R’heads makes easy work of Blues

By Dana Jones Correspondent
Published: September 19, 2008

GREENVILLE – A combination of an aggressive defensive line and a solid running game took Riverheads to a 35-0 win over Parry McClure on Friday.
The Fighting Blues never got anywhere close to the end zone throughout the night and had was able to produce only 81 yards of total offense.
The Gladiators started the game out right with a steady 15-yard run from Cory Sandridge for the first touchdown, but the extra point from Dustin Skillman was no good. The Riverheads defense then held McClure at its own 25-yard line, with no yards gained from the offensive side. The Blues totaled only eight yards after the first quarter.
The second quarter started at McClure’s 19-yard line for the Gladiators and a few moments later Sandridge ran in another touchdown, plus a two-point conversion. With the score at 14-0, Riverheads was done scoring for the first half.
“We started out kind of sluggish in the first half,” said Riverheads coach Robert Casto. “There just wasn’t enough emotion.”
The Gladiators took advantage of their magic criss-cross play throughout most of the game. A handoff to Sandridge followed by another quick handoff to Montana Puffenbarger would pick up 10 to 15 yards to start off the Riverheads offense and get them closer to achieving a touchdown.
The third quarter started in McClure’s favor, but the Riverheads’ line wouldn’t allow anything past the line of scrimmage.
“In the second we were much more aggressive,” Casto said.
The Gladiators tried to move into more of a passing game in the second half, but the receiving hands weren’t quick enough to make an impact.
“We had some throws, all we gotta do is catch them,” Casto said.
After a swift touchdown from Riverheads’ Brandon Campbell, the Gladiators made some line-up adjustments, substituting starting quarterback Cameron Brown for sophomore Lance Diehl.
“Lance gave us a spark,” Casto said. “We did some things that we wanted to work on and we made some mistakes. All-in-all we played better this week than last week.”
Diehl worked the offense down the field, resulting in a 3-yard touchdown push from Campbell for the Gladiators. With the score at 28-0, Riverheads went into the final quarter, head held high.
Another quarterback change came in the fourth with Daniel Weekley replacing Diehl, but it wasn’t at the QB position that Weekley would shine.
After a few fumbles and incomplete passes, the Blues were forced to punt away. With Weekley back at the Gladiator 30-yard line, the ball fell straight into his hands. Finding the hole, Weekley ran in a 75-yard punt return touchdown effortlessly, ending the game.
Puffenbarger had a total of 81 rushing yards while Sandridge had 68 and Demetrius Younger had 60. Brown threw for 26 yards and Diehl for 18.
The Gladiators face Clark County on Friday, homecoming night.