Riverdale's defense holds up
Warriors start fast, then stop Blackman
MURFREESBORO — Riverdale weathered two kinds of storms Friday night.
It came out with a 21-13 win at Blackman.
In wet conditions, the Warriors (2-1, 1-1 Region 4-5A) fumbled six times — losing four of them — but played well enough down the stretch to squeak out their first region victory of the season.
"Defense held us in there," Riverdale fullback/linebacker Aaron Ebalaroza said. "Without those defensive stands that we had, I don't think this game would've turned out the way it did."
Ebalaroza scored three touchdowns — all in the first half — and finished with 99 yards rushing on 14 carries. DeQuinton Sherrill gained 148 yards on 11 carries, and Riverdale amassed 361 total rushing yards.
"(Aaron and DeQuinton) are giving all they've got in practice," lineman Alex Farley said, "and they just kept running and running, and we were right there behind them, making the blocks."
The Blaze (2-1, 1-1) have lost all 10 games against Riverdale.
"We knew they were going to pound the ball at us and test us, and we couldn't stop the run," Blackman safety Tyrek Collier said. "So they kept pounding it at us."
Riverdale opened the game with a 14-play, 78-yard scoring drive, and by the end of the first quarter, it led 14-0.
Blackman appeared to be chipping away in the second quarter. Defensive end DaJuan Brown recovered a fumble in the end zone to make the score 14-7. On the next series, the Warriors went four-and-out.
But Blackman's DeShawn Smith fumbled a punt around midfield, and Riverdale recovered. The Warriors promptly marched 50 yards in nine plays, and Ebalaroza punched in his third touchdown of the game from 1 yard.
The Blaze, however, didn't allow any points in the second half. With 1:17 remaining in the game, Collier found fullback Josh Patton on an 8-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-13.
Riverdale's Chris McSwain blocked the extra point attempt, and Ebalaroza recovered an onside kick that iced it.
"We continued to play and we continued to work at things, we just didn't play very good up front," Blackman Coach Bobby Wells said. "I thought they were more physical than us on both sides of the ball."
There were 10 total fumbles. Blackman — which had just 46 yards of total offense in the first half — got 64 yards rushing from Patton and 84 from Justin Bowers. The Blaze scored once in the second half, despite three straight Riverdale possessions that ended in lost fumbles.
"When the offense was down, we knew we had to pick them back up," Riverdale linebacker C.J. Overton said. "That's our job as a defense."
Twenty-six of Riverdale's first 29 plays gained yards.
"We just came out ready to play (in the second half)," Collier said. "We should've come out like that the first half. You can't give good teams like that the early lead."
Scoreboard - November 25, 2011
| Teams | Score | |
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| Riverdale Maryville |
14 42 |
Final |
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