The Green Hornets gained some revenge tonight for several years of frustration as they turned back their arch-rivals in a bruising defensive battle that was fortunately blessed with awesome weather. I was told unofficially that RHS had won the last 11 meetings between the two. The key factor tonight was the play of quarterback Keyvon Jones, who perhaps surprised the Gladiators by playing as big a role as he did.
Most of us had been led to believe that the Hornets were utilizing their freshman signal-caller Cole Kindig and that Jones would be the primary running back. Instead Jones played the entire game at QB and if Kindig played in the game at all, I for one missed it. That strategy allowed for a variety of direct snap plays but the Hornets were also determined to show off Jones' arm as they threw the ball deep four or five times. Ironically only one of those tosses found its intended target and that was not until late in the game when the issue had been decided.
WM scored its first touchdown on a 7 minute drive to open the game. As mentioned, they were mixing up the plays and for that reason, I honestly don't recall if Jones scored it himself but he would certainly have been involved. Their talented placekicker added the PAT and he too was a factor as he buried all three of his kickoffs deep to keep the Gladiators from having a chance at a big return.
Riverheads had its best first-half chance to score when Kendal Edwards lofted a beautiful sideline heave to Skyler Shiflett that he caught in stride and gained about 45 yards before being forced out of bounds around the Wilson 30. But just when it looked like the Gladiators had the momentum to move in for the tie, the Wilson defense forced them into 3rd and long, followed by 4th and long, and the Big Red could not respond.
The score was still 7-0 midway through the second when Jones scored the second Hornet TD on his best running play of the night. He called his own number around midfield, swept to his left, faked out a couple of defenders, and scored almost untouched to make it 14-0 at the break.
The second half was then devoted almost entirely to repeated efforts by the Gladiators to get back in the game. Twice in the third quarter, they drove into Wilson territory but each time the drive ended on a deflected interception. Some RHS fans thought a little interference might have occurred on the second pick but nothing was called.
Meanwhile the Gladiator defense did its job in the second half, which gave their offense one final big chance to score. This time they drove deep into the red zone before the Hornets stopped them around the 9.
By that time, the clock was down to about 4 minutes and you would have thought the Hornets would be more interested in killing the clock. Instead they went deep as mentioned and finally connected on one. However, moments later they went to the well again but this time the Gladiators picked one off themselves. The game then ended with RHS back in Wilson territory for the fourth time in the second half.
With the win, the Hornets remain very much in the title picture with a 2-0 district record. Alleghany and Stuarts Draft are each also undefeated in district play but those two meet next week so something will have to give that night. Meanwhile Wilson will travel to Fort Defiance where the Indians could still be a factor as well. And of course Staunton can't be counted out, especially not after the scare they gave Alleghany last week.
Realistically Riverheads is probably out of title contention unless things really go wild but as always the goal at RHS is to reach the post-season and make the most of that opportunity. Most analysts are of the opinion that when the time comes, the Big Red will have enough of a point standing to qualify for those playoffs and in fact they could still end up with a pretty decent rating considering that four of their final five games are against Class 3 teams, meaning the chances are there to earn those all-important bonus points.
You can bet that the Big Red braintrust has not thrown in the towel by any stretch and in fact their upcoming bye week could not come at a better time. So they can spend the next two weeks healing up any nagging injuries and adjusting as needed for the second half of the season.
Next up will be a home date with Fort Defiance on October 10th, followed by an October 17th road trip to Rockbridge, where unbelievably those two will be meeting for the first time ever, despite being only 20 miles or so apart.
Most of us had been led to believe that the Hornets were utilizing their freshman signal-caller Cole Kindig and that Jones would be the primary running back. Instead Jones played the entire game at QB and if Kindig played in the game at all, I for one missed it. That strategy allowed for a variety of direct snap plays but the Hornets were also determined to show off Jones' arm as they threw the ball deep four or five times. Ironically only one of those tosses found its intended target and that was not until late in the game when the issue had been decided.
WM scored its first touchdown on a 7 minute drive to open the game. As mentioned, they were mixing up the plays and for that reason, I honestly don't recall if Jones scored it himself but he would certainly have been involved. Their talented placekicker added the PAT and he too was a factor as he buried all three of his kickoffs deep to keep the Gladiators from having a chance at a big return.
Riverheads had its best first-half chance to score when Kendal Edwards lofted a beautiful sideline heave to Skyler Shiflett that he caught in stride and gained about 45 yards before being forced out of bounds around the Wilson 30. But just when it looked like the Gladiators had the momentum to move in for the tie, the Wilson defense forced them into 3rd and long, followed by 4th and long, and the Big Red could not respond.
The score was still 7-0 midway through the second when Jones scored the second Hornet TD on his best running play of the night. He called his own number around midfield, swept to his left, faked out a couple of defenders, and scored almost untouched to make it 14-0 at the break.
The second half was then devoted almost entirely to repeated efforts by the Gladiators to get back in the game. Twice in the third quarter, they drove into Wilson territory but each time the drive ended on a deflected interception. Some RHS fans thought a little interference might have occurred on the second pick but nothing was called.
Meanwhile the Gladiator defense did its job in the second half, which gave their offense one final big chance to score. This time they drove deep into the red zone before the Hornets stopped them around the 9.
By that time, the clock was down to about 4 minutes and you would have thought the Hornets would be more interested in killing the clock. Instead they went deep as mentioned and finally connected on one. However, moments later they went to the well again but this time the Gladiators picked one off themselves. The game then ended with RHS back in Wilson territory for the fourth time in the second half.
With the win, the Hornets remain very much in the title picture with a 2-0 district record. Alleghany and Stuarts Draft are each also undefeated in district play but those two meet next week so something will have to give that night. Meanwhile Wilson will travel to Fort Defiance where the Indians could still be a factor as well. And of course Staunton can't be counted out, especially not after the scare they gave Alleghany last week.
Realistically Riverheads is probably out of title contention unless things really go wild but as always the goal at RHS is to reach the post-season and make the most of that opportunity. Most analysts are of the opinion that when the time comes, the Big Red will have enough of a point standing to qualify for those playoffs and in fact they could still end up with a pretty decent rating considering that four of their final five games are against Class 3 teams, meaning the chances are there to earn those all-important bonus points.
You can bet that the Big Red braintrust has not thrown in the towel by any stretch and in fact their upcoming bye week could not come at a better time. So they can spend the next two weeks healing up any nagging injuries and adjusting as needed for the second half of the season.
Next up will be a home date with Fort Defiance on October 10th, followed by an October 17th road trip to Rockbridge, where unbelievably those two will be meeting for the first time ever, despite being only 20 miles or so apart.
