Welcome PM BLUES to Big Red Football
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You folks in Greenville really need to discourage inbreeding.
There is nothing like an opening kickoff return to get a team and its fans fired up and Cayden Cook-Cash provided a dandy tonight as he weaved his way down the far sideline and broke one final tackle, literally diving into the end zone to give Riverheads the lead just 18 seconds into the game. That would be the first of his four touchdowns on the evening as the Gladiators breezed by visiting Parry McCluer 49-0.
As expected, this game was a night-and-day difference from last week's season opener over Waynesboro. The Gladiators cleaned up all the little things regarding assignments, timing, etc. and this game was played with much more precision (actually on both sides) than last week's game. I am pretty sure Riverheads had no turnovers and very limited penalties.
As for the Blues, they certainly played a better game than the score might indicate. They have an absolute horse of a running back named Snyder and he must have had 30 carries tonight, often gaining 8 to 10 yards on first down before the Gladiators could bring him down. The Big Red D kept him out of the end zone but that was not an easy task to accomplish.
Back to the Triple C show, the Super Soph scored RHS' first two and last two touchdowns. Following the kickoff return, PM fumbled the ball back to the Big Red and he capped off a 40 yard drive with a sweep right from about 6 yards out. Place-kicker Cooper Robson would go on to have a perfect night, so his second PAT made the score 14-0.
The third Gladiator TD, still in the first quarter, was a thing of beauty. PM had just punted and pinned RHS back at its own 26. Instead of a long drive on the ground, quarterback Bennett Dunlap dropped back for his first pass of the evening. His primary target, Landon Lightner, was covered so he dropped off a shorter pass to fullback Noah Smiley.
The pass itself was no more than 15 yards but Smiley weaved and bobbed, broke a tackle or two, and when he got close to the goal line, did his best CCC impression and literally fell in to complete the 74 yard pass/run TD.
As the second quarter opened, the RHS braintrust wisely took the focus off CCC and threw a couple more weapons at the Blues. Aidan Miller had a couple of nice runs, but the big plays of the quarter came from second-string running back Luke Bryant, who broke loose for about 30 yards on one drive, and scored from the 7 on another. Lightner also got into the act as he hauled in a beautiful sideline throw that Dunlap placed perfectly.
Cole Burton, the Big Red's starting fullback, scored the other TD for Riverheads as the first half ended with a 35-0 score. That of course meant that a running clock would be in effect for the second half.
The Blues received the kickoff but were soon picked off in front of the Riverheads bench by Lightner. That gave the Gladiators a short field to work with and CCC eventually scored his third touchdown on a nice 30 yarder from Dunlap. He would add his fourth touchdown later in the quarter on a sweep around right end in which he once again broke tackles, showing his determination.
The Gladiator subs of course took over in the fourth and they were successful in preserving the shutout, although PM suffered one final frustration when a nice broken field run by their number 5 appeared to put them on the board, but it was called back on an illegal block. They were not able to punch anything in before the clock ran out.
In addition to the crispness of this game, as I mentioned earlier, I was also impressed with the sportsmanship shown by both teams. There was nothing dirty about tonight's game and in fact I don't remember any major penalties. I also noticed players helping opponents off the turf, which is always a good sign.
So a very smooth game in which each team did its best, but the talent difference was just too great. Based on other scores from these first two weeks, the Blues will be fine once they get into their Pioneer schedule.
As for Riverheads, next up is the much-talked-about trip to Lord Botetourt, set of course for next Friday. We will take a look at that game and the rest of the Shenandoah slate after everybody enjoys what sounds like a wonderful Labor Day weekend.
In conclusion, congrats go out to the Hokies for their huge win over UNC tonight. Hopefully UVa and JMU will join them in the winner's circle tomorrow night.
As expected, this game was a night-and-day difference from last week's season opener over Waynesboro. The Gladiators cleaned up all the little things regarding assignments, timing, etc. and this game was played with much more precision (actually on both sides) than last week's game. I am pretty sure Riverheads had no turnovers and very limited penalties.
As for the Blues, they certainly played a better game than the score might indicate. They have an absolute horse of a running back named Snyder and he must have had 30 carries tonight, often gaining 8 to 10 yards on first down before the Gladiators could bring him down. The Big Red D kept him out of the end zone but that was not an easy task to accomplish.
Back to the Triple C show, the Super Soph scored RHS' first two and last two touchdowns. Following the kickoff return, PM fumbled the ball back to the Big Red and he capped off a 40 yard drive with a sweep right from about 6 yards out. Place-kicker Cooper Robson would go on to have a perfect night, so his second PAT made the score 14-0.
The third Gladiator TD, still in the first quarter, was a thing of beauty. PM had just punted and pinned RHS back at its own 26. Instead of a long drive on the ground, quarterback Bennett Dunlap dropped back for his first pass of the evening. His primary target, Landon Lightner, was covered so he dropped off a shorter pass to fullback Noah Smiley.
The pass itself was no more than 15 yards but Smiley weaved and bobbed, broke a tackle or two, and when he got close to the goal line, did his best CCC impression and literally fell in to complete the 74 yard pass/run TD.
As the second quarter opened, the RHS braintrust wisely took the focus off CCC and threw a couple more weapons at the Blues. Aidan Miller had a couple of nice runs, but the big plays of the quarter came from second-string running back Luke Bryant, who broke loose for about 30 yards on one drive, and scored from the 7 on another. Lightner also got into the act as he hauled in a beautiful sideline throw that Dunlap placed perfectly.
Cole Burton, the Big Red's starting fullback, scored the other TD for Riverheads as the first half ended with a 35-0 score. That of course meant that a running clock would be in effect for the second half.
The Blues received the kickoff but were soon picked off in front of the Riverheads bench by Lightner. That gave the Gladiators a short field to work with and CCC eventually scored his third touchdown on a nice 30 yarder from Dunlap. He would add his fourth touchdown later in the quarter on a sweep around right end in which he once again broke tackles, showing his determination.
The Gladiator subs of course took over in the fourth and they were successful in preserving the shutout, although PM suffered one final frustration when a nice broken field run by their number 5 appeared to put them on the board, but it was called back on an illegal block. They were not able to punch anything in before the clock ran out.
In addition to the crispness of this game, as I mentioned earlier, I was also impressed with the sportsmanship shown by both teams. There was nothing dirty about tonight's game and in fact I don't remember any major penalties. I also noticed players helping opponents off the turf, which is always a good sign.
So a very smooth game in which each team did its best, but the talent difference was just too great. Based on other scores from these first two weeks, the Blues will be fine once they get into their Pioneer schedule.
As for Riverheads, next up is the much-talked-about trip to Lord Botetourt, set of course for next Friday. We will take a look at that game and the rest of the Shenandoah slate after everybody enjoys what sounds like a wonderful Labor Day weekend.
In conclusion, congrats go out to the Hokies for their huge win over UNC tonight. Hopefully UVa and JMU will join them in the winner's circle tomorrow night.
I am still having trouble adjusting to Noah Smiley as being a tight end as opposed to fullback, but I will work on that!!!
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