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Warriors win early shootout

Game Stats Game Photos

By Steve Heath / DNJ Prep Editor

Due to Mother Nature — lightning — the scoreboard at Tomahawk Stadium was inactive for Thursday’s season opener between the host Riverdale Warriors and the Christ Presbyterian Academy Lions.

It may not have been able to handle the workload anyway.

Riverdale, ranked No. 1 in most all preseason Class 5A polls, as well as in a number of national polls, opened the season with a 48-28 victory over one of the state’s top Class 1A schools.

The contest tied the mark for most points scored in a game since the stadium opened in October of 2000. Riverdale beat Mt. Juliet 55-21 in a 2001 game.

Points were plenty — and Riverdale junior tailback Gaston Miller would have been lighting up the scoreboard had it been operating.

Miller scored four touchdowns on runs of 65, 64, 22 and 18 yards and finished with 255 yards on 14 carries.

“We didn’t perform real well, but we didn’t come out here and try and blow them out,” said Riverdale quarterback Dave Thomas. “I think we’re just trying to see what we have this year. We’ve got a good tailback — we saw that.”

Miller’s longest touchdown run came on the third play of the game. He also finished the first quarter with a 64-yard run to give the Warriors a 21-14 lead.

The tailback felt confident the right calls were in for him to score touchdowns.

“I could hear him in the backfield, ‘Here comes a touchdown,’ “I think he called out three of them,” Thomas said.

“If I feel like there isn’t anything going on, I feel like I got to do something to get some motivation going,” Miller said.

“(Saying I’m going to score is) just something I’ve been doing for a long time.”

While Miller was the highlight for the Warrior offense, there were few highlights for the highly-touted defense.

Along with giving up 28 points, the Warriors put little pressure on CPA senior quarterback Josh Pollock, who threw for 277 yards and three touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Travis Sikes had 13 catches for 219 yards and two touchdowns.

“We need to work on technique on defense,” said Riverdale 5-foot, 7-inch senior cornerback Keaton Anderson, one of many defenders that had a tough time with the much taller Sikes (6-foot, 3-inch). “We’ve got a lot to work on. This is just our first game. We’re looking to get better.”

Sikes quickly answered Miller’s 65-yard first-quarter TD with a 59-yard TD reception. After Riverdale defensive end Jonathon Gooch scored on a 29-yard fumble return, the Lions’ Luke Landers scored on a 15-yard run to put the visitors ahead 14-13 late in the first quarter.

Riverdale scored the next three touchdowns, getting two short runs (2, 1) from senior running back Derente Frazier, but another Sikes touchdown catch cut the Warrior lead to 34-21 by halftime.

“I’ll take the blame for it,” said Riverdale coach Gary Rankin of his team’s less than stellar performance. “We’ve worked so many kids in practice I don’t know if we’ve given ourselves the time to get some cohesion with the different groups. I hope that was part of it. You always have problems in your opening game, but we had a little more than usual.

“(CPA) had a good plan. They were well, well coached on offense. We told the kids they were going to make some plays, but they made a little more than we’d liked for them to.”

Miller's 4 TDs lead Riverdale past CPA

TOM KREAGER
Staff Writer

MURFREESBORO — Christ Presbyterian Academy wasn't able to pull off the David-like upset last night.

But the Lions showed Riverdale's defense isn't Goliath — at least not yet.

Riverdale defeated the Lions 48-28 at Tomahawk Stadium in Murfreesboro in a matchup featuring an elite 4-5A team and a strong 5-1A programs.

The result was a Week 1 shootout.

Riverdale junior Gaston Miller rushed for 255 yards on 14 carries and scored four touchdowns.

Miller said he predicted the strong performance prior to the game. ''Before the game I had projected 250 yards and four touchdowns,'' he said. The tailback rushed for more than 100 yards a year ago against the Lions in the season opener.

CPA's no-huddle offensive attack lit up Riverdale's secondary, while the Warriors' ground game ran past the Lions.

''We knew they were going to be a better team from last year,'' Riverdale senior defensive end Chris Perkins said. ''We knew it would be a tough game. But we didn't come out and execute the way we should have.

''We have a lot more work to do. There are a lot of things we can work on. It was kind of a shock. We figured we really shouldn't allow but seven points a game. Them getting 28, that was more than we should have given up.''

The Warriors gave up 347 yards — 260 through the air.

CPA senior Travis Sikes led the Lions' receivers with 13 receptions for 216 yards and two touchdowns.

''We felt like in this matchup that we wouldn't have much success running the football against them,'' CPA Coach Jim Mathews said. ''We just tried to spread the field and create some spaces. We've got some guys that can run routes and catch.

''With Riverdale's defense, they made us try plays that I wouldn't feel comfortable running the whole time. They made us do it.''

Luckily for the Warriors, their ground game was as successful as the Lions' passing attack.

Miller broke a run for 67 yards on the third play of the game to give Riverdale a quick 7-0 lead.

But much to the Warriors' disbelief, the Lions refused to fold.

CPA's offense had little trouble with the Riverdale secondary on the ensuing drive. Quarterback Josh Pollock found Sikes for a 57-yard touchdown reception in the middle of the field.

And the shootout was on.

The Lions eventually took a 14-13 lead late in the first quarter after tailback Luke Landers' 14-yard touchdown run. But Miller came back two plays later with a 64-yard touchdown run to regain the lead.

Riverdale's defense forced the Lions to punt on their next drive.

Riverdale Coach Gary Rankin said the Lions' offense was a good test for his defensive unit.

''They had a good plan,'' Rankin said. ''They have a good offensive team. I don't know if we will see anybody on offense as better as that for a while.''

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