It wasn't the wildest ever BG/RHS game ever, but tonight's 29-15 win in Greenville certainly had some odd moments but when the dust settled, a three-touchdown first half from Jackson Fitzgerald and a textbook 21 play/ 93 yard second half drive allowed the Big Red to come away with the win and even their season record at 2-2. If you like trivia, it was the third straight Riverheads game in which the home team scored 29, but at least this time Riverheads WAS the home team.
Buffalo Gap took immediate charge of the game as they held the Gladiators to a three and out, and then marched in for the first of Isaac Goff's two touchdowns. He danced down the far sideline to score from about 15 yards out and the PAT put the visitors up 7-0.
Riverheads then answered almost immediately with Fitzgerald's first and most impressive touchdown. He took the handoff at his own 40 and first appeared to be stopped after about a 10 yard gain. That almost-tackle caused him to lose his balance but he recovered and then faked out one final defender to complete the 60 yard touchdown gallop. Bryan Lopez-Rojas, who had his best kicking night of the season, tied things up at 7-7 midway through the opening period.
The Bison appeared to be headed for a second TD as they moved deep into Gladiator territory. However, when they found themselves facing a 4th and about 12 from the RHS 29, they made a decision that seemed odd to most of us on the home side. They sent out their punter.
Things went from bad to worse for the Gap when the snap slipped past him and sailed out way behind him. He even booted it a bit and by the time the Gladiators tackled him, they were awarded the ball around midfield. As the game moved into the second period, they scored on about a 15 yard Fitzgerald sweep to go up 14-7.
Goff, who was clearly the Gap's best offensive weapon, then scored untouched from about 50 yards out for the second Bison TD. Then came one of the strangest plays of the night, one that some of us still have not figured out. The Bison lined up for the single PAT but dug into their bag of tricks and elected to go for two. There was a big pile of humanity around the goal line but mass confusion ensued because most of us failed to see any signal at all from the refs.
One person in my section said he saw one ref raise his hands but the rest of them gave no signal at all. So all of them gathered around the goal line to decide what the situation called for and finally the head ref gave the good signal to put the Bison ahead 15-14. That did not set well with the home side but at least we know now that it did not impact the game.
Riverheads was then able to push across a third TD with under a minute to go to move ahead 22-15 at the break. Fitzgerald only needed a yard to score this time and QB Kendal Edwards swept right end to equalize the earlier Bison conversion.
The Bison then used half the third quarter to drive toward a tying and possibly go ahead score. Again they fumbled a snap, which they did four or five times altogether and that was enough to allow RHS to stop them at the 7. The Gladiators, as we have seen them do SOOOO many times over the years, then went on a marathon game-clinching drive.
That drive was not without its drama as they converted at least three crucial fourth-downs, including a pass to Dylan Lyszaz, a junior tight end that the average Big Red fan had never heard of. Edwards sneaked the ball across from the one for the final score at around the 6 minute mark and the Gladiators were able to hold on for the big rivalry win.
Converting fourth downs was definitely a key tonight as the Gladiators played for the most part a mistake-free game. Conversely, the Bison as already mentioned lost control of the ball several times, always at the worst possible moment.
Defensively the Big Red got a solid game from the Dotson twins as they always do, and late in the game, Trevor Lima had one last takeaway to stifle the final Bison threat. With the win, the Gladiators went 3-0 against the Gap this week, after Thursday night's Middle School/JV shutout victories. I learned tonight that the Bison JVs had been undefeated going into that game.
Next week Riverheads will mark the halfway point of its season with a trip to Wilson. The Gladiators would like nothing better than to knock off the Green Team and start off the second half of the season above .500 but that will be a tall order.
The rest of tonight's Shenandoah action featured some shocking results. First of all, Staunton came within a point of knocking off Alleghany after "someone" (OK, yeah it was me) told you that one would be a runaway Cougar win. Speaking of Cougars, the ones here in Augusta pitched a 24-0 shutout at Fort Defiance in a game where the victory might not be the shocker but the score is.
Meanwhile Waynesboro picked up win number two on the season with a touchdown margin road win at Rockbridge. I believe that final was 28-21. In the only game where we got what we might have expected, TA pulled away from Wilson to win 28-7. You can bet that just about every weekend the rest of the way will have its surprises.
Buffalo Gap took immediate charge of the game as they held the Gladiators to a three and out, and then marched in for the first of Isaac Goff's two touchdowns. He danced down the far sideline to score from about 15 yards out and the PAT put the visitors up 7-0.
Riverheads then answered almost immediately with Fitzgerald's first and most impressive touchdown. He took the handoff at his own 40 and first appeared to be stopped after about a 10 yard gain. That almost-tackle caused him to lose his balance but he recovered and then faked out one final defender to complete the 60 yard touchdown gallop. Bryan Lopez-Rojas, who had his best kicking night of the season, tied things up at 7-7 midway through the opening period.
The Bison appeared to be headed for a second TD as they moved deep into Gladiator territory. However, when they found themselves facing a 4th and about 12 from the RHS 29, they made a decision that seemed odd to most of us on the home side. They sent out their punter.
Things went from bad to worse for the Gap when the snap slipped past him and sailed out way behind him. He even booted it a bit and by the time the Gladiators tackled him, they were awarded the ball around midfield. As the game moved into the second period, they scored on about a 15 yard Fitzgerald sweep to go up 14-7.
Goff, who was clearly the Gap's best offensive weapon, then scored untouched from about 50 yards out for the second Bison TD. Then came one of the strangest plays of the night, one that some of us still have not figured out. The Bison lined up for the single PAT but dug into their bag of tricks and elected to go for two. There was a big pile of humanity around the goal line but mass confusion ensued because most of us failed to see any signal at all from the refs.
One person in my section said he saw one ref raise his hands but the rest of them gave no signal at all. So all of them gathered around the goal line to decide what the situation called for and finally the head ref gave the good signal to put the Bison ahead 15-14. That did not set well with the home side but at least we know now that it did not impact the game.
Riverheads was then able to push across a third TD with under a minute to go to move ahead 22-15 at the break. Fitzgerald only needed a yard to score this time and QB Kendal Edwards swept right end to equalize the earlier Bison conversion.
The Bison then used half the third quarter to drive toward a tying and possibly go ahead score. Again they fumbled a snap, which they did four or five times altogether and that was enough to allow RHS to stop them at the 7. The Gladiators, as we have seen them do SOOOO many times over the years, then went on a marathon game-clinching drive.
That drive was not without its drama as they converted at least three crucial fourth-downs, including a pass to Dylan Lyszaz, a junior tight end that the average Big Red fan had never heard of. Edwards sneaked the ball across from the one for the final score at around the 6 minute mark and the Gladiators were able to hold on for the big rivalry win.
Converting fourth downs was definitely a key tonight as the Gladiators played for the most part a mistake-free game. Conversely, the Bison as already mentioned lost control of the ball several times, always at the worst possible moment.
Defensively the Big Red got a solid game from the Dotson twins as they always do, and late in the game, Trevor Lima had one last takeaway to stifle the final Bison threat. With the win, the Gladiators went 3-0 against the Gap this week, after Thursday night's Middle School/JV shutout victories. I learned tonight that the Bison JVs had been undefeated going into that game.
Next week Riverheads will mark the halfway point of its season with a trip to Wilson. The Gladiators would like nothing better than to knock off the Green Team and start off the second half of the season above .500 but that will be a tall order.
The rest of tonight's Shenandoah action featured some shocking results. First of all, Staunton came within a point of knocking off Alleghany after "someone" (OK, yeah it was me) told you that one would be a runaway Cougar win. Speaking of Cougars, the ones here in Augusta pitched a 24-0 shutout at Fort Defiance in a game where the victory might not be the shocker but the score is.
Meanwhile Waynesboro picked up win number two on the season with a touchdown margin road win at Rockbridge. I believe that final was 28-21. In the only game where we got what we might have expected, TA pulled away from Wilson to win 28-7. You can bet that just about every weekend the rest of the way will have its surprises.
