After winning their own Homecoming game last Friday, the Gladiators helped Rockbridge County celebrate theirs this week, but unfortunately the only thing the home team enjoyed was the crowning of the King and Queen, and also scoring a touchdown on the very last play of the game to keep the Big Red from posting a second straight shutout. I was trying to beat the traffic so I cannot tell you if they converted their extra point, so the final was either 41-6 or 7 or 8.
Before diving into the details of the game, I am sure I speak for all Gladiator fans when I send out best wishes for a speedy recovery to Rick Dotson, who suffered a heart attack earlier this week. His twin sons, Chris and Jayden, are defensive standouts for the Big Red in their senior year. My sources tell me that he is recovering nicely, so keep up the good work and we will expect to see you back on fence patrol very soon.
As for tonight's game, since it was the first-ever game between the two, they did not know each other or have a natural rivalry. So that may explain the raggedness of the game, as it was stopped numerous times for penalties, injuries, discussions among the officials, and calls that were never really explained to anyone's satisfaction. As the game swung more in Riverheads' favor, the Wildcats were hit with some personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, especially in the second quarter, and there was even speculation that a Wildcat player was ejected. Just one of many things that were not made clear.
For a team that came within a whisker of being shut out, the Wildcats moved the ball effectively at times and they spent quite a bit of time in Riverheads territory. Based on the PA announcer's energy, I would not be surprised to learn that they had more first downs than Riverheads. They moved the ball across midfield on their opening possession and went into their bag of tricks for a fake field goal, which Riverheads diagnosed and stopped.
Shortly thereafter, Jackson Fitzgerald recovered a fumble and eventually scored the first of his two TDs to get the party started for the Big Red. The sluggishness then ensued for a while but the Gladiators still managed to get second quarter touchdowns from quarterback Kendal Edwards and sophomore running back Rylan Payne to make it 21-0 at the break.
By this time, many folks in the crowd were buzzing about the news that Wilson was taking down Alleghany, which they did by a final score of 17-3. Needless to say, that will tighten up the Shenandoah District race.
But in Lexington, the second half was played at a faster and cleaner pace and even the running clock was featured for a while. The Gladiators wrapped up their scoring with a second TD from Fitzgerald, a short run by Skyler Shiflett and perhaps the nicest Big Red run of the night, a 40 yard scamper down the far sideline by Spencer Simpson. As they have been doing lately, Bryan Lopez-Rojas and Jonah Williams combined for five out of six PATs.
That Simpson TD set the running clock in motion, and RCHS made one final gallant effort against the second-string Riverheads defense. The last time I looked at the clock it was running with around 20 seconds left and they still looked like they had about 30 yards to go. So I am assuming the Wildcats scored on a long pass or run play and since it occurred literally with the clock showing zero, they may not have even tried a PAT.
Tonight's results out in Covington will certainly make the rest of the season interesting, starting as early as next Friday, when Alleghany travels to Riverheads. If the Big Red can pin a second loss on them, which now seems at least possible, that will knock them out of the district race, whereas a Cougar win will probably mean a three-team race down to the wire between Alleghany, Wilson and Stuarts Draft. In fact the game at Fishersville on Finale Night, when SD will come calling, now looks like the championship game.
In another surprising result, the last we heard Buffalo Gap was leading Staunton 32-0 on its own field. It is not strange that the Bison won, but that margin is a bit shocking. The Bison have been hot lately as they battle Riverheads for a prime Region 1-B playoff.
Before diving into the details of the game, I am sure I speak for all Gladiator fans when I send out best wishes for a speedy recovery to Rick Dotson, who suffered a heart attack earlier this week. His twin sons, Chris and Jayden, are defensive standouts for the Big Red in their senior year. My sources tell me that he is recovering nicely, so keep up the good work and we will expect to see you back on fence patrol very soon.
As for tonight's game, since it was the first-ever game between the two, they did not know each other or have a natural rivalry. So that may explain the raggedness of the game, as it was stopped numerous times for penalties, injuries, discussions among the officials, and calls that were never really explained to anyone's satisfaction. As the game swung more in Riverheads' favor, the Wildcats were hit with some personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, especially in the second quarter, and there was even speculation that a Wildcat player was ejected. Just one of many things that were not made clear.
For a team that came within a whisker of being shut out, the Wildcats moved the ball effectively at times and they spent quite a bit of time in Riverheads territory. Based on the PA announcer's energy, I would not be surprised to learn that they had more first downs than Riverheads. They moved the ball across midfield on their opening possession and went into their bag of tricks for a fake field goal, which Riverheads diagnosed and stopped.
Shortly thereafter, Jackson Fitzgerald recovered a fumble and eventually scored the first of his two TDs to get the party started for the Big Red. The sluggishness then ensued for a while but the Gladiators still managed to get second quarter touchdowns from quarterback Kendal Edwards and sophomore running back Rylan Payne to make it 21-0 at the break.
By this time, many folks in the crowd were buzzing about the news that Wilson was taking down Alleghany, which they did by a final score of 17-3. Needless to say, that will tighten up the Shenandoah District race.
But in Lexington, the second half was played at a faster and cleaner pace and even the running clock was featured for a while. The Gladiators wrapped up their scoring with a second TD from Fitzgerald, a short run by Skyler Shiflett and perhaps the nicest Big Red run of the night, a 40 yard scamper down the far sideline by Spencer Simpson. As they have been doing lately, Bryan Lopez-Rojas and Jonah Williams combined for five out of six PATs.
That Simpson TD set the running clock in motion, and RCHS made one final gallant effort against the second-string Riverheads defense. The last time I looked at the clock it was running with around 20 seconds left and they still looked like they had about 30 yards to go. So I am assuming the Wildcats scored on a long pass or run play and since it occurred literally with the clock showing zero, they may not have even tried a PAT.
Tonight's results out in Covington will certainly make the rest of the season interesting, starting as early as next Friday, when Alleghany travels to Riverheads. If the Big Red can pin a second loss on them, which now seems at least possible, that will knock them out of the district race, whereas a Cougar win will probably mean a three-team race down to the wire between Alleghany, Wilson and Stuarts Draft. In fact the game at Fishersville on Finale Night, when SD will come calling, now looks like the championship game.
In another surprising result, the last we heard Buffalo Gap was leading Staunton 32-0 on its own field. It is not strange that the Bison won, but that margin is a bit shocking. The Bison have been hot lately as they battle Riverheads for a prime Region 1-B playoff.
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