The first-ever meeting between these two schools did not go well for the visitors as the Gladiators prevailed and in the process earned a long trip of their own to Sussex next weekend for the Region 1-B semi-finals. With the win, the Gladiators are now 7-4 on the season.
If you had to sum this game up in one word, it would be turnovers, The Bulldogs fumbled the ball at least half a dozen times tonight, especially in the first half, and although they pounced on the pigskin themselves once in a while, most of the time RHS ended up with the ball and converted it into points. Oddly enough the one fumble that looked the most obvious was not even called one, even though the ball popped up into the air and the Gladiator players gave a clear indication that they had recovered it.
In addition to leaving the ball on the turf that many times, the Bulldogs also threw two interceptions, the most exciting coming in the third quarter when senior Gabe Miller finally got his time to shine by picking off a deflected pass and taking it down the far sideline for what appeared to be a Big Red touchdown. However he was ruled out inside the five, but at least provided the scoring chance that set the running clock in motion.
Because of all those miscues and a fair number of timing-related penalties, it was hard for either team to get into any kind of rhythm. So most Gladiator scoring drives were very short ones because of being handed the ball in advantageous field position. If there were any 80 yards or more drives tonight, I don't remember them.
As for the Bulldogs, in all honesty Riverheads gave them plenty of chances to score by electing to go for pooch kicks all night long. The average starting field position the visitors had tonight was probably somewhere around the 40 yard line. In most cases, one of their turnovers gave the ball right back to Riverheads, until Roderick Kings-Fowlkes busted one up the gut from about 40 yards out to prevent the shutout. I see on the program that he is only a freshman, so maybe he can be someone the Bulldogs can look forward to in future seasons.
As usual, the Gladiators did their damage on the ground as Jackson Fitzgerald scored three times, quarterback Kendal Edwards added two, and sophomore Rylan Payne had a nice game and scored the final Big Red TD. Fitzgerald also ran in a two-point PAT giving him a second straight 20-point game. Place-kicking continues to be a challenge for the Big Red but perhaps they solved that puzzle tonight as Jonah Williams came on and kicked the last four. He also had a chance to close out the first half scoring with a field goal but the timing was off and he missed it to the left.
Both teams deserve credit for what I saw as a clean game. Yes there were some penalties but none of the cheap kind and no indication of any dirty play. With the Big Red moving on in the playoffs, avoiding injury tonight was a key and it did not appear that anyone was too seriously shaken up tonight.
Other winners tonight among Shenandoah teams were Wilson and Stuarts Draft, each posting relatively easy victories, and Buffalo Gap which rallied from behind at Luray to knock off the Bulldogs in an expected slugfest. Fort Defiance and Alleghany lost their playoff openers and are finished for the season. For the Cougars that had to be extra hard, since they were also dealing with the death of a player this week, which has been mentioned in another thread. But they have every reason to be proud of their first season in the Shenandoah.
Elsewhere it sounds like the best game in this general part of the valley tonight was up at Broadway where LCA somehow escaped the Gobblers 14-12. I say "escaped" because the radio broadcast I heard made it sound like they had the same number of penalty/turnover issues that Brunswick did tonight. Yet somehow they held on to win when Broadway failed to convert a two-point conversion late in the game that might have sent it into overtime.
I will chime back in on Monday with a preview of where tonight's winners will go next and what we can expect in those games.
If you had to sum this game up in one word, it would be turnovers, The Bulldogs fumbled the ball at least half a dozen times tonight, especially in the first half, and although they pounced on the pigskin themselves once in a while, most of the time RHS ended up with the ball and converted it into points. Oddly enough the one fumble that looked the most obvious was not even called one, even though the ball popped up into the air and the Gladiator players gave a clear indication that they had recovered it.
In addition to leaving the ball on the turf that many times, the Bulldogs also threw two interceptions, the most exciting coming in the third quarter when senior Gabe Miller finally got his time to shine by picking off a deflected pass and taking it down the far sideline for what appeared to be a Big Red touchdown. However he was ruled out inside the five, but at least provided the scoring chance that set the running clock in motion.
Because of all those miscues and a fair number of timing-related penalties, it was hard for either team to get into any kind of rhythm. So most Gladiator scoring drives were very short ones because of being handed the ball in advantageous field position. If there were any 80 yards or more drives tonight, I don't remember them.
As for the Bulldogs, in all honesty Riverheads gave them plenty of chances to score by electing to go for pooch kicks all night long. The average starting field position the visitors had tonight was probably somewhere around the 40 yard line. In most cases, one of their turnovers gave the ball right back to Riverheads, until Roderick Kings-Fowlkes busted one up the gut from about 40 yards out to prevent the shutout. I see on the program that he is only a freshman, so maybe he can be someone the Bulldogs can look forward to in future seasons.
As usual, the Gladiators did their damage on the ground as Jackson Fitzgerald scored three times, quarterback Kendal Edwards added two, and sophomore Rylan Payne had a nice game and scored the final Big Red TD. Fitzgerald also ran in a two-point PAT giving him a second straight 20-point game. Place-kicking continues to be a challenge for the Big Red but perhaps they solved that puzzle tonight as Jonah Williams came on and kicked the last four. He also had a chance to close out the first half scoring with a field goal but the timing was off and he missed it to the left.
Both teams deserve credit for what I saw as a clean game. Yes there were some penalties but none of the cheap kind and no indication of any dirty play. With the Big Red moving on in the playoffs, avoiding injury tonight was a key and it did not appear that anyone was too seriously shaken up tonight.
Other winners tonight among Shenandoah teams were Wilson and Stuarts Draft, each posting relatively easy victories, and Buffalo Gap which rallied from behind at Luray to knock off the Bulldogs in an expected slugfest. Fort Defiance and Alleghany lost their playoff openers and are finished for the season. For the Cougars that had to be extra hard, since they were also dealing with the death of a player this week, which has been mentioned in another thread. But they have every reason to be proud of their first season in the Shenandoah.
Elsewhere it sounds like the best game in this general part of the valley tonight was up at Broadway where LCA somehow escaped the Gobblers 14-12. I say "escaped" because the radio broadcast I heard made it sound like they had the same number of penalty/turnover issues that Brunswick did tonight. Yet somehow they held on to win when Broadway failed to convert a two-point conversion late in the game that might have sent it into overtime.
I will chime back in on Monday with a preview of where tonight's winners will go next and what we can expect in those games.