BERWICK – When a Williams Valley team that committed six turnovers somehow found itself in position to tie or win the game in the last two minutes, Riverside stood tall defensively. With Williams Valley in the red zone, the Vikings forced an intentional grounding call, got a huge suck from Graydon DuPree, and ultimately held off one last charge. It was just one of a couple late defensive stands that enabled Riverside to escape Crispin Field with a 28-21 victory in a PIAA Class 2A quarterfinal. Undefeated District 4 champion Troy (14-0) will await the Vikings next week with a spot in the state championship game on the line.
“Our defensive line was relentless today,” Riverside coach Harry Armstrong said. “With Tavian Branch in the middle, he attracts a lot of attention with extra guys, so our defensive ends and blitzing linebackers get a lot of one-on-ones in those cases. But every once in a while, Tay finds a way to split that double or triple team, and I think he made one of the biggest plays to change the momentum with the sack, and that really generated some more enthusiasm for our guys on defense.”
Indeed it was Branch who made a sack that helped thwart a Williams Valley drive which ended with a Quinn Pucilowski interception on fourth down with 2:46 left. Riverside (13-1) was quickly stopped without a first down, giving the Vikings one last chance to produce some late-game drama. Williams Valley (12-2) certainly made things interesting after quarterback Brady Shomper hit Kian Krzyzanowski on a wheel route down the left sideline for a 48-yard completion. Jared Jackson ending up making what was a game-saving tackle at the Riverside 19. On the very next play, Shomper was called for intentional grounding, which resulted in a loss of 15 yards. After an incompletion and the DuPree sack, Williams Valley was left facing a 4th-and-31. A double-pass trick play was caught well short of the sticks, and Riverside was able to take a knee and run out the clock.
Williams Valley coach Stephen Sedesse wasn’t happy at all with officiating, and let his feelings be known in the postgame interview with reporters.
“They had some formations with seven or eight guys in the backfield,” Sedesse said. “That’s an illegal formation, and they got away with it all game. We tried to OK it with the refs, but they didn’t know what they were talking about either, so there’s that. I’m very proud of our kids with how they battled, but they had like four or five turnovers in the first half. They really crunched down, and played hard to get us out of that in the second half. The intentional grounding call with our running back right there on the screen play, it didn’t really make much sense, and that kind of put us out of our zone there going into score.”
Trailing 14-7 late in the second quarter, a game-changing series of events put Williams Valley in a significant hole entering halftime. Madden Sandly recovered one of five lost fumbles, setting up Riverside near midfield. Three plays later, the Vikings would extend their lead courtesy of a 12-yard touchdown pass from Chase Taddonio to Carmelo Barnett. On the first play after the ensuing kickoff, another fumble was recovered by Sonique Murray-Connell, and returned 24 yards to set up first-and-goal. Taddonio then found J.J. Rogers in the right corner of the end zone for the second score in 27 seconds, giving Riverside a 28-7 cushion at the break.
“That was an explosion of plays, starting with our defense forcing some turnovers, and our offense being able to capitalize on it incredibly quick,” Armstrong said. “That’s where the momentum comes into play. Momentum is real in high school football, realer than at any level, I believe. Fortunately, we got the tidal wave going for us, and I think that was without a doubt one of the most pivotal points in the game, to get those two touchdowns late in the first half, because without that, it’s a really back-and-forth game.”
Taddonio was an offensive force throughout the first half. The senior quarterback completed 7-of-14 passes for 101 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He did an excellent job keeping the play alive by rolling to his right on the touchdown pass to Rogers, and broke loose on a 46-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. He finished the game with 94 yards on 16 carries.
“Chase is one of the toughest competitors I’ve ever had a chance to coach, and I couldn’t be more proud of him for that,” Armstrong said. “He finds different ways all the time to make plays. Whether it’s busting a big run, taking care of the football, scrambling, finding somebody extending a play, or just hitting his plays in progression, he’s a deadly weapon out there. It starts with his mindset and his ability to run our offense, make sure guys are in the right places, and make great decisions with the football.”
Trailing by three scores, Williams Valley put together a time-consuming 19-play drive that was capped off by Shomper scoring on a 12-yard run in the waning seconds of the third quarter. Following a quick defensive stop, freshman Fletcher Thompson, who rushed for 100 yards on 10 carries, made things interesting by sprinting 66 yards to paydirt with 10:49 left to play. Williams Valley held Riverside to just 32 yards and one first down in the second half, but the Vikings couldn’t produce the score necessary to extend the game. The turnovers, large deficit and pressure on Shomper proved too much to overcome.
“We just held on to the ball a little too long at times,” Sedesse said. “We knew that they had a quick front, but they’re very good up front too. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit, because they are a very tough football team.”
The meeting with Troy will be a tough challenge for Riverside. Following an easy 42-16 win over Bedford on Friday night, the Trojans are averaging 53.5 points a game. Troy hammered seven-time defending state champion Southern Columbia 69-28 two weeks ago, and outside of an 8-3 victory against Dover (Delaware) in Week 2, no one has challenged the Trojans so far this season.
“I don’t have any feelings on that yet,” Armstrong said. “I’ve only been focused on who we’re playing one week at a time. We want to enjoy this one, (Sunday) we’ll start focusing on Troy, and I know their reputation precedes themselves. They’ve probably mercy-ruled every team this year but one, so I’m fully aware of that, but we’re playing our butts off right now. We’re going to do our best week to week, so hopefully we’ll be able to continue that same success.”
Scoring Summary
Williams Valley 0 7 7 7-21
Riverside 14 14 0 0-28
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
R-Ricky Kostoff 36 pass from Chase Taddonio (Santino D’Amico kick) 2:56
R-Taddonio 46 run (D’Amico kick) :41
Second Quarter
WV-Evan Achenbach 10 pass from Brady Shomper (Sage Smeltz kick) 8:53
R-Carmelo Barnett 12 pass from Taddonio (D’Amico kick) :34
R-J.J. Rogers 9 pass from Taddonio (D’Amico kick) :07
Third Quarter
WV-Shomper 12 run (Smeltz kick) :09
Fourth Quarter
WV-Fletcher Thompson 66 run (Smeltz kick) 10:49
Team Statistics
…………………………….WV………………R
1st downs………………16…………………9
rush-yds……………..39-174…………..25-122
comp-att-int……….13-26-1…………..12-22-2
pass yds……………..172………………..121
total yds………………346……………….243
fumb-lost…………….5-5………………….2-0
pen-yds……………….4-33………………9-85
Individual Statistics
Rushing-Williams Valley: Fletcher Thompson 10-100, TD; Brady Shomper 22-53, TD; Trevon Bair 5-21; Evan Achenbach 1-1; Team 1-(-1). Riverside: Chase Taddonio 16-94, TD; Ricky Kostoff 6-15; Carmelo Barnett 1-13; J.J. Rogers 1-1; Team 1-(-1).
Passing-Williams Valley: Shomper 12-25-1, 152 yds., TD; Kian Krzyzanowski 1-1-0, 20 yds. Riverside: Taddonio 12-22-2, 121 yds., 3 TDs.
Receiving-Williams Valley: Krzyzanowski 5-77; Blazer Lords 2-38; Achenbach 2-26, TD; Brayden Criswell 2-26; Thompson 2-5. Riverside: Kostoff 2-46, TD; Rogers 7-43, TD; Carmelo Barnett 2-15, TD; Jared Jackson 1-17.
