As you may have already read if you followed the scoreboard, Riverheads took a 19-0 lead into the locker room and seemed well on their way to a second victory, only to see the Colonels storm back with a monster second half, including a sequence in which they scored twice within about 20 seconds, as they sent the Gladiators back up Route 29 with a 29-25 loss.
The difference in the game was quite simply Number 10 for Altavista. Didn't catch the name but he was about a 120 pound waterbug that the Big Red could not stop to save their souls. He had a brilliant broken field run at the end of the first half that ended with him being tackled around the two, but that undoubtedly inspired him to come out stronger in the second half and once he caught fire, his teammates revved up as well and Riverheads simply did not match the Colonels' intensity.
Each team scored four times, so obviously the difference was in extra points. Riverheads kicked its first one successfully, but after they missed their second attempt, they tried to chase that point and failed on a pair of two point conversions. Conversely Altavista kicked three PATS and added a two-pointer to account for the final margin.
But it was the way in which the Colonels came back and won that no doubt left fans on both sides shaking their heads in disbelief. Once Number 10 caught the fever, he zigged and zagged all over the field and faked the Big Red defense out of its shorts on multiple occasions.
After he scored twice in the third quarter to cut the margin to 19-14, it appeared that the Gladiators had weathered the storm as they engineered a long drive, resulting in Preston McCauley's second TD of the game, and at the 6:08 mark of the fourth quarter, RHS was back on top 25-14.
They then made the strategic error of kicking directly to you-know-who and he took off on a long return to put the home team in the red zone. They scored within about 45 seconds clock time after the RHS score and the game stood at 25-22, with still five minutes left.
I am sorry to report that I cannot tell you for sure what happened on the ensuing kickoff because I had already started around so I could make a quick getaway. But all of a sudden I heard this roar from the Altavista sideline, which told me that something unusual had happened. Next thing I knew the Colonels were lining up on offense and they ran the ball in from the one for the winning score.
So until someone confirms this or tells us differently, my assumption is that the kickoff must have gone deep enough that the Gladiators assumed it was going to go into the end zone. So they didn't touch it and Altavista alertly pounced on it. I suppose it is also possible that the Big Red fielded the kick but then fumbled it. As I said, perhaps someone can clarify.
Anyway, it was a wild one. The Big Red fans did their best to cowbell and air horn the team to victory, but once Big Mo switched sides as completely as he obviously did, the Colonels took full advantage. There is a lot of football to be played yet, but it is possible these two could meet again in a Region 1-B playoff game come November. If so, it will have to be a doozy to top this one.
For right now, the Gladiators need to put this one in the rear view mirror, because a trip to Stuarts Draft is on tap next Friday. In addition to McCauley's two scores tonight, Skyler Shiflett scored one and quarterback Kendal Edwards scored the other on the Big Red's version of the Tush Push, which was one of their most effective plays tonight.
As for the Colonels, kudos to their coaching staff for whatever pep talk they gave in the locker room. But they too will need to put this one behind them for their next game and not go into that one thinking they are still playing Riverheads.
The difference in the game was quite simply Number 10 for Altavista. Didn't catch the name but he was about a 120 pound waterbug that the Big Red could not stop to save their souls. He had a brilliant broken field run at the end of the first half that ended with him being tackled around the two, but that undoubtedly inspired him to come out stronger in the second half and once he caught fire, his teammates revved up as well and Riverheads simply did not match the Colonels' intensity.
Each team scored four times, so obviously the difference was in extra points. Riverheads kicked its first one successfully, but after they missed their second attempt, they tried to chase that point and failed on a pair of two point conversions. Conversely Altavista kicked three PATS and added a two-pointer to account for the final margin.
But it was the way in which the Colonels came back and won that no doubt left fans on both sides shaking their heads in disbelief. Once Number 10 caught the fever, he zigged and zagged all over the field and faked the Big Red defense out of its shorts on multiple occasions.
After he scored twice in the third quarter to cut the margin to 19-14, it appeared that the Gladiators had weathered the storm as they engineered a long drive, resulting in Preston McCauley's second TD of the game, and at the 6:08 mark of the fourth quarter, RHS was back on top 25-14.
They then made the strategic error of kicking directly to you-know-who and he took off on a long return to put the home team in the red zone. They scored within about 45 seconds clock time after the RHS score and the game stood at 25-22, with still five minutes left.
I am sorry to report that I cannot tell you for sure what happened on the ensuing kickoff because I had already started around so I could make a quick getaway. But all of a sudden I heard this roar from the Altavista sideline, which told me that something unusual had happened. Next thing I knew the Colonels were lining up on offense and they ran the ball in from the one for the winning score.
So until someone confirms this or tells us differently, my assumption is that the kickoff must have gone deep enough that the Gladiators assumed it was going to go into the end zone. So they didn't touch it and Altavista alertly pounced on it. I suppose it is also possible that the Big Red fielded the kick but then fumbled it. As I said, perhaps someone can clarify.
Anyway, it was a wild one. The Big Red fans did their best to cowbell and air horn the team to victory, but once Big Mo switched sides as completely as he obviously did, the Colonels took full advantage. There is a lot of football to be played yet, but it is possible these two could meet again in a Region 1-B playoff game come November. If so, it will have to be a doozy to top this one.
For right now, the Gladiators need to put this one in the rear view mirror, because a trip to Stuarts Draft is on tap next Friday. In addition to McCauley's two scores tonight, Skyler Shiflett scored one and quarterback Kendal Edwards scored the other on the Big Red's version of the Tush Push, which was one of their most effective plays tonight.
As for the Colonels, kudos to their coaching staff for whatever pep talk they gave in the locker room. But they too will need to put this one behind them for their next game and not go into that one thinking they are still playing Riverheads.
