On a sunny 47 degree day in December, Christmas less than a week to go, the fans of the Richmond Region were treated to a growing spectacle, the third annual Big River Rivalry brought to you by the fine folks at the Touchdown Club of Richmond. This annual All-Star Event, not just a game but event that spans practices, combines, a banquet and the game itself; features at the least, two seniors from each school in the 804. It presents a great opportunity for the players, it gives them one more week of football being as most saw their seasons end just a few weeks ago. It also provides a bit more exposure for the young men who are currently being recruited and maybe catch the attention of those who haven’t garnered the attention others have. Then there is bragging rights, North v. South, who has the better players? The better teams? For the fans, it gives them one last glimpse before these young men go off to college or elsewhere. Everyone wins, the players, the fans and Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU who benefit from the proceeds as the Touchdown Club donates all proceeds to the cause.
In the previous two meetings the North has bested the South but not by much, just a point has separated the two and in both instances the games went right down to the very end. Whether the South was trying to make a statement before the game even started or not, the entire team came out for the coin toss in a show of solidarity to midfield for the coin toss. It might as well have been a show of force as the South took the third edition of this one by a score of 26-10.
The first quarter could not have started any worse for the North team who not only fumbled the kickoff return but also saw high snaps get past quarterback Eli Odom as well as the punter. To make matters worse the North continued to suffer ball handling issues as the ball was fumbled again but in each case the North always recovered. Justin Hall of Atlee recovered the loose ball and he followed that up with his best imitation of Odell Beckham Jr. with a one-handed catch out to the 32. While the North struggled with ball control the South did not. Despite a blocked field goal the South still seemed to be able to do more with the ball than the North on offense. Blake Bowen of Trinity Episcopal had a big run and a big pass to Malik Gurley and one pass to Gurley seemed to have caught the defense of the North sleeping or confused them as no one really seemed to know what to do. It was quite comical as the South seemed to be hesitant being as the North did not seem to be doing anything. Gurley saw a lot of action in the first quarter but in the end, with 1:01 to go in the first quarter it was a 7-yard touchdown pass from Blake Bowen to Thomas Dale’s Brian Bullock that finally got points on the board for the first time on this day.
The second quarter saw the North make some noise and make the game interesting. Chase Mummau and Eli Odom split time at quarterback but one constant was the big plays of Justin Hall who was a target of the North quarterbacks all day long. The North early on however struggled against the South defense and with 8:54 to go in the game Ethan Ratke of Atlee came through just as he did for his Raiders this season with a 30-yard field goal. Adonte Braxton of Meadowbrook was an example of the aggressiveness of the South on defense, evident with a sack in the second quarter and that aggressive defense also came up with a turnover that setup a South touchdown. Carter West of Cosby had a touchdown thrown right to him with three minutes to go but the wide receiver dropped the touchdown and so the South had to settle for a field goal which Bryson Henry nailed from 30 yards out. That gave the South a 10-3 lead with a little less than 3 minutes to go in the game. The North tied it up with 31 seconds to go in the first half as the North went 67 yards in 8 plays spanning 2:16! Daekwon Spence of TJ came up with a 9 yard reception while DJ Anderson carried it the rest of the way, ultimately with a touchdown from one yard out.
The South might have started the second half going 3 & out but it did not seem to matter as the South team had no trouble scoring with a touchdown and field goal in the third quarter of play while the North was shutout. The North moved the ball but when it counted, on third and fourth downs they struggled to convert. Penalties did not help the cause either, on the North’s second possession of the half they were penalized on fourth down. The South however had little trouble moving the ball and most of it was in the air. It was in the air that the South broke the tie at 6:16 mark with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Blake Bowen to his Trinity teammate Jake Brown… Less than six minutes later the South went up further, 19-10 after a Bryson Henry 35-yard field goal.
The fourth quarter saw the North and South both punt early and the North with time ticking away would elect not to punt on their second possession. The North had gotten a first down but a broken pass by JayQwon Clarke hurt the North and on two consecutive plays passes fell incomplete. The North however was not done yet. While they were down 19-10, they were able to come up with another blocked field goal like they had in the first quarter. This was after a touchdown was called back due to a holding call and after a non-call pass interference. The North went back to work but Stephen Baughan got to the quarterback with a sack for a loss of 12 yards and while a Mummau pass to teammate Nick Reisenweaver for 34 yards was big, it was not enough. Not enough because it did get the North a first down, out near midfield but the South defense kept bringing it as they had done all game getting to the quarterback in a hurry with a loss of four yards on first down and a sack on fourth down when Odom was brought down by Adonte Braxton. That sack ended the North’s last chance for a comeback. With the ball 1st & 10 at the North 47 Trevion Armstrong hauled in a 36-yard pass to the 11 yard line and three plays later the South was in the endzone again with another Brian Bullock touchdown pass with 1:53 to go.
The North had a lateral in the closing seconds of the game but it was too little too late for the North, In the two previous games there had been one-point wins, this game the South was clearly the better team from start to finish. The South was more aggressive on defense and just made more plays on offense, it’s that simple.
When I say the South was more aggressive on defense, I truly mean it. The South had 6 sacks on the day whereas the North had none! The South had 11 TFL’s for a total of 60 yards lost whereas the North had 4 TFL’s for just a total of 9 yards lost!
The South finally has their first Big River Rivalry win.
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter-
1:00- (S)7-yard TD pass from Blake Bowen to Brian Bullock, PAT good; 7-0 South.
2nd Quarter-
8:37- (N)30-yard Ethan Ratke field goal; 7-3 South.
2:47- (S)30-yard Bryson Henry field goal; 10-3 South.
:31- (N)1-yard TD run from DJ Anderson, PAT good; 10-10 all.
3rd Quarter-
6:16- (S)29-yard TD pass from Blake Bowen to Jake Brown, PAT no good; South 16-10.
:56- (S)35-yard Bryson Henry field goal; 19-10 South.
4th Quarter-
1:53- (S)6-yard TD pass from Blake Bowen to Brian Bullock, PAT good; South 26-10.
Notable Performances:
Blake Bowen of Trinity Episcopal had himself quite a game with 47 yards on the ground 158 with 3 touchdowns in the air! He led in both rushing and passing. Brian Bullock with 81 yards and 2 touchdowns had himself a nice game receiving along with Jake Brown(47 yards) and Malik Gurley(42 yards). Malik also had 43 yards on 2 kick returns. Bryson Henry accounted for eight points with two field goals and two PAT’s. Matt Duignam of James River led the way on defense with 6 total tackles, 2 sacks and a forced fumble! Adonte Braxton, Victor Figueroa and Stephen Baughan all had over four total tackles.
Chase Mummau had the most success on offense for the North with 208 yards passing completing 16 of 31. Nick Reisenweaver led the way receiving with 101 yards and Justin Hall wasn’t far behind with 70. The run game was a bit disappointing considering DJ Anderson and Marcus Bazala combined for a total of 35 yards! On defense Ben Carroll of Mills Godwin and Marcus Tarrer of JR Tucker had four total tackles each.
In the previous two meetings the North has bested the South but not by much, just a point has separated the two and in both instances the games went right down to the very end. Whether the South was trying to make a statement before the game even started or not, the entire team came out for the coin toss in a show of solidarity to midfield for the coin toss. It might as well have been a show of force as the South took the third edition of this one by a score of 26-10.
The first quarter could not have started any worse for the North team who not only fumbled the kickoff return but also saw high snaps get past quarterback Eli Odom as well as the punter. To make matters worse the North continued to suffer ball handling issues as the ball was fumbled again but in each case the North always recovered. Justin Hall of Atlee recovered the loose ball and he followed that up with his best imitation of Odell Beckham Jr. with a one-handed catch out to the 32. While the North struggled with ball control the South did not. Despite a blocked field goal the South still seemed to be able to do more with the ball than the North on offense. Blake Bowen of Trinity Episcopal had a big run and a big pass to Malik Gurley and one pass to Gurley seemed to have caught the defense of the North sleeping or confused them as no one really seemed to know what to do. It was quite comical as the South seemed to be hesitant being as the North did not seem to be doing anything. Gurley saw a lot of action in the first quarter but in the end, with 1:01 to go in the first quarter it was a 7-yard touchdown pass from Blake Bowen to Thomas Dale’s Brian Bullock that finally got points on the board for the first time on this day.
The second quarter saw the North make some noise and make the game interesting. Chase Mummau and Eli Odom split time at quarterback but one constant was the big plays of Justin Hall who was a target of the North quarterbacks all day long. The North early on however struggled against the South defense and with 8:54 to go in the game Ethan Ratke of Atlee came through just as he did for his Raiders this season with a 30-yard field goal. Adonte Braxton of Meadowbrook was an example of the aggressiveness of the South on defense, evident with a sack in the second quarter and that aggressive defense also came up with a turnover that setup a South touchdown. Carter West of Cosby had a touchdown thrown right to him with three minutes to go but the wide receiver dropped the touchdown and so the South had to settle for a field goal which Bryson Henry nailed from 30 yards out. That gave the South a 10-3 lead with a little less than 3 minutes to go in the game. The North tied it up with 31 seconds to go in the first half as the North went 67 yards in 8 plays spanning 2:16! Daekwon Spence of TJ came up with a 9 yard reception while DJ Anderson carried it the rest of the way, ultimately with a touchdown from one yard out.
The South might have started the second half going 3 & out but it did not seem to matter as the South team had no trouble scoring with a touchdown and field goal in the third quarter of play while the North was shutout. The North moved the ball but when it counted, on third and fourth downs they struggled to convert. Penalties did not help the cause either, on the North’s second possession of the half they were penalized on fourth down. The South however had little trouble moving the ball and most of it was in the air. It was in the air that the South broke the tie at 6:16 mark with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Blake Bowen to his Trinity teammate Jake Brown… Less than six minutes later the South went up further, 19-10 after a Bryson Henry 35-yard field goal.
The fourth quarter saw the North and South both punt early and the North with time ticking away would elect not to punt on their second possession. The North had gotten a first down but a broken pass by JayQwon Clarke hurt the North and on two consecutive plays passes fell incomplete. The North however was not done yet. While they were down 19-10, they were able to come up with another blocked field goal like they had in the first quarter. This was after a touchdown was called back due to a holding call and after a non-call pass interference. The North went back to work but Stephen Baughan got to the quarterback with a sack for a loss of 12 yards and while a Mummau pass to teammate Nick Reisenweaver for 34 yards was big, it was not enough. Not enough because it did get the North a first down, out near midfield but the South defense kept bringing it as they had done all game getting to the quarterback in a hurry with a loss of four yards on first down and a sack on fourth down when Odom was brought down by Adonte Braxton. That sack ended the North’s last chance for a comeback. With the ball 1st & 10 at the North 47 Trevion Armstrong hauled in a 36-yard pass to the 11 yard line and three plays later the South was in the endzone again with another Brian Bullock touchdown pass with 1:53 to go.
The North had a lateral in the closing seconds of the game but it was too little too late for the North, In the two previous games there had been one-point wins, this game the South was clearly the better team from start to finish. The South was more aggressive on defense and just made more plays on offense, it’s that simple.
When I say the South was more aggressive on defense, I truly mean it. The South had 6 sacks on the day whereas the North had none! The South had 11 TFL’s for a total of 60 yards lost whereas the North had 4 TFL’s for just a total of 9 yards lost!
The South finally has their first Big River Rivalry win.
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter-
1:00- (S)7-yard TD pass from Blake Bowen to Brian Bullock, PAT good; 7-0 South.
2nd Quarter-
8:37- (N)30-yard Ethan Ratke field goal; 7-3 South.
2:47- (S)30-yard Bryson Henry field goal; 10-3 South.
:31- (N)1-yard TD run from DJ Anderson, PAT good; 10-10 all.
3rd Quarter-
6:16- (S)29-yard TD pass from Blake Bowen to Jake Brown, PAT no good; South 16-10.
:56- (S)35-yard Bryson Henry field goal; 19-10 South.
4th Quarter-
1:53- (S)6-yard TD pass from Blake Bowen to Brian Bullock, PAT good; South 26-10.
Notable Performances:
Blake Bowen of Trinity Episcopal had himself quite a game with 47 yards on the ground 158 with 3 touchdowns in the air! He led in both rushing and passing. Brian Bullock with 81 yards and 2 touchdowns had himself a nice game receiving along with Jake Brown(47 yards) and Malik Gurley(42 yards). Malik also had 43 yards on 2 kick returns. Bryson Henry accounted for eight points with two field goals and two PAT’s. Matt Duignam of James River led the way on defense with 6 total tackles, 2 sacks and a forced fumble! Adonte Braxton, Victor Figueroa and Stephen Baughan all had over four total tackles.
Chase Mummau had the most success on offense for the North with 208 yards passing completing 16 of 31. Nick Reisenweaver led the way receiving with 101 yards and Justin Hall wasn’t far behind with 70. The run game was a bit disappointing considering DJ Anderson and Marcus Bazala combined for a total of 35 yards! On defense Ben Carroll of Mills Godwin and Marcus Tarrer of JR Tucker had four total tackles each.
Last edited:
