We have all heard the old football cliche "a tale of two halves." Well we definitely had that tonight at Riverheads as the Big Red and the visiting Cougars slobberknockered their way through a 7-0 first half, then exploded for a combined five touchdowns just in the third quarter. After one more Gladiator score in the fourth, RHS walked off the field with a 35-13 win, a 10-0 season, and the Shenandoah District championship.
In all fairness to Stuarts Draft, the game was closer than that score indicates because it was a 7-7 tie midway through the third, and the Draft was still within reach at 21-13 a few minutes later, but the visitors just ran out of gas down the stretch, which allowed the Big Red to score the final two TDs of the contest.
The simplest way to describe that third quarter would be to say that SD could not stop Riverheads' running attack and the Gladiators could not contain SD's passing game. There were some spectacular individual plays by both teams, but of course the guys making those plays would credit their teammates every time for key blocks and assists.
For the most part, Riverheads executed better in the first half but only had one TD to show for it, a hard-earned one-yard plunge by Luke Bryant. SD to that point had failed to make any big plays as the teams trotted to the locker room with the home team in front 7-0.
But on the Cougars' first possession of the second half, they went to the air and struck for about 50 yards down the far sideline. Moments later they were on the board with a short run to tie the game. A betting man at that point might have assumed that Big Mo had swung over to the visitors but as we were about to find out, the Gladiators would score four of the games final five touchdowns.
Those four RHS touchdowns could only be described as electrifying. Each one covered at least 45 yards, and featured some of the best broken-field running and maintenance of balance that you could ever ask of a running back. Fullback Cole Burton had the first, which came very shortly after the Cougars had tied the score. He broke the initial line of containment around midfield and then fought off several would-be tacklers, determined to score.
From that point on, to say it was the Cayden Cook-Cash show would be an understatement. The super soph scored the final three RHS touchdowns (and that doesn't even include the one he scored that was called back on a penalty), and again, his individual effort and refusal to go down were almost indescribable. This is one game tape that any fan should watch on NFHS and hopefully you will appreciate his talent and determination.
After his first TD, which arguably may have been his best, put the Gladiators ahead 21-7, SD came right back and scored again to close the gap. Another circus catch took them down near the red zone and they would eventually score on about a 10-yard reception. However they missed the extra point, leaving the score at 21-13, with time still to go in the third.
Triple C's next score was a straight up the middle try-to-stop-me-if-you-can dash of about 50 yards to make the score 28-13 after three. Most of the fourth quarter was then spent on Riverheads' final drive that put the game away. As you knew had to happen sooner or later, the officials had to factor into things at least a little bit.
Actually, Gladiator fans had not been pleased with the zebras back in the first half when a seemingly quick whistle stopped a CCC drive up the middle just micro-seconds before he put on a spin move and appeared headed to the end zone. But here as the game was winding down, it first appeared that back to back penalties against the Big Red were going to work in SD's favor but in the final analysis, those flags ended up helping him score his final touchdown.
There were about five minutes and change left when CCC appeared to sweep left end for about a 15 yard score. But a holding penalty was called to negate the touchdown. Then someone in the RHS huddle must have said a bad word because here came a second flag for unsportsmanlike conduct.
That of course led to a major confab between the officials and it first appeared that SD would have the Gladiators pinned out in the area of midfield facing something like a 1st and 40. But for some reason, the final decision was to make it a 1st and 10 and in short order, Mr. Cash swept right end, somehow stayed in bounds, somehow kept his balance, somehow evaded every potential Cougar tackler, and the final nail was put in the coffin.
With the big win, the Gladiators now get next week off and will swing into action on the 19th as the number one seed in the Class 1, Region B playoffs. I have not heard yet officially but I assume that Buffalo Gap won tonight and held on to its number two spot, meaning the Bison will also earn a first round bye and will not play until the 19th. So although we should not do too much chicken-counting, let's just say that a Gladiator/Bison re-match over Thanksgiving weekend is at least a possibility.
As for Stuarts Draft, the latest info on the Class 2 board seems to indicate that they will be the number two seed in those Region B playoffs. If that turns out to be the case, my apologies again for awarding them the number one seed earlier in the week, not to mention in tonight's program book. Of course some sources seem to think that being Number 2 might actually be advantageous to their overall playoff picture. Regardless, I can state with complete confidence that they will NOT have a bye, because their division is an eight-team event. Therefore they will host "somebody" next Friday night. So best of luck to the Cougars and don't be surprised if you see some Riverheads red in your stands next week.
To leave you with one more feel-good story tonight, how about those Waynesboro Little Giants? They were not expected to make any noise to speak of this season, and four different Augusta County teams throttled them badly in the first half of the season. But Waynesboro hung in there, and wrapped up the year with three victories over former Valley District rivals. As a result they finished with a 5-5 overall record and will be playoff-bound at the Class 3, Region C level. Moral of that story...........keep plugging away and don't ever give up!
In all fairness to Stuarts Draft, the game was closer than that score indicates because it was a 7-7 tie midway through the third, and the Draft was still within reach at 21-13 a few minutes later, but the visitors just ran out of gas down the stretch, which allowed the Big Red to score the final two TDs of the contest.
The simplest way to describe that third quarter would be to say that SD could not stop Riverheads' running attack and the Gladiators could not contain SD's passing game. There were some spectacular individual plays by both teams, but of course the guys making those plays would credit their teammates every time for key blocks and assists.
For the most part, Riverheads executed better in the first half but only had one TD to show for it, a hard-earned one-yard plunge by Luke Bryant. SD to that point had failed to make any big plays as the teams trotted to the locker room with the home team in front 7-0.
But on the Cougars' first possession of the second half, they went to the air and struck for about 50 yards down the far sideline. Moments later they were on the board with a short run to tie the game. A betting man at that point might have assumed that Big Mo had swung over to the visitors but as we were about to find out, the Gladiators would score four of the games final five touchdowns.
Those four RHS touchdowns could only be described as electrifying. Each one covered at least 45 yards, and featured some of the best broken-field running and maintenance of balance that you could ever ask of a running back. Fullback Cole Burton had the first, which came very shortly after the Cougars had tied the score. He broke the initial line of containment around midfield and then fought off several would-be tacklers, determined to score.
From that point on, to say it was the Cayden Cook-Cash show would be an understatement. The super soph scored the final three RHS touchdowns (and that doesn't even include the one he scored that was called back on a penalty), and again, his individual effort and refusal to go down were almost indescribable. This is one game tape that any fan should watch on NFHS and hopefully you will appreciate his talent and determination.
After his first TD, which arguably may have been his best, put the Gladiators ahead 21-7, SD came right back and scored again to close the gap. Another circus catch took them down near the red zone and they would eventually score on about a 10-yard reception. However they missed the extra point, leaving the score at 21-13, with time still to go in the third.
Triple C's next score was a straight up the middle try-to-stop-me-if-you-can dash of about 50 yards to make the score 28-13 after three. Most of the fourth quarter was then spent on Riverheads' final drive that put the game away. As you knew had to happen sooner or later, the officials had to factor into things at least a little bit.
Actually, Gladiator fans had not been pleased with the zebras back in the first half when a seemingly quick whistle stopped a CCC drive up the middle just micro-seconds before he put on a spin move and appeared headed to the end zone. But here as the game was winding down, it first appeared that back to back penalties against the Big Red were going to work in SD's favor but in the final analysis, those flags ended up helping him score his final touchdown.
There were about five minutes and change left when CCC appeared to sweep left end for about a 15 yard score. But a holding penalty was called to negate the touchdown. Then someone in the RHS huddle must have said a bad word because here came a second flag for unsportsmanlike conduct.
That of course led to a major confab between the officials and it first appeared that SD would have the Gladiators pinned out in the area of midfield facing something like a 1st and 40. But for some reason, the final decision was to make it a 1st and 10 and in short order, Mr. Cash swept right end, somehow stayed in bounds, somehow kept his balance, somehow evaded every potential Cougar tackler, and the final nail was put in the coffin.
With the big win, the Gladiators now get next week off and will swing into action on the 19th as the number one seed in the Class 1, Region B playoffs. I have not heard yet officially but I assume that Buffalo Gap won tonight and held on to its number two spot, meaning the Bison will also earn a first round bye and will not play until the 19th. So although we should not do too much chicken-counting, let's just say that a Gladiator/Bison re-match over Thanksgiving weekend is at least a possibility.
As for Stuarts Draft, the latest info on the Class 2 board seems to indicate that they will be the number two seed in those Region B playoffs. If that turns out to be the case, my apologies again for awarding them the number one seed earlier in the week, not to mention in tonight's program book. Of course some sources seem to think that being Number 2 might actually be advantageous to their overall playoff picture. Regardless, I can state with complete confidence that they will NOT have a bye, because their division is an eight-team event. Therefore they will host "somebody" next Friday night. So best of luck to the Cougars and don't be surprised if you see some Riverheads red in your stands next week.
To leave you with one more feel-good story tonight, how about those Waynesboro Little Giants? They were not expected to make any noise to speak of this season, and four different Augusta County teams throttled them badly in the first half of the season. But Waynesboro hung in there, and wrapped up the year with three victories over former Valley District rivals. As a result they finished with a 5-5 overall record and will be playoff-bound at the Class 3, Region C level. Moral of that story...........keep plugging away and don't ever give up!
