Pirates student section during “Neon Night” against Sanderson on September 2. Photo by @bryanafterhours.
* Editor’s note: Tonight’s game against South Granville has been postponed due to inclement weather.
By Levi Brown
It’s rare for football teams to play two games in five days.
But after heavy rain and lightning postponed Riverside’s second game of the season, the Pirates trudged through losses to both Sanderson and South View last week.
The Pirates opened the season with a convincing 52-33 win over Northwood. running back Jamarion Ross ran for 350 yards, including a 61-dash for a touchdown. On the defensive side, senior cornerback George Mayo led the team with 14 tackles.
Riverside came out guns blazing against Sanderson in its week two matchup on Sept. 2. After only 2 plays, sophomore defensive lineman Alex Roper forced a fumble, which Riverside swiftly recovered. With the ball deep in Sanderson territory it only took a couple of plays for Ross to scamper into the end zone and give the Pirates the early lead.
Riverside stayed hot by forcing a punt, but the drive ended as soon as it started with a fumble, which gave Sanderson an easy opportunity to strike back with a touchdown of their own.
Riverside’s woes continued with another fumble during the next drive that set up a run up the middle for another Sanderson touchdown.
Ross kept up his performance by breaking multiple tackles on a run to the outside and going over 60 yards to bring the game back even for Riverside at the quarter’s end.
Unfortunately, that was all the offense could muster. The Pirates were held scoreless the rest of the night, and Sanderson was able to put up 20 points on some big plays to hand Riverside their first loss of the season with a score of 14-34.
“It sucks knowing that you lost to a team that isn’t better than you,” said head coach Cory Lea after the game. “We have to put in more effort and do a better job on execution.”
Just four days later, Riverside fell to South View 48-0. The Pirates produced only 127 total yards of offense, and the defense struggled heavily in the first half giving up 42 points. However they corrected themselves and only gave up 6 in the second half.
“Our defense is good, but our defensive line needs to step up so we can work better as a unit.” said Mayo. “I want to make the playoffs. We made the playoffs in ’22 but I was on JV that year.”
Mayo also said that he is confident the team will get back to the playoffs, and he thinks Riverside should win on Friday.
The Pirates (1-2) look to get back on track on Monday at home against South Granville (1-2). The game starts at 7pm.
