River View ends post season, falls to Shady Spring
River View (26) vs. Shady Spring (33)
Written: Nov 20, 2011
By JONATHAN GREENE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph The Bluefield Daily Telegraph Sun Nov 20, 2011, 05:00 AM EST
SHADY SPRING — For 24 minutes, it looked as if River View was overmatched against Shady Spring.
The Raiders showed the Tigers what many others teams have learned this season — River View doesn’t give up.
The Raiders scored three second half touchdowns to help erase a 33-6 halftime deficit then nearly added a fourth only to have it called incomplete on Saturday night as they fell 33-26 at H.B. Thomas Field.
“Our kids answered the bell,” River View head coach Mitch Estep said. “You go into half down like that and they just keeping working hard. I have all the respect in the world for these young men.
“That character is amazing. We came up a little short and we’re not happy with losing, but you can’t fight any harder.”
The Tigers scored on three of their first four drives and did not punt until the second quarter on their fifth series. Shady Spring (12-0) out-gained the Raiders 331-75 in the first half, but the tides changed after halftime.
“Victories at this point of the season you take them however you get them,” Shady Spring head coach Vince Culicerto said. “We played an excellent first half then in the second half they jumped on us. Our heads got low and we got out of wack.
“We still hung in and the defense made a stop at the end. And, we move on.”
River View (9-3) could do little right on offense in the first half as they had five punts and two turnovers. Yet in the second half, the Raiders scored on their first three drives then nearly added a touchdown to give them a chance to go ahead when Jacob Muncy hit Brandon Thomas in the corner of the end zone for what looked like a catch, but the referees ruled it an incompletion. Three plays later, the Shady Spring defense came up big with a stop on fourth down.
“I think we settled down a little,” Estep said. “It was tough on these kids. I’m not going to make excuses for them, but we came off a hard, fought win last week. Shady Spring jumped on us quickly and it took us a little while to regroup.
“Coaches said the right things at half to push the right buttons. Shady just came out a little ahead.”
River View won the toss and elected to receive, but Shady Spring held them to a punt.
The Tigers put together a long drive driving inside the red zone, but the Raiders held them to a 17-yard field goal attempt which went wide right.
On the ensuing drive, River View’s Jordan Wilson fumbled giving Shady Spring a short field.
The Tigers responded with an Adam Weeks to Chase Conner 29-yard touchdown.
The Raiders offense continued to stall on their next series as they were forced to punt again. Shady Spring needed six plays to put seven more points on the board as Houstin Syvertson ran in from 15 yards out.
Coty Frye added a six-yard score to start the second quarter and it looked like a rout was on.
“We were just trying to give what they were taking,” Culicerto said. “They’re a blitz team and we started throwing ball in those zones they blitzed from. Then they backed off so we started running. We were moving on all cylinders.”
River View tried a fake punt on the next drive, but fumbled giving Shady Spring the ball near midfield. The Raiders’ defense responded by holding the Tigers to their first punt of the game and Cody Stevens was able break through for the block.
Jordan Wilson would add a four-yard touchdown, but a penalty negated the two-point conversion. On their second try, Muncy’s pass was off the mark making it 21-6 with 5:38 remaining in the second.
The teams traded punts before Weeks found Austin Johnson on what looked like a short gain then Johnson sliced through several Raider defenders on his way to a 50-yard touchdown. Stover’s extra point was blocked.
“That’s what we challenged them at half,” Estep said. “I said fellas I can’t coach you to tackle. You got to want to get there. You have to get to the spot to make a tackle. That’s what they did in a second half.”
A block in the back and personal foul unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pinned River View near their goal line. The Raiders attempted three straight pass attempts before punting from inside their own end zone with just under two minutes left.
Shady Spring took over inside the 50-yard line and five plays later Frye had his second touchdown of the night to make it 33-6 going into the half.
The Tigers started with the ball in the second half, but the River View defense responded to their halftime talk by holding them to a three-and out.
“Maybe,” Culicerto answered if the Tigers played it too conservative on offense to start the second half. “You look back at that and if you throw an interception early and you shot yourself in the foot for being to greedy. We got kind of caught in between.
“We still threw the ball and they responded. They kept coming back. That’s one of those things, either way you go, it could have been bad, but we got the win.”
The Raiders offense also woke up as Muncy hit Leshon Benton for a 31 yard score. The two-point conversion attempt failed however.
After forcing Shady Spring to punt again, River View was tasked with marching 95 yards for their next score.
A three-yard rush by Trey Bailey gave the Raiders some breathing room then Muncy hit Benton near midfield on a 38-yard gain. Four plays later, Wilson bounced off several Tiger defenders for a nine-yard touchdown to make it 33-18 late in the third quarter.
“I think it was attitude,” Estep said. “We talked to the kids about it at halftime. We told them all you guys have to play for respect. You’re already down.
“Show a little character and pride. Let’s go out there and see what happens. One play at time; one touchdown at a time; one tackle at a time.”
Shady Spring would put together a drive on their next possession, but on fourth and two at the Raiders’ 30, River View’s defense held strong to force a turnover on downs.
Four plays later, Wilson broke free for a 60-yard touchdown and the Raiders added a two-point conversion when Muncy hit Thomas to make it 33-27 with 9:34 remaining in the contest.
On Shady’s next possession Weeks hit Conner for a big 37 yard gain, but two plays later, Austin Walker intercepted his pass and River View had their chance.
“Just had a couple mistakes there,” Culicerto said. “Interception — Adam Weeks don’t ever throw. He just over shot it.
“Dropped ball here and there then they’re back in the game. Give them a lot of credit for keeping their heads up and staying after us.”
Twice the Raiders looked to be all but done then Muncy hit Thomas for a 16-yard gain on second and 18 which led to a first down. Then on third and 11 near midfield, Muncy found Thomas once more for a first down.
It looked as if the connection would prove to be successful for a third time a play later when Thomas made a diving one-handed catching in the end zone, but the referees ruled the pass incomplete. Three plays later with Bailey out of the game due to an injury, the Raiders were stopped on fourth down giving the ball back to Shady Spring.
“They have a lot of fight in them,” Estep said. “That’s something to build upon. That’s the character of people in McDowell County.
“We don’t ever quit. We keep fighting. I’m proud to be part of it.”
The Tigers would gain two first downs to seal the victory and advance to the Class AA semifinals next weekend.
Wilson led River View with 105 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Bailey added 68. Benton caught three passes for 78 yards in a score while Thomas had two grabs for 30 yards. Muncy end the night with 108 yards passing.
“We’ve won a lot of football games in these couple of years,” Estep said. “We’re going to comeback strong next year. We’ll be alright next year”
Weeks threw for 241 yards while Frye and Syvertson both eclipsed the 100-yard mark rushing. Frye finished with 105 yards on 18 carries while Syvertson had 109 on 12.
— Contact Jonathan Greene at
jgreene@bdtonline.com
At Thomas Field
River View............0 6 14 8 — 26
Shady Spring.....14 19 0 0 — 33
First Quarter
SS - Chase Conner 29 pass from Adam Weeks (Jarred Stover kick good), 5:09
SS - Houstin Syvertson 15 rush (Stover kick good), 0:48
Second Quarter
SS - Coty Frye 6 rush (Stover kick good), 8:32
RV - Jordan Wilson 4 rush (PAT failed), 5:38
SS - Austin Johnson 50 pass from Weeks (Stover kick blocked), 2:05
SS - Frye 11 rush (Stover kick blocked), 0:38
Third Quarter
RV - Leshon Benton 31 pass from Jacob Muncy (PAT failed), 6:03
RV - Wilson 9 rush (PAT failed), 1:37
Fourth Quarter
RV - Wilson 60 rush (Brandon Thomas from Muncy), 9:34
———
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - River View, Jordan Wilson 12-105-2td, Trey Bailey 15-68, Brandon Church 5-5, Leshon Benton 4-28, Sammy Brewster 1-7, Jacob Muncy 3-(-11); Shady Spring, Coty Frye 18-105-2td, Adam Weeks 3-4, Houstin Syvertson 12-109, Austin Johnson 1-3, TEAM 2-(-2)
PASSING - RV, Muncy 5-20-0-108-0; SS, Weeks 15-29-1-241-2.
RECEIVING - RV, Benton 3-78-td, Brandon Thomas 2-30; SS, Chase Conner 3-75-td, Frye 3-19, Jordan Palchesko 1-3, Scott Daniels 4-57, Juwan Rowe 1-9, Johnson 3-72, Syvertson 1-2.
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