On a gorgeous night for football here in Augusta County, it was one rout after another as Buffalo Gap pitched a 45-0 shutout in Staunton, Stuarts Draft whipped arch-rival Wilson 42-7, and Rockbridge County eased past Waynesboro 38-6. As for undefeated Riverheads, the Gladiators hit the road for the first time this season and manhandled Fort Defiance behind a four-touchdown effort from senior running back Zac Smiley.
This one got off to an odd start as the referees were late arriving and as a result, kick off was delayed for about 15 minutes. Once the game got started, the stripes made up for lost time by tossing the hanky at least a dozen times in a rough-and-tumble first half that left both sides quite frustrated. The Gladiators got the better end of the calls in the early going as a face mask penalty on the opening kick-off set them up in Indian territory. Shortly after that an offside penalty moved them closer to the red zone.
Speaking of "red", Coach Casto turned about 8 shades of it a moment or two later when they flagged Smiley for 15 yards, apparently for trying to hurdle a defender. That maneuver is a Smiley trademark and the question of when or if it constitutes a penalty has come up before. Also irritating the RHS skipper in the early going were some penalties that were NOT being called, as he felt the Indians were engaging in some dangerous undercutting along the line.
Fortunately things settled down a little bit as the game wore on, long enough for Smiley to put the Big Red on the board on that first drive, followed later in the quarter by a TD from his younger brother Noah. The elder Smiley then really turned it on in the second stanza, scoring three more times on the way to a 169-yard evening. His final TD was set up by a nice 40 yard pass from Bennett Dunlap to Landon Lightner that brought the ball down to about the 10 yard line.
More good news for the Gladiators came from place-kicker Cooper Robson, who was a perfect 7 for 7 on the evening after struggling a bit last week in the Wilson game. He was also very effective in burying the Indians deep in their own territory with a series of deep kick-offs. On the one time the Big Red tried the pooch kick, the Indians were so surprised that they almost failed to cover it.
In the second half, with a running clock in effect, Smiley got some much deserved rest as a whole new army of running backs took over and the Big Red did not miss a beat. In the prettiest run of the night, Cayden Cook-Cash, and he is only a freshman folks, zipped straight up the middle untouched for a 49 yard gallop. Fullback Cole Burton, a name that Galax folks would like to forget after he scored the winning TD last year in Salem, then wrapped up the scoring for RHS with a nice 25 yard broken field run.
Determined to make his mark and earn some more PT, sophomore Luke Bryant (and no, he is not the same guy that judges on American Idol!) added about 75 yards to the Gladiator rushing total as he carried the ball several times and was absolutely DETERMINED not to be brought down. Yet another name to watch for the next couple of years when the Gladiators will have to adapt to life without Smiley.
The Indians finally got on the board midway through the fourth quarter on a 50 yards or so running play that either featured some trickery or maybe involved someone picking up a fumble and running with it. I was not quite sure what happened there but their fans were certainly delighted to avoid the shutout. Following that score, the Big Red drove down inside the red zone and could have easily scored an eighth TD, but instead opted to kill the clock with a combination of delays and taking of the knee.
As for your options to see a video of this game, I was told that there was a lack of internet service at the school that prevented it from being streamed live. Nevertheless our talented videographer was pledging to have at least something up for us to see. As always, you can find her handiwork on Youtube under the handle footballmomof5.
Next week the Gladiators will hit the road again, as they travel to Staunton. The Storm, as mentioned above, has fallen on hard times since their thrilling season-opening win over East Rockingham, so the Big Red should be heavy favorites in that one.
This one got off to an odd start as the referees were late arriving and as a result, kick off was delayed for about 15 minutes. Once the game got started, the stripes made up for lost time by tossing the hanky at least a dozen times in a rough-and-tumble first half that left both sides quite frustrated. The Gladiators got the better end of the calls in the early going as a face mask penalty on the opening kick-off set them up in Indian territory. Shortly after that an offside penalty moved them closer to the red zone.
Speaking of "red", Coach Casto turned about 8 shades of it a moment or two later when they flagged Smiley for 15 yards, apparently for trying to hurdle a defender. That maneuver is a Smiley trademark and the question of when or if it constitutes a penalty has come up before. Also irritating the RHS skipper in the early going were some penalties that were NOT being called, as he felt the Indians were engaging in some dangerous undercutting along the line.
Fortunately things settled down a little bit as the game wore on, long enough for Smiley to put the Big Red on the board on that first drive, followed later in the quarter by a TD from his younger brother Noah. The elder Smiley then really turned it on in the second stanza, scoring three more times on the way to a 169-yard evening. His final TD was set up by a nice 40 yard pass from Bennett Dunlap to Landon Lightner that brought the ball down to about the 10 yard line.
More good news for the Gladiators came from place-kicker Cooper Robson, who was a perfect 7 for 7 on the evening after struggling a bit last week in the Wilson game. He was also very effective in burying the Indians deep in their own territory with a series of deep kick-offs. On the one time the Big Red tried the pooch kick, the Indians were so surprised that they almost failed to cover it.
In the second half, with a running clock in effect, Smiley got some much deserved rest as a whole new army of running backs took over and the Big Red did not miss a beat. In the prettiest run of the night, Cayden Cook-Cash, and he is only a freshman folks, zipped straight up the middle untouched for a 49 yard gallop. Fullback Cole Burton, a name that Galax folks would like to forget after he scored the winning TD last year in Salem, then wrapped up the scoring for RHS with a nice 25 yard broken field run.
Determined to make his mark and earn some more PT, sophomore Luke Bryant (and no, he is not the same guy that judges on American Idol!) added about 75 yards to the Gladiator rushing total as he carried the ball several times and was absolutely DETERMINED not to be brought down. Yet another name to watch for the next couple of years when the Gladiators will have to adapt to life without Smiley.
The Indians finally got on the board midway through the fourth quarter on a 50 yards or so running play that either featured some trickery or maybe involved someone picking up a fumble and running with it. I was not quite sure what happened there but their fans were certainly delighted to avoid the shutout. Following that score, the Big Red drove down inside the red zone and could have easily scored an eighth TD, but instead opted to kill the clock with a combination of delays and taking of the knee.
As for your options to see a video of this game, I was told that there was a lack of internet service at the school that prevented it from being streamed live. Nevertheless our talented videographer was pledging to have at least something up for us to see. As always, you can find her handiwork on Youtube under the handle footballmomof5.
Next week the Gladiators will hit the road again, as they travel to Staunton. The Storm, as mentioned above, has fallen on hard times since their thrilling season-opening win over East Rockingham, so the Big Red should be heavy favorites in that one.
