Maryville 47, Riverdale 18: It Was Close Until It Wasn't
The Rebels scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to advance to the quarterfinals of the TSSAA playoffs.
The final score of a football game can tell a little bit of the story, sometimes a lot of the story, or sometimes all of the story. On Friday night at Shields Stadium, the final score of the second-round match-up between Maryville & Riverdale told a little bit of the story. Head football coach Derek Hunt’s Maryville Rebels pulled away in the second half, particularly the fourth quarter, when Maryville outscored the Warriors 21-0 to ultimately win the football game 47-18. The game went from a one-possession game to a lopsided final in a hurry.
However, after a 34-yard touchdown strike down the right-hand side of the field from Riverdale quarterback Gavin Hampton to Corben Reynolds, the Warriors were down one score heading into the fourth quarter on the road in enemy territory.
Head football coach Will Kriesky’s team deserves a lot of credit for how they dug themselves out of a major hole after their first drive ended abruptly due to an interception. Then, after the Rebels scored touchdowns on their first two offensive possessions, Hampton fumbled the ball on a strip-sack on third-and-long, which the Rebels recovered. However, there were offsetting fouls on the play, nullifying the fumble and a repeat of that key third down deep in Riverdale territory. The Warriors would get the first down on the next play, but punted a few plays later to end that possession.
After punting the football away, Maryville drove the football down the field again and looked to be well on their way to being up 21-0 midway through the second quarter. However, the Warriors’ defense made a key stop in the red zone on fourth down to keep it a two-score game and give Riverdale the ball back.
It wasn’t until Riverdale’s final drive in the first half that they found their stride, as the Warriors found success attacking the middle of the Maryville defense in the passing game. “We saw a lot of that on film, and they’re really good at it. A lot of teams in high school; they’ll attack you down the sidelines, either vertical or short hitches, and everything they do is across the middle, and they’re good at it,” Maryville’s Derek Hunt said after the game.
However, the Rebels’ defense came up huge in their own red zone, as the Warriors had to settle for a chip shot field goal to go into the half down 3-12. With Riverdale getting the ball back to start the second half, it was an interesting call to take the points rather than risk it to try and punch it in from the one-yard line on fourth-and-goal.
Both offenses really found their stride in the third quarter, as this game featured a big-time quarterback battle between Maryville’s Will Jones and Riverdale’s Hampton, particularly with the former on the ground and the latter in the air. Riverdale sophomore tailback Jacob Vaughn got the Warriors right back into the ball game on their first possession in the second half with a huge 66-yard touchdown run to pull his team to within two points. The Riverdale faithful who made the trek from Murfreesboro were rocking in the visitor stands, and you wondered how the home team would respond to the Warriors continuing to fight their way back into the ball game.
Well, faced with a third-and-18 on their next possession, Jones let one rip down the left-hand side to Coulton Foust for a 60-yard gain. The Rebels would then punch it in for six a couple of plays later to put Maryville back up two scores. Hunt told me after the game on that big-time call, “Well, we tried to spread them out and see if we could get a match-up that we liked because you’re in a tough spot. We thought maybe Tory Beaufort on the right side would have a shot, but they rotated at the snap of the ball their coverage that way, and Will saw it and went back to Colton’s side and made an unbelievable throw-and-catch. So, a huge play and obviously put us over the top.”
That third-and-18 moonshot was one of those You Just Had To Be There plays. If you are a believer in momentum, there was no more momentum-shifting play of the night than that pass from Jones to Foust. Instead of playing it safe and running the ball or taking a checkdown, Hunt and his team challenged the Warriors down the field, and it paid off in a big way.
Jones finished the ball game with three rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown as Maryville advanced to the quarterfinals to take on Blackman next Friday night in their neck of the woods. The third-year starter led the Rebels in rushing and ran the football well in the fourth quarter as Maryville punched it in three times on three offensive possessions. Jones can beat you with his deep-ball accuracy that you saw on display on that third-and-18 call, but he can also beat you with his legs. Hunt told me after the game on his star quarterback’s mobility, “It’s a different element to what we can do on offense that the defense has to prepare for. He’s not done a ton of that this year, but we felt like as we get deeper in the playoffs, he probably will, and I tell him all the time, ‘use your feet, it’s really good, use your feet,’ and he did tonight, and it was pretty impressive.”
While the final score may not show it, this was a high-level playoff football game with a playoff atmosphere between two great teams on a great stage and an even better venue. Hunt’s Rebels flexed their championship-level muscle under the lights at Shields Stadium on Friday night, but the Warriors of Riverdale impressed, too.
Maryville will now travel to Blackman to take on the Blaze in Murfreesboro next Friday night in the TSSAA quarterfinals as Hunt’s team continues their quest for a 6A state championship this season.