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Riverheads vs Lord Botetourt

IMO, a 10-point Riverheads lead at the half is about what was expected. Not sure anyone was expecting scoring this high, though.
 
This team will not be stopped this season. And not a single 1A team is within 50+ of them when they are on. Hell I'd be willing to bet 99% of 2A teams aren't and probably most 3A schools aren't either. Even though I'm not a RH fan this is beyond impressive what we are witnessing from the BIG RED MACHINE!
 
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I know you guys rely on me for my detailed reports but let's face it, these old brain cells can only do so much after seeing 100 points put on the scoreboard and then driving almost 100 miles back home. So for once I am grateful to the fans on here and on the 3-A board for covering most of the action already. So I will just add a few comments here at this late hour.

I would say this game was decided by two major adjustments made by the RHS coaching staff, one in each half. In the first half, Cayden Cook-Cash was handling most of the offense for Riverheads, scoring a pair of early touchdowns, one on the ground and one through the air. So the Gladiator braintrust threw a monkey wrench by inserting LB into the game.

No that does not mean Lord Botetourt in this case, although we heard plenty of LB chants from their fans. No, in this case, the Gladiators' "LB" was Luke Bryant and he was a major reason for this Big Red win tonight. He ran like a man possessed, refusing to be brought down, and I know he scored at least three times.

The reason why his presence made such a difference was because it gave the Cavaliers one more weapon to look for. I had told you guys in a pre-game post that one advantage RHS would have was its depth on the offensive side of the ball. So with Triple C already established as a threat in the game, and Cole Burton also having some good early runs, when the Gladiators threw LB into the game, well let's just say LB had never seen an LB like that LB!

The second adjustment, and I think a Parry McCluer fan if I am not mistaken has already pointed this out in his post, Riverheads' coaching staff is incredible at making halftime adjustments, especially on the defensive side of the ball. And goodness knows adjustments were needed tonight because in that wild and woolly first half, nobody was stopping anybody.

I don't know the Xs and Os of the game well enough to even speculate what those adjustments were, but they were SO effective that the Cavaliers' very late touchdown pass was pretty much their only big play of the second half after they had run roughshod over the Big Red in the first half.

The first half went like this, and like I said, I cannot possibly recap each play.........7-0 Riverheads on a CCC reception; LB ties it at 7 with a touchdown pass of its own; Burton gets horse-collared, leading to a Bennett Dunlap QB sneak for a 14-7 lead; LB ties it at 14 and that was all in the first quarter. Ironically the quarter started with each team turning the ball over on its first possession before all the fireworks started.

With Luke inserted in the early stages of the second quarter and the Cavaliers also running hog wild, the teams combined for seven more touchdowns. However the PATs became a problem after each team had been perfect in the first quarter. With RHS ahead 21-14, the Cavs scored but Riverheads blocked the kick. RHS then moved ahead 28-20 and of course LB came back to score, making it 28-26.

In that situation, some teams would have gone for two and the tie but the Cavs were not ready to chase points. So they kicked again but it sailed wide. RHS scored again to go up 34-26 and had a chance to make it a two-score game but this time they missed the PAT.

The Cavs scored, maybe this was the kickoff return, and that cut it to 34-32. This time they did go for the tie, but RHS stuffed it.

That left the Gladiators just under three minutes to work with and they scored with just 17 seconds left, according to a newspaper article I have read. This time they did get the PAT to take the two-score lead into the locker room.

Even though the missed conversions ended up not being the deciding factor in the game, you could argue that they did put the Cavs in a bit of a hole and possibly made them sweat in the second half. But then when RHS put up two scores in the third quarter to go up 55-32, it was all over but the shouting. In case you haven't picked up on this detail, RHS never trailed in the game.

So definitely one of the more classic games in RHS history and that is saying something. (I will still pick 1999 Luray and 2010 Eastern Montgomery as two better ones, and of course last year's slugfest with Stuarts Draft has to rank up there too.)

But this one came down to RHS' blue-collar guys being better than the Cavs' college prospects that we had heard about. And believe me, their guys lived up to their hype. But I guess we just had the better depth. That paper I alluded to said that RHS had about 570 yards in total offense.

I will also mention that I did not consider it a dirty game and I commend the PA guy for being quite fair to Riverheads throughout the game and mentioning the now 39 game winning streak more than once. The 9-11 memorial to start the game was also a nice touch. Hope everyone had a safe trip home and now we move on to Stuarts Draft next Friday.
 
Yeah, that final score versus the halftime score really shows the defensive adjustments Casto made.
 
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This team will not be stopped this season. And not a single 1A team is within 50+ of them when they are on. Hell I'd be willing to bet 99% of 2A teams aren't and probably most 3A schools aren't either. Even though I'm not a RH fan this is beyond impressive what we are witnessing from the BIG RED MACHINE!
I don’t even think the top 5 teams in 2A would come within 2 scores of Riverheads
 
I don’t even think the top 5 teams in 2A would come within 2 scores of Riverheads
The only thing that could slow down Riverheads is covid and good lord forbid that happens to them. Possibly the best 1A team in history of Virginia overall, I'm sure there have been better teams for a year or two here and there but over a period of time they may have it covered. The state game two years ago I do believe that Galax could've beat them and probably should have. Does anyone know if any of the dominant teams from southwest Virginia ever had winning streaks like Riverheads is on now?
 
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The only thing that could slow down Riverheads is covid and good lord forbid that happens to them. Possibly the best 1A team in history of Virginia overall, I'm sure there have been better teams for a year or two here and there but over a period of time they may have it covered. The state game two years ago I do believe that Galax could've beat them and probably should have. Does anyone know if any of the dominant teams from southwest Virginia ever had winning streaks like Riverheads is on now?
Possibly some of the former Powell Valley teams from the 90s. I know Giles was on a 27 game win streak from 2013-2014 but I can’t think of anyone else.
 
Yeah, that final score versus the halftime score really shows the defensive adjustments Casto made.
LB’s qb rolled his ankle in LB’s first series of the 2nd half is more of the reason LB’s offense was non existent in the 2nd half.
 
Ok, count the number of plays for the Defensive starters after half time? Corner, LB’s, DT’s all were subbed at times. Depth was shown. And absolutely the young man not playing was an impact but you can’t dismiss adjustments altogether.
 
L B was clearly the better team ! I saw it on the Radio . Wish I could have made it to Daleville so I could get in this discussion . WOW !
 
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Ok, count the number of plays for the Defensive starters after half time? Corner, LB’s, DT’s all were subbed at times. Depth was shown. And absolutely the young man not playing was an impact but you can’t dismiss adjustments altogether.
It's also worth noting. LB went in at halftime and obviously did NOT make the adjustments necessary to slow down Riverheads on offense.
 
How is it that a team faster and larger across the board gets whipped by a team much smaller and slower ? Could it be the in the Heart of the players or is the coaching that much of a factor ?
 
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This is not the same LB team from the spring. Some teams that are very capable of beating Riverheads. Brookville, Heritage,LCA, and Appomattox.
 
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This is not the same LB team from the spring. Some teams that are very capable of beating Riverheads. Brookville, Heritage,LCA, and Appomattox.
Appomattox? Really? They just got waxed by Heritage. Without the starting QB theyre not near the team they were. No chance without him.
 
Riverheads definitely could beat most of 3 a schools, but just a reminder 3a is down and I will say there are a few 1a that could beat some 3a schools. Love ok at the valley I don’t know if they could compete in a good 1a district.
 
This has to be one of the biggest regular season wins in Riverheads history. Every game comes down to matchups and I thought that LB might matchup well with Riverheads thanks to their size up front, but I was sorely mistaken. It will be interesting to see how LB does with Appomattox.

There aren't many, if any, better coaches than Casto. This is just further proof of it.
 
This has to be one of the biggest regular season wins in Riverheads history. Every game comes down to matchups and I thought that LB might matchup well with Riverheads thanks to their size up front, but I was sorely mistaken. It will be interesting to see how LB does with Appomattox.

There aren't many, if any, better coaches than Casto. This is just further proof of it.
Casto and staff which most have been there his entire time while coaching rhs, at half I said norcross would make some changes which they did and held them to 1 score in the second half, this is only week 3 rhs gets better each game, so by week 7 rhs is usually playing there best and getting ready for the playoffs
 
LB got whipped, Harless was on all the preseason shows saying they had speed...ummm what?! Congrats to Riverheads, 1A power takes down 3A power.
speed is relevant pretty sure Glass had more speed
 
speed is relevant pretty sure Glass had more speed
I agree, speaking of what Coach said, speed with the Clydesdales he has upfront and they should be undefeated...imo. Not looking like a deep playoff run for them.
 
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Appomattox? Really? They just got waxed by Heritage. Without the starting QB theyre not near the team they were. No chance without him.
Heritage would probably beat Your guys too, bad example. Now had LB played Appomattox and waxed them then I would agree. We will get to see this matchup this Friday. Maybe it will change my mind. I do agree that you could beat a majority of C3 teams. Not the top teams like LCA, Brookville, Heritage, Hopewell, Phoebus, Lafayette or Lake Taylor. Even though your roster size is the same or larger.
 
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I don’t even think the top 5 teams in 2A would come within 2 scores of Riverheads
We will see when Draft plays RHS. Healthy Appo and a couple 2D teams disagree. Tazwell who was not great was within rwo last year. Maybe this year is that much better, may be in wrong. Let's wait a bit before calling them 85 bears.
 
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Saw the game live but did not saw it on the radio, I bet u heard me on the megaphone
I might have on 1240 the boss . I just can't travel out of Augusta Co. I have one of those convict anklets .
 
L B was clearly the better team ! I saw it on the Radio . Wish I could have made it to Daleville so I could get in this discussion . WOW !
Y’all just need to calm down, I’m not taking anything away from your red machine, I’m just stating the facts, #7 stays on the field and it’s basically whoever can score last that wins. Neither defense could stop the others offense in the first half. #7 is the truth and he ran wild on y’all in the first half!! Hasn’t been done on y’all in a long time. It is what it is
 
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So, can the LB defense contain Appo this week?

Incidentally, I'm seriously planning on going to this game. I’ve never been to a game at Appomattox, so this looks like a good opportunity for me.

Hopefully I’ll get to meet and shake hands with several of you Raiders faithful.
 
So, can the LB defense contain Appo this week?

Incidentally, I'm seriously planning on going to this game. I’ve never been to a game at Appomattox, so this looks like a good opportunity for me.

Hopefully I’ll get to meet and shake hands with several of you Raiders faithful.
I don’t know!!
 
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