By STEVE HEATH
The Daily News Journal

MURFREESBORO — Winning a region championship is old hat to the Riverdale Warriors and to first-year Coach Ron Aydelott.

The Warriors (8-1, 6-0) won the Region 4-5A crown Friday, their 16th straight region/district championship, and Aydelott got his sixth in the last seven years with a 30-10 victory over Lebanon (6-3, 4-2) at Tomahawk Stadium.

During a long tenure at Hillsboro, Aydelott won region titles — and one state championship — from 2000-03 and in 2005.

Along with clinching the top seed for the upcoming playoffs, Riverdale won its 76th straight region/district regular-season game, 22nd straight home game and 11th straight over Lebanon.

“To get one in my first year with these kids has been special,” said Aydelott, whose team has won seven straight games since an August loss to Division II Chattanooga McCallie.

Trailing 3-0 with just more than five minutes remaining until halftime, the fifth-ranked Warriors (8-1, 6-0 in Region 4-5A) scored the next 23 points, the last six on a 37-yard fumble return for a touchdown by junior Trent Gander.

Taking advantage of a bad snap over the head of Riverdale punter Scott Thomas, Lebanon took over on the Warrior 15. Hurt by a holding and illegal procedure penalty, the Blue Devils settled for a Price Bishop 42-yard field goal to take the early lead.

The Warriors tied it with 5:17 remaining until halftime on Jasper Driskill’s 21-yard field goal and took the lead when junior halfback Jeremy McClain scored on a 5-yard run with 1:39 left until the break.

On Riverdale’s first series of the second half, McClain finished off a drive with an 11-yard touchdown run.

Lebanon cut it to 23-10 with 5:18 left on a fourth-down 6-yard pass from Daley Sallis to Matthew Maynard.

The Warriors wrapped up scoring on senior halfback Marques Locke’s 8-yard run.

“I was proud of our guys,” Lebanon Coach Bobby Brown said.

“I thought we battled them for 48 minutes. They’re a great football team. The thing I was looking for from our kids was they never quit.”