, when RHS will travel to the Den. Had it not been for their three fumbles overall and one pass interception, not to mention penalties, this might have been a closer game. They also had trouble all night long fielding Robson's deep kick-offs and more often than not a muff or a quick Gladiator tackle forced them to start deep in their own territory.
The good news is that both teams are playoff-bound, so best wishes to each. The Shenandoah District had a couple of other eyebrow-raising results tonight. Luray had to go into overtime to squeeze out a 34-28 win over Stonewall (which one of my fellow Gladiators had predicted) and East Rockingham put on a passing clinic and ruined Buffalo Gap's Senior Night with a 49-39 victory. Wilson rolled over Page 53-0 in the fourth district finale.
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