Riverheads Rushes Past Rams in Second Scrimmage

[longtimerhsfan]

After last week's disappointing scrimmage at Turner Ashby, Riverheads Coach Ray Norcross and his staff wanted just one thing tonight when the Strasburg Rams rolled into Greenville for the Big Red's second pre-season action. They wanted improvement and they got it with a capital I, as the Red Pride rolled past the visitors 35-20 behind a strong rushing offense that only attempted one pass all night.

That score may make it sound like it was a more competitive game but in all fairness to Riverheads, the game was not that close because the first-string offense dominated the action completely in the early going as they put three touchdowns on the board before the Rams could even muster a first down. Strasburg did eventually score a respectable three TDs but two of them came against the Gladiators' second string in a somewhat odd third quarter.

RHS took the field first and successfully navigated the required 70 yards, all on the ground, for their first score of the evening. As expected, Jonathan Talbott was established as the primary running back. But another half dozen joined him in the backfield in the early going as the Big Red gained positive yardage on just about every play.

After Talbott scored the first Gladiator TD, the RHS defense showed its stuff as Jaden Dotson dropped the first Ram ball carrier dead in his tracks. That set the stage for a three and out on each of the Rams' first two possessions. Talbott scored his second TD of the game in between those two possessions as RHS took a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.

The Gladiators gained possession a third time by the end of the quarter and eventually took that one in for a score as well, this time on a Brody Phillips carry. Helping along the way were strong rushes by Jackson Fitzgerald, Austin Roberts, Brady Boehm, Carson Brooks, and one I was not familiar with (Preston McCauley I believe?) who had the best individual run of the night.

After Phillips' score put RHS ahead 21-0, the Rams scored their only TD of the first half when a pass out into the flat appeared at first to be headed nowhere. But the receiver eluded his first tackler, cut back against the grain, and took it downfield for a big gain. They scored just before half to make it 21-6.

The "third quarter" we will call it was a rather strange little deal. It was announced that the clock would run continuously for 15 minutes. Well it did exactly that, but it even ran during changes of possession. Despite that quick pace, the teams somehow managed to score twice each to account for the final score of 35-20. The Rams scored both theirs on long runs against the second string Gladiator defense, one of which was scored on a fourth and goal.

The two Gladiator touchdowns were scored by promising sophomore Spencer Simpson, who was probably about the 10th or 11th Big Red running back by that time to see action. First he scored on about a 15 yard sweep around right end. Seconds later, the Rams left one on the ground and Simpson alertly scored his second TD on a scoop-and-score.

The teams then had a final 10 play untimed series in which neither scored. We had witnessed good sportsmanship the entire way and the teams ended things with a friendly handshake line. Each will now open its regular season next Friday and, depending on how things go, they could meet again come playoff time.

For Riverheads, that season-opener will be a much-anticipated home date with the Central Falcons to see how this season goes, after last year's two memorable, but totally-different games up in Woodstock. If the Big Red throws as many running backs at the Falcons as they did tonight, and the first string defense does the job it did tonight, you have to like the Gladiators' chances to start the season with a W.

 

[schoolboard]

Don't feel bad about a performance against Turner Ashby. They have some studs.

 

[RedPrideNation_RollPride]

Not too high over the performance last evening and not too low over the one a week ago at TA. There were positives in both games as well as opportunities for teaching moments. As the saying goes, its not how you start but how you finish. I am looking for progression on the season with an outside chance at making a state run.

 

[toughy299]

Not too high over the performance last evening and not too low over the one a week ago at TA. There were positives in both games as well as opportunities for teaching moments. As the saying goes, its not how you start but how you finish. I am looking for progression on the season with an outside chance at making a state run.

Are you throwing the ball?? You know it didn’t take long and that single wing of Giles got figured out by 2A. Those men over in Bluefield don’t play around.

 

[RedPrideNation_RollPride]

Lots of ways to answer this but suffice to say the offense likely won’t change but so much regardless of which division Riverheads is in. At some point I am sure there will be a coach that goes a different direction but for now most if not all of the staff either played in or coached this same system for years. It probably won’t work against lots of teams in 2A but it works enough most times.

 

[Fairlawncat]

Lots of ways to answer this but suffice to say the offense likely won’t change but so much regardless of which division Riverheads is in. At some point I am sure there will be a coach that goes a different direction but for now most if not all of the staff either played in or coached this same system for years. It probably won’t work against lots of teams in 2A but it works enough most times.

The system works well enough for the Glads to play for a state title in their first year moving back up and that's better than 95 percent of other Class 2 schools that didn't make it the title game. Riverheads biggest issue for winning a state title game in Class 2 will be on the defensive side in containing a spread offense/passing team. Their defense doesn't see this mich in regular season and it's hard to prepare for in practice if your second team Offense is trying to replicate a spread offense to prepare your first team defense.

At the Class 1 level, teams like Galax, Essex, and the rest are run heavy and it serves the Gladiators well and most of Class 2 is the same. Teams like Radford or Graham or Appo or even Glenvar that can spread the field and pass out of wide open formations will present more challenges compared to run heavy Class 2 teams like Poquoson Union, Gretna, Draft, and King William, Central and several others in the Valley like Clarke County. These matchups suit Riverheads better.

When all said and done the Glads played for a state title and moved the ball well on us. Riverheads moved the ball well enough on a very good Raddy defense enough to win the game. The problems arose on the defensive side containing speed in open space that spread Riverheads out and forced them to cover in space. Riverheads can cover in space, but it's hard to do it for 1 game if you aren't prepared for it for the first 13 or 14 games.

 

[longtimerhsfan]

Thinking back to the championship game, someone recently made a point to me that I had not thought about. If you recall, Radford fumbled early and RHS took it in for a quick 7-0 lead. Then on Radford's second possession, they threw deep and the Riverheads defender got in front of the receiver and had the better chance to catch the pass. He was not able to bring it in however and it was one of those cases where the receiver almost had to become the defender. Soon after, as we all witnessed, Radford's passing attack took control of the game and the rest, as they say, is history.

But just as food for thought, if Riverheads had in fact intercepted that pass and been able to use their running game to take it downfield for a 14-0 lead, might that have been enough to cause a little panic on the Bobcat sideline, to the point that it might have become a shootout, one that Riverheads might have been able to hold on and win?

Would Radford have been able to come back from turnovers on its first two possessions and still win the game?

 

[Fairlawncat]

Thinking back to the championship game, someone recently made a point to me that I had not thought about. If you recall, Radford fumbled early and RHS took it in for a quick 7-0 lead. Then on Radford's second possession, they threw deep and the Riverheads defender got in front of the receiver and had the better chance to catch the pass. He was not able to bring it in however and it was one of those cases where the receiver almost had to become the defender. Soon after, as we all witnessed, Radford's passing attack took control of the game and the rest, as they say, is history.

But just as food for thought, if Riverheads had in fact intercepted that pass and been able to use their running game to take it downfield for a 14-0 lead, might that have been enough to cause a little panic on the Bobcat sideline, to the point that it might have become a shootout, one that Riverheads might have been able to hold on and win?

Would Radford have been able to come back from turnovers on its first two possessions and still win the game?

Good point and it's hard to say if we could have been able to come back. I don't know. What helps our offensive system, at least last year is the ability to play from behind because when you have a system like that and get behind you still keep doing what you do and spread the field and quick strikes are often easier compared to sustain running drives that take more time. It's harder to play from behind for a run dominated team and easier for a pass or spread oriented team. The flip side is that for a pass oriented team, keeping a lead can be tougher and a run oriented team can keep a lead easier.

 

[MarlburlMan]

Riverheads will be fine. They can continue to win at a high rate as long as athletes continue to show up and buy in. Thats what stopped happening at Giles. Nobody just magically figured out the single wing. In fact, like riverheads, the scheme is simple. You just out block and out execute your opponent. A thing of beauty honestly. Like Fairlawn said, as run heavy program, you often struggle to prepare for high powered passing attacks. Every year that Giles was able to do that, they competed for a state title or atleast made a deep run in the playoffs.