Harrison Schaefer scored his most important touchdown of the season tonight with just 39 seconds left in the second quarter as the Gladiators turned back a determined effort by the Eagles and their passing sensation Jaylen McNair. Schaefer's eight-yard off tackle burst, the second of his four TDs on the evening, gave Riverheads its first lead of the night at 21-14 and they were able to pull away in the second half.
But for the first quarter-and-a-half, McNair's magic was getting the job done and fans on both sides were wondering if the Eagles would finally break the stranglehold that RHS has had on them, as the Big Red entered tonight with a 6-0 all-time advantage in the series. The senior QB carved up the Riverheads defense on ER's opening possession as they took the kickoff and drove steadily downfield on a series of short passes before finally punching it in from the one on a quarterback sneak.
However, it took RHS less than a minute to score the equalizer. Schaefer in fact would have taken it to the house on the very first play, if not for Javon Butler's speed pulling him down around the 10. But the senior scored anyway a play or two later to make it 7-7.
The Eagles then scored again on the first of two McNair TD passes to make it 14-7. Little did we know that the Gladiators would then outscore the Eagles 6 TDs to 2 over the duration of the game. Brett Hostetler scored the first of those RHS TDs from 9 yards out to make it 14-14, still in the first quarter.
Following that early offensive surge, the defenses decided to play a little bit, as the Gladiators first forced an Eagle punt, only to turn the ball over themselves on a fumble just as it looked like they were driving in for a go-ahead score. That fumble was Riverheads' only turnover of a game in which the field conditions were surprisingly good and did not seem to contribute to the result.
The Eagles failed to capitalize on that fumble and Riverheads was back in business from about its own 30 with roughly 6 minutes to go in the half. They drove steadily down the field again entirely on the ground. In fact for the second week in a row, RHS did not even attempt a pass and the newspaper credits them for 445 yards rushing tonight, 267 of them by Schaefer on 35 carries.
As the clock wound down, the Big Red used its timeouts strategically in an effort to score the go-ahead touchdown but not necessarily give McNair time to do much himself. That idea worked perfectly, and as the teams trotted off the field, everybody was thinking "hmm, Riverheads gets the second half kickoff, so the key to this game will be whether or not they score on that drive."
Well they did exactly that as Schaefer capped off a five-minute drive with a 12-yard run that made the score 28-14. However, ER made one final push to stay within striking distance as McNair's second TD toss made it 28-21. The paper gave credit to Butler for both TD receptions but I thought Logan Comer caught the first one.
Schaefer answered almost immediately with his longest TD of the night, a 41 yarder in which Butler again had the angle to bring him down but his own slower teammates got in his way, allowing Schaefer to reach the end zone and make it 35-21 late in the third.
The Eagles were not yet ready to fold as they moved into Riverheads territory, hoping to pull back to within one score. But on a fourth and one play, a mishandled snap led to a three yard loss and that turned the tide completely in Riverheads favor. They scored once more in the third on a Dalton Jordan run and Hostetler added his second score for the final home team points. With Riverheads leading 49-21, the Eagles pushed across one final consolation TD with only 26 seconds left.
The keys to the win for RHS had to be sticking to the game plan and maintaining composure instead of letting the early leads get into their heads. Also Riverheads was amazing on fourth down conversions. Although their yardage total was impressive, ER was tough on the run at times and I can remember at least five occasions in which the Gladiators had to convert on fourth to keep a drive alive.
On defense, especially in the second half, they put more pressure on McNair and his completion percentage was way down by the end of the contest. In fact, one local paper said he had not been intercepted yet this season. If that is an accurate stat, he did give one up tonight, but in all fairness, it was not his fault. The pass was well-thrown but just happened to bounce off its intended target and into the arms of Ridge Stokes, who also recovered an Eagle fumble to help the RHS cause.
McNair also displayed some real escapability, as the Gladiators seemed to have him trapped in the backfield a number of times, only to see him wiggle out of trouble and avoid the sack. To the best of my recollection, the Big Red only brought him down once.
So all things considered, we got the contrast we expected of two radically different styles, and in the final analysis, we also got the margin most people expected, but to their credit the Eagles hung in there for 2 1/2 quarters as the game went from 28-21 to 49-21 in pretty short order.
RHS travels to Page next Friday and comparing tonight's score to the Eagles winning by a similar score over the Panthers earlier this week, the Big Red should be favored in that one. In fact, just like they do over ER, the Gladiators hold a perfect all-time series record over Page, having won all 19 times the two have played.
But for the first quarter-and-a-half, McNair's magic was getting the job done and fans on both sides were wondering if the Eagles would finally break the stranglehold that RHS has had on them, as the Big Red entered tonight with a 6-0 all-time advantage in the series. The senior QB carved up the Riverheads defense on ER's opening possession as they took the kickoff and drove steadily downfield on a series of short passes before finally punching it in from the one on a quarterback sneak.
However, it took RHS less than a minute to score the equalizer. Schaefer in fact would have taken it to the house on the very first play, if not for Javon Butler's speed pulling him down around the 10. But the senior scored anyway a play or two later to make it 7-7.
The Eagles then scored again on the first of two McNair TD passes to make it 14-7. Little did we know that the Gladiators would then outscore the Eagles 6 TDs to 2 over the duration of the game. Brett Hostetler scored the first of those RHS TDs from 9 yards out to make it 14-14, still in the first quarter.
Following that early offensive surge, the defenses decided to play a little bit, as the Gladiators first forced an Eagle punt, only to turn the ball over themselves on a fumble just as it looked like they were driving in for a go-ahead score. That fumble was Riverheads' only turnover of a game in which the field conditions were surprisingly good and did not seem to contribute to the result.
The Eagles failed to capitalize on that fumble and Riverheads was back in business from about its own 30 with roughly 6 minutes to go in the half. They drove steadily down the field again entirely on the ground. In fact for the second week in a row, RHS did not even attempt a pass and the newspaper credits them for 445 yards rushing tonight, 267 of them by Schaefer on 35 carries.
As the clock wound down, the Big Red used its timeouts strategically in an effort to score the go-ahead touchdown but not necessarily give McNair time to do much himself. That idea worked perfectly, and as the teams trotted off the field, everybody was thinking "hmm, Riverheads gets the second half kickoff, so the key to this game will be whether or not they score on that drive."
Well they did exactly that as Schaefer capped off a five-minute drive with a 12-yard run that made the score 28-14. However, ER made one final push to stay within striking distance as McNair's second TD toss made it 28-21. The paper gave credit to Butler for both TD receptions but I thought Logan Comer caught the first one.
Schaefer answered almost immediately with his longest TD of the night, a 41 yarder in which Butler again had the angle to bring him down but his own slower teammates got in his way, allowing Schaefer to reach the end zone and make it 35-21 late in the third.
The Eagles were not yet ready to fold as they moved into Riverheads territory, hoping to pull back to within one score. But on a fourth and one play, a mishandled snap led to a three yard loss and that turned the tide completely in Riverheads favor. They scored once more in the third on a Dalton Jordan run and Hostetler added his second score for the final home team points. With Riverheads leading 49-21, the Eagles pushed across one final consolation TD with only 26 seconds left.
The keys to the win for RHS had to be sticking to the game plan and maintaining composure instead of letting the early leads get into their heads. Also Riverheads was amazing on fourth down conversions. Although their yardage total was impressive, ER was tough on the run at times and I can remember at least five occasions in which the Gladiators had to convert on fourth to keep a drive alive.
On defense, especially in the second half, they put more pressure on McNair and his completion percentage was way down by the end of the contest. In fact, one local paper said he had not been intercepted yet this season. If that is an accurate stat, he did give one up tonight, but in all fairness, it was not his fault. The pass was well-thrown but just happened to bounce off its intended target and into the arms of Ridge Stokes, who also recovered an Eagle fumble to help the RHS cause.
McNair also displayed some real escapability, as the Gladiators seemed to have him trapped in the backfield a number of times, only to see him wiggle out of trouble and avoid the sack. To the best of my recollection, the Big Red only brought him down once.
So all things considered, we got the contrast we expected of two radically different styles, and in the final analysis, we also got the margin most people expected, but to their credit the Eagles hung in there for 2 1/2 quarters as the game went from 28-21 to 49-21 in pretty short order.
RHS travels to Page next Friday and comparing tonight's score to the Eagles winning by a similar score over the Panthers earlier this week, the Big Red should be favored in that one. In fact, just like they do over ER, the Gladiators hold a perfect all-time series record over Page, having won all 19 times the two have played.
