I see we have gotten quite a bit off topic here, but I will leave that enrollment business to those of you who claim to know what you are talking about. Instead here is my usual review of the game.
First of all, when you have a blowout like this turned out to be, you tend to think that it was in the bag all along, but in this case, despite the score, I can think of one particular sequence that turned this game in RHS' favor. I will get to that in a moment.
Sussex received the opening kickoff and in case it has not been reported elsewhere, they caught the Big Red off guard with a fake punt that they turned into a 17 yard gain. Moments later they scored on about a 12 yard pass out in the left flat. Their extra point attempt (they always go for two) was a disaster, and sort of set the tone for their offense the rest of the game. They were flagged either two or three times, found themselves backed up to about the 18, and failed to convert.
RHS simply did what RHS does and drove it right back down the field for the equalizer. Harrison Schaefer had the big play, a run around right end for about 35 yards that put them in scoring distance and a few plays later, he waltzed into the end zone untouched from about 6 yards. The first of 7 extra points by Rinaldo Martina, put the Big Red ahead to stay.
Sussex then got a great kickoff return and was right back in business at the Riverheads 40. On first down, they ran the ball for seven yards. That is when we had what I consider to be the game-changing stretch I mentioned above. Facing a second and three from the RHS 33 yard line, the Gladiator defense held them on three straight stops right up the middle and took over at the 30 1/2. If Sussex had managed that first down and perhaps taken the lead back, we could have had a different game. So the first quarter ended 7-6 Riverheads.
The Gladiators then scored three TDs in the second quarter to pretty much take control. But unfortunately another "team" decided to put on a second-quarter performance of its own. I am referring to those 6 or 7 men in their little striped shirts. For those of you that were there or have seen the online broadcast, I ask you.....Have you ever seen such a mess in your life?
On two plays within a minute or two of one another, an offside call was made and they proceeded to march the opposite direction from what was called. Then shortly after that, there was a ridiculously obvious offside on Sussex, which was flagged by a ref standing 3 feet away from it in front of the RHS bench. The offside signal was given, but after a discussion, a ref on the OTHER SIDE of the field decided that it was against the Gladiators. Casto gave one of them holy heck about it on the sideline and it must have done some good, because they were tolerable the rest of the way.
Schaefer scored two of the three second-quarter TDs, both on sweeps right. The first was from about 30 yards, and the second, which came with only 15 seconds left in the half, was only about a 5 yard score, but he had no choice but to somersault over a defender to get into the end zone. If he hadn't, RHS would likely have run out of time. Between his two scores, Brett Hostetler scored on a wide-open 72 yard run down the far sideline in front of the Sussex bench. He was untouched, although for a brief moment it looked like some of that Tiger speed might catch up to him.
Sussex stopped RHS cold on its opening possession of the third quarter and then mounted a drive that looked as if it might get them back in the game. They drove all the way down inside the five yard line, but the Riverheads D held them and took over.
Moments later, Schaefer scored the back-breaker of the day as he took off around his favorite right end, and streaked about 75 yards for his fourth TD of the game. As he broke into the open, he stumbled just a bit, but had the presence of mind to gather himself and get his balance, and then it was all over.
As others have touched upon, Sussex got frustrated in the second half and there were some ugly moments, including some unsportsmanlike penalties and the ejection that was noted. However, I did notice that the guy who was ejected was the one who led the post-game handshake line for Sussex. I also noticed some other plays along the way that DID show decent sportsmanship (pats on the back, helping each other up, that sort of thing) so unless I missed something, it was just one or two cases of frustration and the situation did not come close to getting out of hand.
The Gladiators then scored twice more in the fourth quarter, one on a halfback option pass from Schaefer to Ridge Stokes from inside the red zone, and the final score was a wide-open 10 yard run by Hostetler in which Sussex was quite frankly too pooped to care whether he scored or not. The running clock came into play and helped speed the game along.
So congrats to the Big Red for State Title Number Four. I won't even consider saying that this was the biggest of the four, because that would take away from the first three. I do find it neat that they have been spaced out (2000, 2006, and 2010) so that a larger number of young men have gotten the experience of earning a championship ring. In the time between our last state title and this one, the Gladiators have also won state titles in baseball and soccer, and the girls have made some major noise in volleyball. So keep up the good work there in Greenville!
Big Red boys basketball starts this coming Wednesday (14th) as we travel to Fort Defiance for the first meeting ANYWHERE against the Indians in 36 years. RHS' first home game is Friday, a district game against Luray.
