WARNING! This thread will only be of interest to fans of Riverheads and the surrounding area. The rest of you may find it boring.
After last Friday's overtime game with Luray, I was asked when our last overtime game had been. So I checked back through my records to find all our ties and overtime games. It looks like there have been five of each.
The last tie game was in 1985 and the first overtime game was in 1989. So that tells me that overtime was put in the rule book sometime between 1986 and 1989.
I will add any details I can remember and will only mention the location of the game if I am 100% certain of it.
THE TIE GAMES:
1971: Tied Broadway 0-0. This game, played at Riverheads, was significant because of the level of competition. Three of the Augusta County schools (RHS, Fort, and Gap) were only 8 years old and Stuarts Draft was just opening (fall of 1970), when the VHSL threw all five of us into the Valley District against larger and more established schools such as Harrisonburg, TA, and Waynesboro. The results for the most part were massacres, but in the second year of this arrangement, Riverheads did manage this tie, and then two years later, the Gladiators became the first county team to beat one of the Big Boys, when they knocked off those same Gobblers 6-0. That ten-team version of the Valley District lasted only from 1970 through the 1973-74 school year.
1973: Tied Wilson 13-13 at Wilson. I remember very little else about it.
1975: Tied Wilson 7-7 at Riverheads. This was the legendary "Fog Bowl." It was late in the season and RHS only needed a tie to clinch the district title. Wilson scored early and as time was winding down in the 4th quarter, Riverheads drove into scoring position. Just as they were about to score, a thick fog enveloped the field. There was no discussion among the refs about delaying the game and RHS scored its touchdown on a bootleg by quarterback Terry Meeks around the far right side (visitor's side) so the home fans essentially missed it. We also could not see the tying extra point kick and had to take the referees' word for it. Being as close as they were, they were probably able to see everything just fine.
1981: Tied Clifton Forge 14-14 at Riverheads. I remember nothing about this one, but am positive it was a home game.
1985: Tied William Monroe 0-0. I don't have any memory of this one, but I am inclined to believe it was at Riverheads.
THE OVERTIME GAMES:
1989: Lost to Buffalo Gap at Riverheads 6-3. It was a scoreless tie in regulation. Gladiators got the ball first and settled for a field goal, but then the Bison won it with a TD.
1990: Beat Wilson at Riverheads 19-18 in double overtime. I just realized that in another recent post, I was off on one of the details about this one. So here is the straight scoop. It was tied at 12 at the end of regulation. Each team failed to score in the first overtime. Riverheads then won it in the second overtime, but the kind of records I keep don't tell me now who scored first so I can't help with that.
1993: Lost to Luray 8-0. After last week's game, you would think this one would have come back to me, but the truth is that I have no memory of it whatsoever, not even where it was played. You can't always just trace it back and figure it out that way, because sometimes those two-year cycles are structured such that one team gets consecutive home games. So does anyone else out there have any memory of this one? At the least, Bulldog fans should be happy to find out that they are tied with Riverheads in overtime games!
2003: Beat Stuarts Draft 15-12. Although we were well into the Casto era by this time, I just can't recall much about this one, not even where it was held. My records do show that the Cougars were in the Valley at that time and ended with a 3-7 overall record that year, whereas Riverheads went 5-1 in the Shenandoah and 9-3 overall, with Central winning the district that year. This game was scoreless at the half, each team scored a TD in both the third and fourth quarters, but missed all PATs. RHS then won in the OT on an Andrew Knopp field goal. I have to admit that among the string of kickers RHS has had over the years, his is a name that I just don't recall. Another thing I have in my notes is that this was a dead-even game statistically because RHS rushed for 251 yards (159 of those by Jim Moore) but was 0-1 in passing, whereas SD rushed for 221 yards and passed for 36, for a 257 total.
2014: Beat Luray at Riverheads 17-14. Guess there is nothing more to be said about that one.
So that is our tie and overtime history. I wonder if any other teams out there have perhaps had an unusual number of them or maybe some schools have never played a tie or overtime game? I guess it is possible....
The most interesting stat I found while researching this post is that Fort Defiance, while competing in the Valley District in 1982, had two ties in district play to finish 3-4-2 and another non-district tie, to finish with the bizarre overall record of 3-4-3.
After last Friday's overtime game with Luray, I was asked when our last overtime game had been. So I checked back through my records to find all our ties and overtime games. It looks like there have been five of each.
The last tie game was in 1985 and the first overtime game was in 1989. So that tells me that overtime was put in the rule book sometime between 1986 and 1989.
I will add any details I can remember and will only mention the location of the game if I am 100% certain of it.
THE TIE GAMES:
1971: Tied Broadway 0-0. This game, played at Riverheads, was significant because of the level of competition. Three of the Augusta County schools (RHS, Fort, and Gap) were only 8 years old and Stuarts Draft was just opening (fall of 1970), when the VHSL threw all five of us into the Valley District against larger and more established schools such as Harrisonburg, TA, and Waynesboro. The results for the most part were massacres, but in the second year of this arrangement, Riverheads did manage this tie, and then two years later, the Gladiators became the first county team to beat one of the Big Boys, when they knocked off those same Gobblers 6-0. That ten-team version of the Valley District lasted only from 1970 through the 1973-74 school year.
1973: Tied Wilson 13-13 at Wilson. I remember very little else about it.
1975: Tied Wilson 7-7 at Riverheads. This was the legendary "Fog Bowl." It was late in the season and RHS only needed a tie to clinch the district title. Wilson scored early and as time was winding down in the 4th quarter, Riverheads drove into scoring position. Just as they were about to score, a thick fog enveloped the field. There was no discussion among the refs about delaying the game and RHS scored its touchdown on a bootleg by quarterback Terry Meeks around the far right side (visitor's side) so the home fans essentially missed it. We also could not see the tying extra point kick and had to take the referees' word for it. Being as close as they were, they were probably able to see everything just fine.
1981: Tied Clifton Forge 14-14 at Riverheads. I remember nothing about this one, but am positive it was a home game.
1985: Tied William Monroe 0-0. I don't have any memory of this one, but I am inclined to believe it was at Riverheads.
THE OVERTIME GAMES:
1989: Lost to Buffalo Gap at Riverheads 6-3. It was a scoreless tie in regulation. Gladiators got the ball first and settled for a field goal, but then the Bison won it with a TD.
1990: Beat Wilson at Riverheads 19-18 in double overtime. I just realized that in another recent post, I was off on one of the details about this one. So here is the straight scoop. It was tied at 12 at the end of regulation. Each team failed to score in the first overtime. Riverheads then won it in the second overtime, but the kind of records I keep don't tell me now who scored first so I can't help with that.
1993: Lost to Luray 8-0. After last week's game, you would think this one would have come back to me, but the truth is that I have no memory of it whatsoever, not even where it was played. You can't always just trace it back and figure it out that way, because sometimes those two-year cycles are structured such that one team gets consecutive home games. So does anyone else out there have any memory of this one? At the least, Bulldog fans should be happy to find out that they are tied with Riverheads in overtime games!
2003: Beat Stuarts Draft 15-12. Although we were well into the Casto era by this time, I just can't recall much about this one, not even where it was held. My records do show that the Cougars were in the Valley at that time and ended with a 3-7 overall record that year, whereas Riverheads went 5-1 in the Shenandoah and 9-3 overall, with Central winning the district that year. This game was scoreless at the half, each team scored a TD in both the third and fourth quarters, but missed all PATs. RHS then won in the OT on an Andrew Knopp field goal. I have to admit that among the string of kickers RHS has had over the years, his is a name that I just don't recall. Another thing I have in my notes is that this was a dead-even game statistically because RHS rushed for 251 yards (159 of those by Jim Moore) but was 0-1 in passing, whereas SD rushed for 221 yards and passed for 36, for a 257 total.
2014: Beat Luray at Riverheads 17-14. Guess there is nothing more to be said about that one.
So that is our tie and overtime history. I wonder if any other teams out there have perhaps had an unusual number of them or maybe some schools have never played a tie or overtime game? I guess it is possible....
The most interesting stat I found while researching this post is that Fort Defiance, while competing in the Valley District in 1982, had two ties in district play to finish 3-4-2 and another non-district tie, to finish with the bizarre overall record of 3-4-3.
