SMYRNA — Billed as
Rutherford County’s and Region 4-5A’s Game of the Year, it was Game as
Usual.
Riverdale won its 75th consecutive
region/district regular-season game, 34th consecutive game over a county
opponent and 17th straight over Smyrna with a 49-0 win over the Bulldogs
at Robert L. Raikes Stadium on Friday.
Ranked fifth in the state, Riverdale
improved to 5-0 in Region 4-5A and 7-1 overall. Smyrna, ranked sixth, and
the preseason pick by region coaches to dethrone the Warriors, dropped to
4-1 and 6-2.
“We played a great game on both
sides of the ball,” said Riverdale senior quarterback Scott Thomas, who
rushed for three touchdowns and 166 yards. “It was definitely the best
game we’ve played all year long.”
The Warriors rushed for a season-high
492 yards, their third 400-plus rushing game of the season, while the
defense had its second straight shutout.
“They outplayed us completely,”
said Smyrna Coach Philip Shadowens. “Obviously, they dominated every
aspect of the game. By the score everybody knows that. For whatever
reason, we didn’t respond to the challenge. That was out of character
for our football, but at the same time give them credit they played a
really good football game.”
Both teams were stopped on their
initial series, but from then on, it was all Riverdale.
Leading 21-0 at the halftime break,
the Warriors ran the ball 30 times for 206 yards. Defensively, they held
Smyrna to just 24 yards of total offense and one first down. Smyrna had
just six second-quarter plays for four yards. The Warriors had the ball
for 16:15 of the 24 first-half minutes and ran 30 plays to Smyrna’s 13.
It was much the same in the third
quarter. The Warriors scored on their only two possessions, with a Thomas
7-yard run and Paul Boykin 18-yard carry, and held the Bulldogs to six
yards and only one first down.
“My initial thought is, I’m a
little surprised we were able to win it that easily,” said Riverdale
Coach Ron Aydelott, whose team did not attempt a pass. “Secondly,
outside of a few special teams things, I thought we almost put together a
complete football game.”
Thomas got the Warriors on the
scoreboard slipping through the Bulldog defensive front and outrunning the
secondary on a 51-yard run with 3:01 left in the first quarter.
On fourth down early in the second
quarter, Thomas made it 14-0 on a 1-yard sneak. After a Smyrna
three-and-out series, River-dale ate most of the remainder of the
second-quarter clock going 82 yards in nine plays, all runs, finishing
with a 25-yard run from halfback Jeremy McClain, who finished with 110
yards on just 10 carries.
The Bulldogs had just 105 yards of
total offense and 75 came in the fourth quarter.
