By STEVE HEATH
The Daily News Journal

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.