The Gladiators conducted an absolute clinic tonight in how to win comfortably over a severely-overmatched opponent with minimal damage, as the goal was clearly to keep our own team healthy and not overly bruise the ego of the Panthers.
For starters, Coach Casto did not even play his star running back Zac Smiley, who had scored 11 TDs in the last two games. Word in the stands was that there was no injury and no disciplinary issues, just a coaching decision to keep him out. Not only that but his primary backfield buddy Braeson Fulton ran the ball for one easy touchdown and to the best of my knowledge was never seen again on either offense or defense.
The Big Red subbed as early as the midway point of the first quarter, they used three quarterbacks by halftime, and on three separate occasions, one of which was successful, they attempted field goals on first down. Also they peeled back on each and every RC punt, never even thinking about blocking one, and they also never attempted a punt return, content to just let them fall where they would.
As you can imagine the scoring occurred early and often in the game. Fulton's TD and a similar one by Noah Smiley were both wide open runs right up the middle from near or beyond midfield. Other running backs started to filter into the game as Cy Cox and Aiden Miller also scored in the first quarter, as the lead ballooned to 28-0 within the first eight minutes. Isaac Hartless scored his first TD of the season late in the first to make it 35-0 after one, proving that the Gladiators could have scored in triple digits if they wanted to.
Instead in the second quarter after another Hartless run carried down to the one, the Big Red sent out the field goal unit on first and goal. Peyton Skillman made the glorified extra point to make it 38-0 and freshman Luke Bryant, who has been elevated from the JVs for the playoffs (and he is going to be a good one folks!) swept left end from about 60 yards out for the final TD, as there was no more scoring in the second half with the running clock in place of course.
In keeping with their good sportsmanship gesture, the Gladiators took over at the RC 30 on two occasions in the fourth quarter. In each case, they could have run the offense to pad the lead, but instead they sent Skillman out on first down to attempt a pair of 47 yard field goals. Those two plays generated more response out of the frozen Big Red fans than any of the touchdowns had. Each attempt was straight enough but one fell about two yards short and the other missed by maybe five yards. Moral of the story...you can play with class and test your kicker's range at the same time, so now we know that he can be called upon to at least try one up to about 40 yards.
As for the Panthers, they dressed out about 17 guys and one of those got hurt. But they kept battling, especially since RHS reserves played the vast majority of the game, making it a fairer fight. The Panthers found their greatest success through the air and I would venture to say they passed for 100-120 yards tonight. They got as close as the Riverheads 22 on one final drive in the waning seconds of the game but a Dylan McWhorter interception thwarted the drive and preserved the shutout.
According to what I see elsewhere the Gladiators will now host Franklin in the Region B semi-finals next Friday night. The Broncos will be making their first-ever trip to RHS although the teams did meet in Franklin in the state semi-finals in 2010. Jordan Jack ran wild that Saturday afternoon, scoring all five TDs as the Big Red whipped the home team 35-8 before winning their third state title the next week in that wild shootout with Eastern Montgomery that people still talk about.
The Broncos are of course in their first year in Region B, which is why this game is taking place earlier in the playoffs than that one did. If memory serves the distance is around 190 miles so let's hope for decent weather and safe travels for our visitors next week.
For starters, Coach Casto did not even play his star running back Zac Smiley, who had scored 11 TDs in the last two games. Word in the stands was that there was no injury and no disciplinary issues, just a coaching decision to keep him out. Not only that but his primary backfield buddy Braeson Fulton ran the ball for one easy touchdown and to the best of my knowledge was never seen again on either offense or defense.
The Big Red subbed as early as the midway point of the first quarter, they used three quarterbacks by halftime, and on three separate occasions, one of which was successful, they attempted field goals on first down. Also they peeled back on each and every RC punt, never even thinking about blocking one, and they also never attempted a punt return, content to just let them fall where they would.
As you can imagine the scoring occurred early and often in the game. Fulton's TD and a similar one by Noah Smiley were both wide open runs right up the middle from near or beyond midfield. Other running backs started to filter into the game as Cy Cox and Aiden Miller also scored in the first quarter, as the lead ballooned to 28-0 within the first eight minutes. Isaac Hartless scored his first TD of the season late in the first to make it 35-0 after one, proving that the Gladiators could have scored in triple digits if they wanted to.
Instead in the second quarter after another Hartless run carried down to the one, the Big Red sent out the field goal unit on first and goal. Peyton Skillman made the glorified extra point to make it 38-0 and freshman Luke Bryant, who has been elevated from the JVs for the playoffs (and he is going to be a good one folks!) swept left end from about 60 yards out for the final TD, as there was no more scoring in the second half with the running clock in place of course.
In keeping with their good sportsmanship gesture, the Gladiators took over at the RC 30 on two occasions in the fourth quarter. In each case, they could have run the offense to pad the lead, but instead they sent Skillman out on first down to attempt a pair of 47 yard field goals. Those two plays generated more response out of the frozen Big Red fans than any of the touchdowns had. Each attempt was straight enough but one fell about two yards short and the other missed by maybe five yards. Moral of the story...you can play with class and test your kicker's range at the same time, so now we know that he can be called upon to at least try one up to about 40 yards.
As for the Panthers, they dressed out about 17 guys and one of those got hurt. But they kept battling, especially since RHS reserves played the vast majority of the game, making it a fairer fight. The Panthers found their greatest success through the air and I would venture to say they passed for 100-120 yards tonight. They got as close as the Riverheads 22 on one final drive in the waning seconds of the game but a Dylan McWhorter interception thwarted the drive and preserved the shutout.
According to what I see elsewhere the Gladiators will now host Franklin in the Region B semi-finals next Friday night. The Broncos will be making their first-ever trip to RHS although the teams did meet in Franklin in the state semi-finals in 2010. Jordan Jack ran wild that Saturday afternoon, scoring all five TDs as the Big Red whipped the home team 35-8 before winning their third state title the next week in that wild shootout with Eastern Montgomery that people still talk about.
The Broncos are of course in their first year in Region B, which is why this game is taking place earlier in the playoffs than that one did. If memory serves the distance is around 190 miles so let's hope for decent weather and safe travels for our visitors next week.
