LEBANON — In front of an
estimated crowd of 7,500, nearly triple the seating capacity at Wildcat Stadium,
the Riverdale Warriors winning streak continued Friday.
Fans arrived as early as 4:15 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m.
kickoff that saw the Warriors, ranked No. 1 in Class 5A, defeat No. 3 Wilson
Central 28-14.
It was the Warriors (7-0, 4-0 in Region 4-5A) 22nd
straight win and 67th straight victory in a region/district regular-season game.
“We pulled up on the bus, and there was a big line to
get in the parking lot,” said Riverdale senior fullback/linebacker Kit
Hartsfield. “If you’re not ready to play with an atmosphere like this, you
don’t have a pulse.”
Leading 21-14 with under two minutes remaining in the
game, Riverdale senior safety Phillip Stevenson picked off a pass attempt by
wide receiver Bryce Bryant at the Riverdale 40 and returned it 60 yards for a
touchdown with only 1:04 left in the game.
“I thank God that I was the one able to make that
play,” Stevenson said. “We’ve got 11 players on defense, and any one of us
could have made it.”
Riverdale (7-0, 4-0 in Region 4-5A) had a two-touchdown
lead, 21-7, with 7:46 remaining in the game and forced a Wilson Central (5-1,
2-1) fourth down, but the Wildcats executed a perfect fake punt as sophomore
Connor McChurch rushed for 27 yards to the Riverdale 30. Two plays later,
sophomore J.T. Majors went 30 yards for the score to cut Riverdale’s lead to
21-14 with 6:30 left.
Both teams traded three-and-outs before the Wildcat
defense forced a Warrior punt.
On its first play from the Wildcat 27, senior
quarterback Aaron Scott pitched the ball to Bryant, who threw the ball into
double-coverage in an attempt to hit senior wide receiver Melvin Williams. With
senior teammate Antwaun Smith nearby, Stevenson picked off the game-deciding
pass and returned it for a touchdown.
“We’ve played in a lot of big games through the
years, but these kids needed to show us what they can do in a game like this,”
said Riverdale coach Gary Rankin. “They stepped up, just like the teams in the
past. There were some great individual performances. It was just a great win.
Wilson Central has a great ball club.”
Riverdale senior tailback Gaston Miller, who has
verbally committed to Vanderbilt, scored on an 8-yard run. It was his third
touchdown of the game and 18th of the season to give the Warriors a 21-7 lead
with 7:46 remaining in the fourth quarter. Miller rushed for 124 yards on 24
carries. He has 968 rushing yards in seven games.
“It was a game more than likely for the (region)
championship,” Miller said. “We were trying all week to get ready for it. We
came out here, gave it our all, and came out with the ‘W’.”
Set up by a 50-yard pass play from junior quarterback
Scott Thomas — who threw for 150 yards — to senior wide receiver Shayne
Rollins, the Warriors took a 14-7 lead on a Miller 1-yard touchdown run.
Riverdale scored first on a nine-play, 67-yard drive
capped off with a 12-yard Miller run around right end.
Wilson Central answered with a 10-play 72-yard march to
tie the game, 7-7. Steven Henry scored on a 9-yard run.
“They’re disappointed right now,” said Wilson
Central coach Dewayne Alexander. “But, we will look at this and realize we had
a chance to win this football game. It wasn’t far-fetched for us to win it,
but we have to put it behind us and go back to work next week.”
