Riverheads vs W&L
- Thread starter h823putt
- Start date
Riverheads long way to go defense not very good tonight next week we will find out if we are contender or not
If it is Riverheads and Galax on one side of the bracket and the other 45 teams or so on the other, I can guarantee you that a Region A team would be in Salem probably v Riverheads.
Alas, someone has to beat Riverheads to get there unless the regions rotate for the state semis like they used to...
The final in this one was 49-15 and it would only be fair to point out that it was not as dominant a performance as that score might indicate. At the half, W & L had just scored to close to within 21-7, and they clearly had the momentum, not to mention the second-half kick-off coming their way.
But things quickly went south for them in the third as a fumble in the backfield and a blocked punt gave the Gladiators two short fields to work with and two drives of less than 30 yards quickly padded the score to 35-7. In the midst of that particular stretch, the Eagles' number 9, Makhi Conley, went down with what appeared to be a leg injury. He was taken off in a golf cart but never appeared to leave the field altogether so hopefully he will be OK.
The story for Riverheads, as it has always been, was the running game. Big Red fans knew what they were getting in the person of Junior Zac Smiley, but to add to the attack, senior Braeson Fulton has come back after not playing since the eighth grade, and the two of them combined for six touchdowns (three each by my count) since you couldn't always tell Fulton's jersey 6 from Smiley's 8. Whatever the total, they made a potent one-two combination, and when they weren't piling up the yards, the Gladiators got positive rushing from Aiden Miller, Cy Cox, Dante Gray, Cole Burton, and Trevor Roberts to keep the Eagle defense constantly off balance.
The rushing attack was so successful that freshman quarterback Bennett Dunlap, still filling in for injured big brother Elijah, did not even have to attempt a pass. But while we are on the subject of Dunlaps, the REALLY pleasant surprise tonight was middle brother, junior Isaiah, who was all over the field on defense and even earned a couple of carries late in the game. If Coach Casto and/or the media were to give out Defensive Player of the Game honors, he would certainly earn it for this game, all 150 pounds of him.
RHS took its first three possessions in for scores, all on drives of around 60-70 yards, to grab a 21-0 lead. There was nothing fancy in the early going, just an average of 6-8 yards per carry, with Fulton and Smiley alternating carries. Each one showed a talent for gaining extra yards after contact, sometimes while grinding backwards against the defense.
The Eagles got their first-half score on a fluke play in which the ball was fumbled into the end zone and covered to trim the margin to 21-7 at the break. But as mentioned above, the third quarter miscues kept them from making more of a game of it.
The most impressive run of the night for the Big Red came midway through the fourth quarter when Burton took off around the left side and rambled about 50 yards down the sideline. It looked momentarily like he could take it to the house but he was dragged down at the three and Miller took it in on the next carry for the final Gladiator TD. The Eagles then scored late in the game against the Big Red reserves and turned a botched PAT into a two-point conversion. As you can probably tell from the score, RHS' all-state place-kicker, Peyton Skillman, was a perfect 7-7 on the night.
If the Gladiators had a glaring weakness in this one tonight it would be penalties.They had several major ones called, including one for a late hit and one for a horse collar. You can usually chalk those up to first-game adrenaline at work, but that will be a stat that will likely be discussed this week in practice. The Gladiators will be facing a much better Glenvar team next Friday and will not be able to make those kinds of mistakes.
A highlight tonight was the annual Hall of Fame induction, with this year's class honored at halftime. Although all six were deserving, the real treat for Gladiator fans was the return of Big Mike Herndon, one of the most decorated Gladiators of all-time, who wrapped up his all-ACC career at Pitt last year. His is truly a story of hard work, dedication and perseverance paying off and you could tell even from a distance that he was genuinely moved to be back home.
So win number one is in the books. It wasn't perfect, there are some things to work on, but we got the job done and it will be a pretty safe bet that the Gladiators will be ready for Glenvar next week. Let's hope all the Eagles fans had a safe trip home, best wishes to Mr. Conley, and we will see you folks at your place this time next year!
But things quickly went south for them in the third as a fumble in the backfield and a blocked punt gave the Gladiators two short fields to work with and two drives of less than 30 yards quickly padded the score to 35-7. In the midst of that particular stretch, the Eagles' number 9, Makhi Conley, went down with what appeared to be a leg injury. He was taken off in a golf cart but never appeared to leave the field altogether so hopefully he will be OK.
The story for Riverheads, as it has always been, was the running game. Big Red fans knew what they were getting in the person of Junior Zac Smiley, but to add to the attack, senior Braeson Fulton has come back after not playing since the eighth grade, and the two of them combined for six touchdowns (three each by my count) since you couldn't always tell Fulton's jersey 6 from Smiley's 8. Whatever the total, they made a potent one-two combination, and when they weren't piling up the yards, the Gladiators got positive rushing from Aiden Miller, Cy Cox, Dante Gray, Cole Burton, and Trevor Roberts to keep the Eagle defense constantly off balance.
The rushing attack was so successful that freshman quarterback Bennett Dunlap, still filling in for injured big brother Elijah, did not even have to attempt a pass. But while we are on the subject of Dunlaps, the REALLY pleasant surprise tonight was middle brother, junior Isaiah, who was all over the field on defense and even earned a couple of carries late in the game. If Coach Casto and/or the media were to give out Defensive Player of the Game honors, he would certainly earn it for this game, all 150 pounds of him.
RHS took its first three possessions in for scores, all on drives of around 60-70 yards, to grab a 21-0 lead. There was nothing fancy in the early going, just an average of 6-8 yards per carry, with Fulton and Smiley alternating carries. Each one showed a talent for gaining extra yards after contact, sometimes while grinding backwards against the defense.
The Eagles got their first-half score on a fluke play in which the ball was fumbled into the end zone and covered to trim the margin to 21-7 at the break. But as mentioned above, the third quarter miscues kept them from making more of a game of it.
The most impressive run of the night for the Big Red came midway through the fourth quarter when Burton took off around the left side and rambled about 50 yards down the sideline. It looked momentarily like he could take it to the house but he was dragged down at the three and Miller took it in on the next carry for the final Gladiator TD. The Eagles then scored late in the game against the Big Red reserves and turned a botched PAT into a two-point conversion. As you can probably tell from the score, RHS' all-state place-kicker, Peyton Skillman, was a perfect 7-7 on the night.
If the Gladiators had a glaring weakness in this one tonight it would be penalties.They had several major ones called, including one for a late hit and one for a horse collar. You can usually chalk those up to first-game adrenaline at work, but that will be a stat that will likely be discussed this week in practice. The Gladiators will be facing a much better Glenvar team next Friday and will not be able to make those kinds of mistakes.
A highlight tonight was the annual Hall of Fame induction, with this year's class honored at halftime. Although all six were deserving, the real treat for Gladiator fans was the return of Big Mike Herndon, one of the most decorated Gladiators of all-time, who wrapped up his all-ACC career at Pitt last year. His is truly a story of hard work, dedication and perseverance paying off and you could tell even from a distance that he was genuinely moved to be back home.
So win number one is in the books. It wasn't perfect, there are some things to work on, but we got the job done and it will be a pretty safe bet that the Gladiators will be ready for Glenvar next week. Let's hope all the Eagles fans had a safe trip home, best wishes to Mr. Conley, and we will see you folks at your place this time next year!
Just to add we did not throw pass as longertimer said are senior quarterback is out for a few more weeks and a freshman starting
I see that officiating came up for discussion regarding another game. I did not see anything worth getting upset about in this one. The only odd thing I remember is that W & L ran a play late in the game, after the outcome was pretty much decided, and you could tell that it was going to be close to a first down. The refs on one side of the field signaled first down while the ones on the other side were indicating that they were going to measure. But the chain crew had already moved the chains, ruling out any chance of measuring. So the Eagles got their first down, whether or not they really earned it. If anything the officials called more on Riverheads as I implied in my post.
