First of all, someone stole my thunder!!! After watching the Clemson/UVa game, I was all prepared to come on here and start my game recap by accusing the Tigers of "impersonating" Riverheads tonight by allowing the underdog team to take the opening kickoff, get a couple of first downs, and threaten to score first to upset the apple cart, before putting them in their place with a deep interception and then going on to dominate the game. But as you have already read, somebody else has already made a Clemson/Riverheads connection so I will abandon that part of my report.
By the way, to answer someone's question, Trevor Lawrence's father went to Riverheads at one point and played basketball but did not graduate from there. He transferred to Fishburne and graduated from there. Trevor's grandmother still lives in the same house in Greenville and I get a lot of my Clemson updates from her. She has had me watching him since his freshman year in high school. I wish UVa could have kept that one at least a little bit closer tonight but at least they put a few points on the board. I was fearing one of those 76-3 games.
OK, back to the subject at hand........Before beginning my game review, I cannot believe that people would blame a 41-point loss on the officiating. Sure they are going to miss some things here and there and they likely did today, but referees did not score eight touchdowns in this game, intercept three passes and turn them all into touchdowns, and sack the quarterback half a dozen other times. So good grief guys....you lost to a better team that was far more prepared than you were and more importantly, made smarter in-game adjustments. At least have the decency to see the game for what it was.
OK as already indicated, Essex had the first opportunity to score. RHS pooch-kicked to start the game and the Trojans started around their own 40. They moved into Gladiator territory and went for the home run ball. But Elijah Dunlap went up with the receiver and out-positioned him for the first of three Gladiator picks.
Zac Smiley then burst off tackle on the very first play from scrimmage and went 90 yards for what I am sure is his longest career touchdown. As he broke the line of containment it looked as if two Essex defenders would have the angle to bring him down and if the field had been ten yards longer, they may have but he crossed the goal line just ahead of them for the first TD of the day.
On the Big Red's next possession, his little brother Noah (and they will BOTH be back next year folks, as will be several others you will read about) zipped off left tackle himself for about a 39 yard TD. His score was simply a case of poor tackling as at least two defenders had their chance to bring him down but he just shook them off.
Still in the first quarter, Cy Cox (also just a junior!) was Johnny on the Spot to pick off a deflected pass and race untouched into the end zone for the third Big Red TD. That score from about 20-25 yards made it 21-0 after Peyton Skillman's PAT. (He by the way IS a senior but my sources tell me his replacement has already been recruited from the soccer team.)
Essex then got its first TD midway through the second quarter, helped along by a field-position exchange on a pair of punts. They had pinned the Gladiators at their own ten, and when RHS was unable to move out of the hole, Essex got the ball back in great field position at the Riverheads 24. They still needed six or eight plays to score and just barely pushed across a two yard TD pass on fourth down.
It appeared that we were headed for a 21-8 halftime score, which admittedly would have left the issue very much in doubt. But the Gladiators took a gamble right before half and it paid off. They had received a punt around their own 40 with less than 30 seconds left. Many coaches would have been content taking that lead into the locker room, but when Cox ripped off about a 20 yard gain, that made it worth the effort to try a long pass.
Dunlap, who had the earlier interception, was the marksman this time and he connected with Braeson Fulton (both seniors) for about the 10th or 11th time this season. As soon as the pass was released, you could tell that he had gotten behind the defender. The surprising part was that he made it into the end zone. It appeared that he was not that close and that we might have to use our final timeout and maybe try a field goal. But he squeezed in just inside the pylon to make it 28-8 with just five seconds left in what was arguably the most important score of the game.
Especially when you consider that RHS then received the second half kickoff and took five precious minutes off the clock before attempting a field goal. Essex blocked it but could not move the ball themselves and the Big Red instead scored its only third-quarter TD on a short run by Zac Smiley.
At some point in the third, knowing that there would be another game to play next week, the coaching staff then made what I considered to be a brilliant move. They essentially rested Smiley and Cox, who had been doing most of the running on the day, and inserted a new backfield combination that Essex was not at all prepared for.
One of those was second string fullback Cole Burton (only a sophomore) and on his first carry of the game, he rambled straight up the gut for 58 yards to put the Big Red back in scoring position. The other replacement back was none other than Fulton who had been part of a potent one-two punch with Smiley early in the season but had not carried the ball very much over the last four or five games. So one might assume that the Trojans had scouted him almost entirely as a receiver. Instead he carried the ball effectively three or four times, including a 12-yard fourth-quarter TD run around left end.
Although Burton did not score on the aforementioned 58 yarder, he did score later on about a 15 yard burst straight up the middle. My memory is a little shaky but I think his TD was set up by Cox's second interception of the day. Cox by the way received the local radio station's Player of the Game honors for his all-around efforts.
Essex scored a second TD against the RHS reserves to make it 49-15 and Bennett Dunlap (only a freshman folks and he has all the potential in the world to meet if not exceed Big Brother's stats by the time he is finished) scored on a QB sneak to round out the scoring.
Next up as everyone has documented will be a rubber match you might say against Galax. That one will of course be analyzed to the hilt this upcoming week and of course we here in Augusta County are happy to be sharing the Salem stage with our Stuarts Draft neighbors. I am not thrilled about the 70% chance of rain being mentioned for next Saturday but I guess that could change. With artificial turf in Salem I doubt if rain would cause the games to be re-scheduled but we will cross that bridge if and when we get to it.
Didn't we play one of our championship games on Sunday instead of Saturday due to a snowstorm or am I making that up? Anyone else remember that?
By the way, to answer someone's question, Trevor Lawrence's father went to Riverheads at one point and played basketball but did not graduate from there. He transferred to Fishburne and graduated from there. Trevor's grandmother still lives in the same house in Greenville and I get a lot of my Clemson updates from her. She has had me watching him since his freshman year in high school. I wish UVa could have kept that one at least a little bit closer tonight but at least they put a few points on the board. I was fearing one of those 76-3 games.
OK, back to the subject at hand........Before beginning my game review, I cannot believe that people would blame a 41-point loss on the officiating. Sure they are going to miss some things here and there and they likely did today, but referees did not score eight touchdowns in this game, intercept three passes and turn them all into touchdowns, and sack the quarterback half a dozen other times. So good grief guys....you lost to a better team that was far more prepared than you were and more importantly, made smarter in-game adjustments. At least have the decency to see the game for what it was.
OK as already indicated, Essex had the first opportunity to score. RHS pooch-kicked to start the game and the Trojans started around their own 40. They moved into Gladiator territory and went for the home run ball. But Elijah Dunlap went up with the receiver and out-positioned him for the first of three Gladiator picks.
Zac Smiley then burst off tackle on the very first play from scrimmage and went 90 yards for what I am sure is his longest career touchdown. As he broke the line of containment it looked as if two Essex defenders would have the angle to bring him down and if the field had been ten yards longer, they may have but he crossed the goal line just ahead of them for the first TD of the day.
On the Big Red's next possession, his little brother Noah (and they will BOTH be back next year folks, as will be several others you will read about) zipped off left tackle himself for about a 39 yard TD. His score was simply a case of poor tackling as at least two defenders had their chance to bring him down but he just shook them off.
Still in the first quarter, Cy Cox (also just a junior!) was Johnny on the Spot to pick off a deflected pass and race untouched into the end zone for the third Big Red TD. That score from about 20-25 yards made it 21-0 after Peyton Skillman's PAT. (He by the way IS a senior but my sources tell me his replacement has already been recruited from the soccer team.)
Essex then got its first TD midway through the second quarter, helped along by a field-position exchange on a pair of punts. They had pinned the Gladiators at their own ten, and when RHS was unable to move out of the hole, Essex got the ball back in great field position at the Riverheads 24. They still needed six or eight plays to score and just barely pushed across a two yard TD pass on fourth down.
It appeared that we were headed for a 21-8 halftime score, which admittedly would have left the issue very much in doubt. But the Gladiators took a gamble right before half and it paid off. They had received a punt around their own 40 with less than 30 seconds left. Many coaches would have been content taking that lead into the locker room, but when Cox ripped off about a 20 yard gain, that made it worth the effort to try a long pass.
Dunlap, who had the earlier interception, was the marksman this time and he connected with Braeson Fulton (both seniors) for about the 10th or 11th time this season. As soon as the pass was released, you could tell that he had gotten behind the defender. The surprising part was that he made it into the end zone. It appeared that he was not that close and that we might have to use our final timeout and maybe try a field goal. But he squeezed in just inside the pylon to make it 28-8 with just five seconds left in what was arguably the most important score of the game.
Especially when you consider that RHS then received the second half kickoff and took five precious minutes off the clock before attempting a field goal. Essex blocked it but could not move the ball themselves and the Big Red instead scored its only third-quarter TD on a short run by Zac Smiley.
At some point in the third, knowing that there would be another game to play next week, the coaching staff then made what I considered to be a brilliant move. They essentially rested Smiley and Cox, who had been doing most of the running on the day, and inserted a new backfield combination that Essex was not at all prepared for.
One of those was second string fullback Cole Burton (only a sophomore) and on his first carry of the game, he rambled straight up the gut for 58 yards to put the Big Red back in scoring position. The other replacement back was none other than Fulton who had been part of a potent one-two punch with Smiley early in the season but had not carried the ball very much over the last four or five games. So one might assume that the Trojans had scouted him almost entirely as a receiver. Instead he carried the ball effectively three or four times, including a 12-yard fourth-quarter TD run around left end.
Although Burton did not score on the aforementioned 58 yarder, he did score later on about a 15 yard burst straight up the middle. My memory is a little shaky but I think his TD was set up by Cox's second interception of the day. Cox by the way received the local radio station's Player of the Game honors for his all-around efforts.
Essex scored a second TD against the RHS reserves to make it 49-15 and Bennett Dunlap (only a freshman folks and he has all the potential in the world to meet if not exceed Big Brother's stats by the time he is finished) scored on a QB sneak to round out the scoring.
Next up as everyone has documented will be a rubber match you might say against Galax. That one will of course be analyzed to the hilt this upcoming week and of course we here in Augusta County are happy to be sharing the Salem stage with our Stuarts Draft neighbors. I am not thrilled about the 70% chance of rain being mentioned for next Saturday but I guess that could change. With artificial turf in Salem I doubt if rain would cause the games to be re-scheduled but we will cross that bridge if and when we get to it.
Didn't we play one of our championship games on Sunday instead of Saturday due to a snowstorm or am I making that up? Anyone else remember that?
